Oshi-Katsu Chronicle 2004: mixi and Train Man, Baseball Realignment, and Full-Song Chaku-Uta Full
In 2004 mixi launched, an online service for sharing diaries and hobbies with friends.
On TV, Winter Sonata reached terrestrial broadcast, and on cell phones, Chaku-Uta Full put a whole song in your pocket. In pro baseball, meanwhile, plans to merge teams surfaced, and fans began calling for their teams to be kept.
mixi Begins, Making It Easier to Find Fans of the Same Oshi
The social network mixi had a soft launch on February 22 and officially opened on March 3. At first, you needed an invitation from someone already using it (mixi official chronology, in Japanese).
You could read diaries, write comments and join “communities” of people with the same hobby. You could also start a gathering to talk about a singer or a work.
Fans had long connected online through bulletin boards and personal sites. On mixi, your friendships and the groups you joined showed up on your page, so the links between people became visible. In November, users passed 200,000 (mixi official chronology, in Japanese).
- February 22Pre-launch
- The official launch followed on March 3.
- At firstInvitation only
- Joining required an invitation from an existing member.
- November200,000 users
- Membership passed 200,000.
Finding fellow fansOnline and in person
- mixi communitiesGroups for one singer or work
- DiariesImpressions with comments
- Bulletin boardsThe thread behind Train Man
- PetitionsFans speaking up for their teams
- Airport crowdsFans waiting to see an actor
Fans found each other in several new ways.
That same February, Yoshikazu Tanaka released GREE as a personal site. As users grew, he founded an operating company in December (History of GREE Holdings, in Japanese).
Train Man: A Bulletin-Board Cheer Squad Becomes a Book
In March, a romantic-advice thread on the online bulletin board 2channel became a talking point as Train Man (Densha Otoko). A man asked for advice about a woman he had met on a train, other posters coached him, and everyone waited for his next update (Daily Shincho, in Japanese).
On October 22, Shinchosha released the book version. You read it for the protagonist’s own posts, but also for the posts of the people around him who gave advice and encouragement (Shinchosha, in Japanese).
The film and TV drama adaptations followed in 2005.
Keep Our Team: Baseball Realignment and the Fans Who Spoke Up
In June, a plan to merge the Kintetsu and Orix teams came to light. Mergers of other teams and a plan to combine the Central and Pacific Leagues into one were also floated, and opposition spread among players and fans (Japan Professional Baseball Players Association, in Japanese).
Fans joined petition drives and other actions (the players’ union’s record from the time, in Japanese).
- June
Kintetsu-Orix merger plan
Cutting the number of teams and moving to a single league were also debated.
- September
The players' union holds a strike
Games on the 18th and 19th were not played, and an agreement was reached in later negotiations.
- November
Rakuten's entry approved
With the merged Orix and the new Rakuten team, the following year still has 12 teams in two leagues.
On September 18 and 19, the players’ union staged the first strike in pro baseball history. The two sides reached an agreement on the 23rd, and on November 2 Rakuten’s entry as a new team was approved (the course of the realignment, Nishinippon Sports, in Japanese; Rakuten Eagles, in Japanese).
Twelve teams were kept, but Kintetsu did not survive as a team.
“Hitomi o Tojite” and “Sign”: Finding Songs Through Films and Dramas
On April 28, Ken Hirai released “Hitomi o Tojite” (“Close Your Eyes”). It was the theme song of the film Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World, adapted from a novel about a man who lost his high-school girlfriend and faces his memories of that time (Sony Music, in Japanese).
The film earned ¥8.5 billion (roughly $57 million) at the box office. It was also widely known by its nickname, “Sekachu” (Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, in Japanese; Jiyu Kokuminsha, in Japanese).
At the year-end Japan Record Awards, Mr.Children’s “Sign,” the theme song of the drama Orange Days, won the Grand Prix. Ai Otsuka took Best New Artist and Rimi Natsukawa Best Vocal Performance (Japan Composers Association, in Japanese).
Hearing Your Oshi’s Song From Start to Finish With Chaku-Uta Full
On November 19, the carrier au launched Chaku-Uta Full: you bought a song on a compatible cell phone and downloaded the whole thing to listen to (KDDI’s record, in Japanese).
- Chaku-uta
- You buy part of a recorded song as a short piece of audio.
- Chaku-Uta Full
- You buy a whole song and save it on your phone to listen to.
Besides moving songs from CDs to a music player, you could now go from purchase to playback on the phone alone.
Unlike today’s flat-rate, listen-to-anything subscriptions, it was pay per song. Cumulative downloads passed 100 million songs in February 2007 (KDDI, in Japanese; KDDI announcement from the time, in Japanese).
Winter Sonata Goes Terrestrial, and Crowds Gather for “Yon-sama”
The Korean drama Winter Sonata, which had aired on satellite the year before, began airing on NHK General from April. Its star Bae Yong-joon became beloved under the nickname “Yon-sama,” built on the highly respectful honorific -sama (Fujin Koron.jp, in Japanese).
When he visited Japan on April 3, about 5,000 fans were reported to have gathered at Haneda Airport.
Futari wa Precure Begins: Cheering On Two Girls Who Transform
On February 1, the anime Futari wa Precure (Pretty Cure) began airing. Two middle-school students, Nagisa Misumi and Honoka Yukishiro, transform into Cure Black and Cure White and fight together (Toei Animation, in Japanese).
