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Guy人48(Guyjin48)

Are you interested in the idea of Guy人48?

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jawfuj

Registered
26 Dec 2016
8
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What is Guy人48?

Guy人48 (Guyjin48) is Japan's fir st all male idol band consisting entirely of foreign students of all nationalities studying in Japan. The goal is to bring people together, to promote language exchange, and to create an environment that will further allow foreign students to become proficient in Japanese and eventually stay and work in Japan. Through concerts and events we aim to provide a platform for students and native Japanese speakers to meet, and through our website you will be able to follow the progress of your favorite members and learn Japanese language and culture alongside them.

Who can be a part of Guy人48?

1. Guy人48 will be made up of 48 male foreign exchange students currently studying Japanese in Japan. This is band is completely international so the more nationalities the better. Your level of Japanese is not an issue. If you are between the age of 16-24, would be serious about studying Japanese as well as learning songs and dances, and are handsome, you are welcome to apply. (48 people)

2. The 48 members of Guy人48 will be divided into 4 teams, so Guy人48 will need team leaders who can speak English and Japanese (3 people) (I will be in charge of one of the teams). It is preferred that you have passed the level 1 of the Japanese language proficiency test.

3. I am looking for someone to write songs and compose music (1~2 person(s))

4. I am also looking for someone who can do the choreography (1~2person(s))

5. I would like to start an original web series feature the band members to teach Japanese language and introduce people to Japanese culture so I will need people who have experience filming and editing. (2~3 people)

If you fit the requirements and are interested in being a part of the Guy人48 team, please don't hesitate to contact me. Comments and questions are also welcome. My contact information is written below.

Email: [email protected]
Facebook: コリンズ ジェームズ | Facebook
Guy人48's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Guy人48Guyjin48-1789971364600985/?fref=ts
 
What problems have students had remaining in Japan and finding employment and which will be reduced or eliminated through your activities?
 
What problems have students had remaining in Japan and finding employment and which will be reduced or eliminated through your activities?

A lot of foreigners studying Japanese in Japan actually have very little contact with real Japanese speakers and by the end of their program are still not proficient enough to find good work. The result is a large amount of foreign students go back to their country. I'd like to create a means for foreign students and Japanese speakers to meet and hopefully form relationships that will be constructive in creating a better environment for foreigners to learn Japanese well enough to be able to find better jobs in Japan. The band would be a means to get people excited about language and culture exchange.
 
Wouldn't it make more sense to include Japanese people in the group, then?

Foreigners clustering together by themselves and excluding Japanese people has seldom done much to promote either Japanese language proficiency or interaction with Japanese people. It has rather tended to stifle both, in my experience.

It strikes me that what you're doing will actually work against your stated goals, but I would be happy to be wrong about that.

It also strikes me as logically inconsistent to expect to encourage Japanese people to look past our being different as foreigners while at the same time making being different as foreigners the whole theme of your group. It is similarly logically inconsistent to expect to encourage Japanese people to quit dividing the world into two as "Japanese" and "everybody else" through the activities of a group which actively and intentionally structures itself based on "Japanese" and "everybody else".... with the Japanese excluded from participation, no less.

You're essentially attempting to foster greater inclusion through the means of self-isolation, which is bizarre. I mean, the separatist nature of the group is right there in the name for God's sake.

The way to promote greater mutual understanding and acceptance is by having some reason for foreigners and Japanese come together to engage in some activity where the fact that they are either from Japan or not from Japan has nothing to do with it, not by having some "Hey, come look at the gaijins!" event. This sounds like those godawful cringeworthy 国際交流会 parties which are like some kind of gaijin petting zoo with everybody playing nice while the sandwiches last, then washing their hands and gargling before going home and giving us not another thought until the next one, except you're aiming for some minor personal stardom out of it.

Anybody who is in Japan studying Japanese, surrounded by millions upon millions of Japanese speakers, and who lacks the initiative to put themselves into situations where they have to speak Japanese isn't going to have the initiative to try for a job requiring them to function in Japanese anyway.

I realize this is not at all the sort of thing you expected to hear, but you did specifically invite comments...
 
But there might be good money in it! (especially for the organizer)

I wonder if the members will have to sign the usual "virginity" pledge, be fined if they date or go to a hotel with someone, etc.
 
I wonder if the members will have to sign the usual "virginity" pledge, be fined if they date or go to a hotel with someone, etc.
Do guy groups also have the virginity pledges, or is the double-standard still in effect? I imagine it would be very difficult to find college exchange students willing to sign their balls away, so I'm guessing he's skipping that part...

I read the Japanese version of this post earlier... I'm surprised this hadn't been tried before (or has it?).

It's important to look at the intended goals and your target audiences. The "all-foreigner" thing is a gimmick, but to what end? It would be strange to do a diversity group in Japan without any Japanese representation, I would open it up to Japanese applicants who can also speak or are learning English in earnest, or at least people who grew up in Japan and went to international schools or something. Otherwise you're putting yourselves in a glass jar and inviting everyone (namely Japanese women?) to come see the gaijin exhibit. The whole point of idol groups (and the reason they're so big) is to have something for everyone, the more people in the group the more likely the audience will be able to pick a favorite for themselves.

If the goal is to do language and culture exchange, then are the songs and dances based around learning Japanese, or English? Are you going to do a web series where the guys aren't performing, but just going around to different cultural sites and "learning" about Japan, acting as surrogates for the people watching? There's a lot that you can do with this, but there's a fine line between talking about diverse representation and cultural exchange, and simply capitalizing on the exotification of your members.
 
Nice Gaijin, thank you for the feedback. I don't think I will have any of the guys pledge celibacy. That just doesn't seem right. Also I have put a lot of thought into how to not turn the project into a gimmick entirely. I want as many people to notice the group as possible and make a positive impact without like you said selling the guys as exotic pets. The concept of the group will by nature bring about such an effect either way I suppose though. There is still a lot more to think about.
 
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Mike, I think you have a lot of good points. I definitely don't want the band to turn into some grand international exchange party with dancing foreigners on display. There are definitely a ton of things I have to consider.
 
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