Women aged about 40 become 'idol' stage stars on weekends

During the day she is an old-school homemaker. She cooks, cleans and perhaps works at a local store to keep the house together and organized.

But on weekends she takes the stage in Tokyo’s hip Shibuya district in a glitzy outfit and simply let's herself go.

Women around 40 forming “idol” groups, which usually starts as a teen-age thing, is becoming something of a fad.

This is the “around-40 generation,” or “ara-for” for short in Japanese, and, feeling encouraged, an increasing number of avid middle-aged fans are flocking to their live concerts.

“Are you ready?” exclaimed Nao (Nao Mihara), the leader of an ara-for idol group Jonetsu Dream (Passion Dream), in English to kick off a live show at a music club in Shibuya.

The response from fans in the front row was a chorus of cheers.

The five-member group joined other idol units for the day’s joint concert to perform four original songs.

“We need a cool down time because we are ara-for,” a member said during the regular chit-chat between songs ... and then she pretended to gasp for air in an exaggerated manner to snatch a laugh.

Jonetsu Dream was formed in June this year mainly by former members of Samurai Rose, which was considered a pioneer of ara-for idol groups but disbanded in May. The five members have jobs or families of their own and mainly perform in public and take lessons on weekends.

Aoi (Ayumi Aoki), 39, the youngest member, lives in Sakuho in eastern Nagano Prefecture. She is a homemaker and works part time at a clothing chain store on weekdays, commuting to Tokyo by expressway bus on weekends.

She was inspired by Samurai Rose five years ago to become an idol when she saw its performance on TV.

"They sang the intro (of a song) so perfectly," Aoi said. "They were no ordinary middle-aged women. I thought I wanted to be just like them."

Aoi auditioned for Samurai Rose and became a member when she was 33.

She is also a wife and mother who has two kids in grade school.

“I want to tell people of my generation who are busy with household chores and child-rearing, ‘You can do anything if you take a bold step forward,’” she said.

Aoi added she learned that she shouldn’t limit herself during her nearly five years as a Samurai Rose member.

In June this year, a group called AIP (Ara-For Idol Project) was established mainly by ex-Samurai Rose members. With Jonetsu Dream at its core, AIP has been joined by similar groups including Otonatic Romance and Nerimadonna.

The groups share their own original songs and plan to shuffle the members.

In late November, AIP hosted its first concert in the capital’s Asakusa district.

“There is still a trend in our society in which younger women are preferred,” said AIP head Nao. “We may be getting old, but we want to show how full of life we are.”

She intends to expand the scope of AIP’s operations to help ara-for women aspiring to work not only as idols but also as actresses, models and emcees.

(The Asahi Shimbun)