Is Hello! Project now a rich girls club ?

Ayumi's family does not own a bakery; her mother bakes as a hobby. This was clarified some time ago. She's probably about as middle class as a member can get. I think one 2ch thread once referred to her as "the only true normal girl in all of H!P, ever," because she's the only one who doesn't seem to come from an affluent or well-connected family and her behavior, being as casual and excitable as it is, is representative as such.

I don't know if Oda's father is actually a politician or just tried to be (he did not get elected, as I recall). Her parents are also divorced, so that may have a negative effect on her family's status.

Ogata did ice skating. Ice skating is not a poor man's sport. 

Meimi's mother either owns or manages her own theater company. Even if they're not wealthy, they're definitely well-to-do.

Nyon is loaded. Disney yearly pass every year, shops incessantly, redecorates her room every 6 months, etc.

Dawa goes to art school. Rich.

Basically any member that owns a dog has some money to burn. Dogs are expensive in Japan, both to buy and to keep. Meimi found one or both of her dogs in the street, but they still have the space to keep them; any member in particular that owned a dog before joining the group definitely comes from money.

I don't think it's just an H!P phenomenon, either. Rich girls have time to spend auditioning and doing these things without worrying so much about academics and getting good jobs. 

Ah yes, thank you for so much addition.

It's kind of old neta at this point but Daishi being poor was a reoccurring joke on 2ch for quite some time.

She destroyed her phones multiple times and still be able to get a newest one immediately is a sign she isn't poor

Now talking about dogs... bigger dogs (real size dogs, lol) are pretty uncommon in Japan, and they do have to have space. Kanna has/had two dogs that were a bit bigger than the norm I believe, and I think Ayaka's dog was full size.

Piano playing (and other instruments e.g violin) is, I'm sure, a self improvement method among a lot of Asian families not necessarily of high income ones.

Phone insurance?

^ Kana has two miniature pinschers. Still small. 

Cheese was a large dog (white shepherd/shepherd mix) and lived outside. Dawa has a yard. Rich.

I read once of Takechan also having a bit of Ayumi's poor meme, or maybe it was her being stingy? I don't remember.

About Sakura,
 

O-d-a mentioned during H!Station that she doesn't have a room. In the Oda family, only her older brother has a room. She has a bunk bed and the top bunk is not used so without a mattress, it's used like closet space. She hangs her clothes from the support beams that make up the top bunk.

 

 

http://www.hello-onl...-小田さくら/page-319

Ofc it's not evidence but I suppose if she was rich a la Fukuhime or Dawa she'd have a room for herself?, and she has like 4-5 cats, it's true she re-uses the same clothes a lot but that might be because she's the member I've followed the most lol -and maybe she's like me and uses the same fave clothes even if there's plenty more-. But the divorced parents and the fact the "politician" father are a bit of a mystery.

maybe it's just a sign of the times? it's said that only middle-class or rich parents can afford to raise kids in japan. that is true especially in tokyo with its ridiculous land prices.

therefore the working class is extremely unlikely to even have children in tokyo, let alone let their kids join auditions, instead of mugging for the paperwork to get a "normal" job.

momochi might be the last of the H!P members who are really doing it for the money. there're a lot more idol groups now, but they hardly hit the mainstream like they did back in the 90s. you can say AKB48 and Momoiro Clover Z is big deal, but many girls who joined AKB groups dropped out of the harsh environment, while MCZ sounds more like a happy accident(the grp was suppose to be temporary). 

I don't think it's never not been like that they may get a couple of could actually use the money but especially now it seems more of a hobby for a lot of girls where they get to sing and possibly advertise themselves out to rich guys for potential marriage which they drop out for later. It also lets them rub shoulders with people in the entertainment industry leading to marriages with famous guys.

They don't have the same concerns about education and jobs so they can easily dedicate more time to being an idol because their future is already assured and if they can marry into a big name family then it will be more so. The idol boom itself was probably helped a lot by hobbyists and girls who want to use it as a short cut to get a foot in the entertainment industry door of famous names. Even Kyary Pamyu Pamyu seems to come from the same kind of background and had links to people in the entertainment industry before she even got in it. 

From what I heard UFA is expensive to join, sort of like some modeling agencies who charge you to have a portfolio and an agent. Members have to pay for their own dance lessons, vocal coaching, media training, agent representation, etc. So, only girls who have parents willing to pay for all this end up joining. Not all idol agencies do this (Office48 doesn't afaik), but it's not at all uncommon.

UFA only started charging in recent years, which explains why this has only been noticed now.

^ Where did you hear that? Because that only sounds like the KSS program, and even then only for some people.

On the Alice Project English videos where it has a description about what underground idols are (in somewhat poor english but still pretty understandable). It mentions that being a mainstream idol is more expensive since you have to afford lessons and stuff whereas underground idols that doesn't happen. It makes sense, even if the idol industry focuses less on vocal talents than it used to, if you don't have the talent or the look, you won't make it.

It says that lessons were too expense after they failed auditions. It has nothing to do with the major agencies themselves. 

Also KSS paid program is 10000yen a month. But the idea didn't life too long, scrapped, and return to the previous program.

That's the same as average monthly tuition for mid-school in japan, if I'm not mistaken.

Even though it was scrapped, but it clearly shown UF intention of recruiting only girls from family, who at least have large surplus in their monthly budget.

I guess It's one of their safety measures. Maybe they did some research which resulted that girls from rich and well-educated families have less probability to do scandalous move in their career. Again, just my guess. But to achieve that, they must doing a tight background checking as well.

BTW, where does the stuff about Masaki come from?

Also KSS paid program is 10000yen a month. But the idea didn't life too long, scrapped, and return to the previous program.

 

That's the same as average monthly tuition for mid-school in japan, if I'm not mistaken.

 

Even though it was scrapped, but it clearly shown UF intention of recruiting only girls from family, who at least have large surplus in their monthly budget.

 

I guess It's one of their safety measures. Maybe they did some research which resulted that girls from rich and well-educated families have less probability to do scandalous move in their career. Again, just my guess. But to achieve that, they must doing a tight background checking as well.

Did you mean 100000? 10000 isn't a great deal of money and even 100000 isn't much for Japanese probably. I imagine your last statement would be the opposite. A girl who sees it as a big chance to make a name for herself and have a good future financially is less likely to be involved in scandals than a rich girl who feels she can do whatever she likes  because she has nothing to lose. Also I'd imagine attractive rich girls are more of a target for the guys who could possibly have access to them.

Did you mean 100000? 10000 isn't a great deal of money and even 100000 isn't much for Japanese probably. I imagine your last statement would be the opposite. A girl who sees it as a big chance to make a name for herself and have a good future financially is less likely to be involved in scandals than a rich girl who feels she can do whatever she likes  because she has nothing to lose. Also I'd imagine attractive rich girls are more of a target for the guys who could possibly have access to them.