[Week 50: 02/04/10 - 02/11/10] Never ask a woman her age...or in this case a jrocker

[Jrock 101]

Sorry for this week's delays! This week's question was submitted by an anonymous member:

why is its so important for jrockers to hide their age, is it a cultural issue or a personal issue or even a privacy issue. They give out their birthdays but why is leaving out the year so important

[Karo]

Jrockers do that...? I knew Yoshiki did in the old days but <.<. I have no problem with older jrockers, why should anyone? Unless their main interest is in their looks or age creeps them out.
That being said, some of the old jrockers I know look fantastic for their age.
To answer the question...I guess it's to maintain publicity? If the fans are fine with how they look and sound, they may feel no need to display their age incase it puts some fans off (which is very shallow).
Either that or maybe they just don't like to say how old they are.

[jmusiclover]

I always thought it was just a personal choice maybe mixed with a business one. The entertainment industry in general isn't too kind to people over a certain age unless they don't look it (ex. looking like you're in your mid-30s when you're really 50-something), so maybe they think by hiding their birthyear..........ya know, I completely lost my train of thought there. Anyway, I don't like giving out my birthyear, but I don't really mind telling my birthday. Maybe I'm just weird.

Anyway, next person (please take away the awkwardness I created XD; )

[saturnsmusician]

For some of the Jrockers (or celebrities in general) part of their mystique is that they look ageless. If they revealed how old they actually are, it may result in a lot of unnecessary speculation as to how they maintain their appearance and take the focus off of their music or career. For others, especially in the VK realm, it may be to prevent an onslaught of "You dress that way and you're HOW old?" and expect them to grow up or act their age. Or, people would just find it creepy that a mature person would wear some of the outfits VK artists wear.

It can also take pressure off of the younger artists. Imagine a new group emerges on the scene, and they are incredible. They're extremely talented, their songs are great, and everyone is excited with their potential as a band. If word got out that they were all 18 years old, people would start expecting more from them as they continue. Instead of just being a hot, new band, they become the hot, new, YOUNG band with a bright future and many years of incredible music ahead of them. Suddenly the pressure to be better than they just were increases exponentially. Had they kept their age under wraps, it's quite possible that the whole expectation of them being around and active and awesome for a long time would not be as immediate.