Jpop and Idol Fandom Terminology

This is a more in-depth update of a post I did on the Jpop Amino a while back; a list of Jpop terminology! Some of these words or phrases may not neccesarily be exclusive to the Jpop fandom but they are just sayings that I see commonly used so I thought I would make this post to help out any new fans who don't know what they mean. Hope it's helpful and feel free to comment down below if there are any words that I've missed.



#nin - Number of members. A number plus nin is used in the Jpop fandom to refer to how many members there are in a group. For example, in the Hey! Say! JUMP fandom 10nin and 9nin is used to differentiate between the group before and after one of the members left. 'Nin' is the Japanese counter word for people.

Chika idol - Underground idols.


Coupling song - The second track on a single. Also called a B-side or a bonus track.

Dansei idol - A male idol. Also called "idol danshi" (idol boy) and "mens idol".

DD - Means you support all of the members of a group equally and don't have a favourite. Short for "daremo daisuki" meaning "I like everyone".

Engrish - When a Japanese person fails at speaking English/English lines in Jpop songs that are pronounced incorrectly or don't make sense.

Hafu - The Japanese word for biracial. Usually used in the Jpop fandom to refer to an idol who is half-Japanese and half-foreign.

Ichiban - Bias (your favourite member of a group). This term is usually used by fans of male idols, for the female idol fan equivalent see oshimen. "Ichiban" means "number one" in Japanese so your second favourite member would be your niban and so on. A lot of people in the overseas Jpop fandom do just use bias as well though.

Idol - Idols are a concept that don't really exist in the West, and even the idols in other Asian countries such as South Korea are quite different from that of Japan. But to some it up quickly: idols are a type of celebrity in Japan that do a bit of everything. From singing, to dancing, to acting; they may not be the best at all of those things combined but their popularity generally comes more from who they are and their image rather than their actual work. They are usually in girl groups or boybands (girl groups being the most popular) but there are also solo idols and mixed groups. For female idols in particular they tend to be fairly young (under 25) and have a specific image of purity to adhere to, although there are many groups nowadays who break these "rules".

Ikemen - A young male who is handsome, cool etc.

Image colour - Many idol groups have a specific colour assigned to each member so it's easier for fans to show support for their favourite member (by buying merch in their colour, using their colour penlight during concerts etc.). These are called image colours, also simply known as member colours.

Jpop/J-pop - Japanese popular music. In Japan, the term tends to refer to all popular Japanese music regardless of genre. However in the West, terms such as J-rock and J-rap have been adapted to differentiate between genres.

Kakkoii - The Japanese word for "cool". Often used to describe a male who is charismatic, handsome etc.

Kamiban - Ultimate bias (your favourite member across all group).

Kawaii - The Japanese word for "cute".

Locodol - Short for "local idol". An idol group that is based in and mainly holds activities in one particular area. 

Member ai - Fanservice. "Ai" means "love" in Japanese. Basically when members of a group act lovey-dovey with each other on camera. Also called skinship.

Oshimen - Your favourite member of a group. Also spelt "oshimem", or "oshi" for short. Usually used by fans of female idols, for the male idol fan equivalent see ichiban. Comes from the Japanese word "oshi" meaning to support, and the English word "member". 

Penlight - Basically battery-powered glow sticks. Also known as light sticks and wotagei sticks. Fans wave these at idol concerts in time with the music (see wotagei). They often have several different colours that you can change between so you can show support for your favourite member of the group.

PV - A music video. Short for "promotional video". A lot of artists just use MV nowadays though.

Uchiwa - These are round hand fans people in the audience sometimes hold at Jpop concerts to show support for their favourite idol. Fans sometimes make their own and write a message for their idol on it or you can buy official ones at the concert that have pictures of the members on them.

Wota - Someone who's a Jpop idol fan. You can be a wota in general or it can be used for specific groups or agencies e.g. Johnny's wota or AKB wota. Comes from an alternate spelling of the Japanese word "otaku" meaning someone who has a particular, obsessive interest (often used in a negative way). Since "otaku" is commonly used to describe people who are interested in anime and manga, the term "wota" was adapted to differentiate between anime fans and idol fans.

Wotagei - A special synchronized dance that is performed by the audience at idol concerts. There are specific moves that go along with different parts of a song that the audience all do in unison. There are also often designated chants for the fans to join in with (known as calls) and a specific penlight colour to represent a certain song or group member.