芳賀ゆい (Yui Haga) – 星空のパスポート (Starlight Passport)

星空のパスポート (Starlight Passport)
芳賀ゆい (Yui Haga)
Japan (1990)
KAYOUKYOKU/ IDOL
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Yui Haga may be the very first virtual idol singer in the world. In 80s Japan, which is now renowned for being the era of city pop, the wave of female idol singers had reached its climax, with big names such as Seiko Matsuda and Akina Nakamori popping up one after another. By late 80s, the idol boom had already been heavily saturated. Along with the rise of cookie-cutter idol projects produced by Yasushi Akimoto, female idols were increasingly devoid of artistry, reduced to mere fantasies of “cute girls” under male gaze.

In 1989, the first year of Heisei, the famous comedian, 伊集院光 (Hikaru Ishuin) has started the satiric project of Yui Haga (same pronunciation as “frustrated/ irritated” in proper Japanese name order, i.e. 歯痒い) in his radio show “Hikaru Ishuin’s All Night Nippon”.

Unlike any idol, Yui Haga was THE idol. Being a collective creation of the audience of the radio show, Yui Haga became the cutest, the purest idol ever existed. She was such an ideal idol that she did not even need to go to toilets, and must be masked so that she could be safe from reality. The play of irony also extended to the music itself, which is a miniature of late 80s Showa idol songs – over-sugared bubblegum pop with cheesy and cliché lyrics. With her first and last single, Yui Haga symbolically brought the Showa idol boom to an end, and also, ironically, a very beginning of the concept of virtual idol, which would later be actualized by Kyoto Date, Hatsune Miku and VTubers. 
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Watch the concept video of Yui Haga at:

Tracklist:
1. 星空のパスポート Starlight Passport (0:00)
2. 星空のパスポート（帰宅部ミックス）Starlight Passport (Going Home Club MIX) (3:55)
3. ・・・好きです …I’m Into You (8:47)