Meet COLOURFUUUL, Japan’s “first all foreign male idol group" www.sbs.com.au

posted by  banzaitokyo | 6 years ago in Art & Culture

Idol groups come and go in J-pop at a quick clip. A new one debuting isn’t particularly newsworthy unless they hail from one of the huge talent agencies in the country (think Johnny & Associates) or have some interesting wrinkle to them.

COLORFUUUL fall in the latter — they bill themselves as Japan’s “first all foreign male idol group”, featuring six members each hailing from a different country (that is not Japan). That boast isn’t quite true — more on that in a bit — but COLORFUUUL do serve as a reminder of a tension that exists not just in J-pop but many music industries when 'foreign' talent try to break in.