Junior idol

A junior idol (ジュニアアイドル, junia aidoru), also known as a chidol (チャイドル, chaidoru, shortening of the words "child idol") or low teen idol (ローティーンアイドル, rōtīn aidoru), is a type of entertainer under the age of 18^[7] or 16^[8] who are manufactured and marketed for their image, attractiveness and personality. It is a sub-category of the idol culture in Japanese pop entertainment. Junior idols are primarily gravure idols who are marketed through photo books and image DVDs, but some are also trained in singing and acting. Unlike other child models, idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements by talent agencies, while maintaining an emotional connection with a passionate consumer fan base.

Junior idols have been seen as controversial due to their age, marketing demographic, and involvement in gravure modeling. Even though regulations have been tightened, the entertainment activities of junior idols under the age of 18, who are legally minors, are still in a situation of ambiguity as to what constitutes freedom of expression and what constitutes illegal obscene expression, in other words, the interpretation of the Child Pornography Prohibition Act.^[9] In 2014, the Child Pornography Prohibition Act was amended to also prohibit the possession of child pornography by adding the condition of "an image in which sexual parts are emphasized" to the definition of child pornography.^[10] This increased the likelihood that images of minors wearing swimsuits and other clothing would meet the definition of child pornography, and some businesses selling images of junior idols have withdrawn from the market.^[8]