Japanese idol

AKB48 (pictured 2009) is Japan's best-selling idol group and holds the Guinness World Record for "largest pop group", with more than 90 members divided among several teams.

Morning Musume (pictured 2016), the longest-running female idol group, renewed interest in idols in the 1990s. They hold the record for the most consecutive top 10 singles for any Japanese artist.

Momoiro Clover Z (pictured 2012) ranked number one among female idol groups, according to The Nikkei 2013–2018 surveys.

Babymetal (pictured 2014), whose third studio album, Metal Galaxy, is the highest charting Japanese-language album on the US Billboard 200 chart.

An idol (Japanese: アイドル, Hepburn: aidoru) is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese popular culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in other performance skills such as acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements by talent agencies. They dedicate significant time and resources to building relationships with fans through concerts and meetups.

Japan's idol industry first emerged in the 1960s and became prominent in the 1970s through television. During the 1980s, regarded as the "Golden Age of Idols", idols drew in commercial interest and began appearing in commercials and television dramas. As more niche markets began to appear in the late 2000s and early 2010s, it led to a significant growth in the industry known as the "Idol Warring Period." Today, over 10,000 teenage girls in Japan are idols, with over 3,000 groups active. Japan's idol industry has been used as a model for other popular idol industries, such as K-pop.

Sub-categories of idols include gravure idols, junior idols, net idols, idol voice actors, virtual idols, AV idols, alternative idols, underground idols, Akiba-kei idols, local idols, bandols, and Japanese-South Korean idols.