The two have different personalities and strengths and work as a team, so the draw was not one girl’s heroics but the relationship between them. Children who watched could also enjoy the show up close through transformation-item toys and character goods (Toei Animation business report, in Japanese).
About Max Heart (in Japanese)
Comic Market 66 in summer drew a total of 510,000 attendees over three days, and Comic Market 67 in winter 370,000 over two days. It was the first time the summer total had topped 500,000 (Comic Market Preparation Committee, in Japanese).
- 510,000
- Total attendees, summer (three days)
- 370,000
- Total attendees, winter (two days)
Key Events of the Year
- Feb. 1Futari wa Precure begins broadcastingAnime
- Feb.mixi holds its pre-open and GREE releases its alpha versionMedia
- Mar. 3mixi officially launches its serviceNetworking
- Mar.Posts about "Densha Otoko" begin on a message boardMedia
- Apr.Winter Sonata begins on NHK General TVMedia
- Apr. 3Bae Yong-joon visits Japan, drawing about 5,000 people to Haneda AirportKorean Wave
- Apr. 28Ken Hirai releases "Hitomi o Tojite"Music
- Jun.The Kintetsu-Orix merger plan brings baseball's realignment problem to the surfaceSports
- Aug. 13–15Comic Market 66 (510,000 total visits over 3 days)Fan works
- Aug. 13–29At the Athens Olympics, Kosuke Kitajima wins both breaststroke eventsSports
- Sep. 18–19The Japan Professional Baseball Players Association holds a strikeSports
- Oct. 22The message-board story Densha Otoko is published as a bookPublishing
- Nov. 2The owners' meeting approves the new entry of Tohoku RakutenSports
- Nov. 19KDDI (au) launches "Chaku-uta Full"Media
- Dec. 121st Buzzword of the Year awards: Grand Prize goes to "Chou kimochi ii"Society
- Dec. 31At the 46th Japan Record Awards, Mr.Children's "Sign" wins the Grand PrixMusic
- Futari wa Precure beginsTwo girls transform and fight together
- mixi officially opensInvitation-only at first
- Winter Sonata goes terrestrialBae Yong-joon becomes "Yon-sama"
- Kintetsu-Orix merger planFans join petition drives
- First baseball strikeAgreement reached on the 23rd
- Chaku-Uta Full launchesA whole song on your phone
Screens and stadiums both changed how fans took part.
The Year’s Buzzword Awards
- Grand PrizeCho kimochi ii ("Super good feeling," said after winning gold in the 100m breaststroke)
- Kosuke Kitajima (Athens Olympic swimmer)
- Top 10Kiai da! ("Fighting spirit!")
- Animal Hamaguchi
- Top 10Surprise (sapuraizu)
- Tsutomu Takebe (secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party)
- Top 10Jiko sekinin ("self-responsibility," aimed at the Iraq hostages)
- No recipient
- Top 10Shinki sannyu ("new entry," into pro baseball)
- Takafumi Horie (president of Livedoor)
- Top 10Sekachu (short for the novel Sekai no Chushin de, Ai o Sakebu)
- Kyoichi Katayama (author)
- Top 10Chu-nikai ("mezzanine")
- Ichita Yamamoto (member of the House of Councillors)
- Top 10"...tte iu ja nai..." / "...Zannen!!" / "XX-giri!" (comedian Yoku Hada's catchphrases)
- Yoku Hada
- Top 10Makeinu ("loser dog," an unmarried woman over 30)
- Junko Sakai
- Top 10Fuyusona (short for Fuyu no Sonata, Winter Sonata)
- Masato Hagiwara, Misato Tanaka
- Special Quotation Award"Watashi no jinsei no naka de wa kin medal ijo no keiken" ("In my life, an experience worth more than a gold medal")
- Kyoko Hamaguchi
The grand prize went to “Chou kimochi ii” (“Super good feeling”), the words of Kosuke Kitajima after winning gold at the Athens Olympics. Kitajima won both the men’s 100 meters and 200 meters breaststroke (Jiyu Kokuminsha, in Japanese; Japanese Olympic Committee, in Japanese).
The top ten also included the nicknames “Sekachu” and “Fuyusona” (for Winter Sonata), along with “shinki sannyu” (new entry) from the team realignment.
In 2005, AKB48’s theater performances began and the video-sharing site YouTube appeared. Places to see your oshi spread to dedicated theaters and online video.
FAQ
When did mixi and GREE start?
mixi had a soft launch on February 22, 2004 and officially opened on March 3. GREE was released by Yoshikazu Tanaka as a personal site in February of the same year, and its operating company was founded in December.
What was new about Chaku-Uta Full?
It was an au service that began on November 19, 2004. Where chaku-uta delivered part of a song, Chaku-Uta Full let you buy a whole song and save it on a compatible phone to listen to.
What kind of book is Train Man?
It is a book based on posts on the online bulletin board 2channel. It collects the exchanges between a poster asking for romantic advice and the people who advised him and watched his progress, and Shinchosha published it on October 22, 2004.
What happened in the 2004 pro baseball realignment?
A planned merger between Kintetsu and Orix set off debate about cutting teams and moving to a single league. On September 18 and 19, the players' union went on strike. Kintetsu and Orix merged, and with Rakuten joining as a new team, the following year still had 12 teams in two leagues.
Who are the first Precure?
In Futari wa Precure, which began airing on February 1, 2004, Nagisa Misumi transforms into Cure Black and Honoka Yukishiro into Cure White. The two remained the heroines in Max Heart the next year.
