Chris Kern wrote:

> On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 06:09:09 +0900, Eric Takabayashi
> <etakajp@yahoo.co.jp> posted the following:
>
> >They don't regularly invite guests such as Waka Inoue or Megumi for
> their
> >intelligence.
>
> Why does MEGUMI wear such modest clothing on Trivia no Izumi?  I've
> wondered that for a while.

It's not only on TV. Even weekly magazines that feature her in photo
shoots hardly have her in really revealing clothes anymore. For
example, she may be shown on the beach in a bikini, but with an
oversized shirt or a dress over it.

After achieving enough recognition to survive on their own talent
rather than their physical assets, most female idols prefer to take
the focus off those physical assets, perhaps to get more respect as
serious actresses or singers. A good number of popular and respected,
if not talented, successful women in show business such as Nanako
Matsushima or Ayumi Hamasaki, made their start as swimwear models or
idols who put themselves on show. Other performers like BoA have never
had to bother, and her stomach is about all you'll see, if that much.
I don't even know what her legs or bare feet look like.

Maybe Yumiko Shaku is the best example I can think of as one of these
sexy idols who has recently become respected as a performer on TV and
in movies, and dropped her bikini model image pretty quickly. Sure she
just appeared in a Godzilla movie, but she has also been the star of
"Shurayuki Hime" and two seasons of "Sky High" and its movie
adaptation, where she has been able to demonstrate some acting as well
as athletic ability. The airheadedness she was famous for just a while
ago, appears to have all been an act.

Waka Inoue has even greater recognition, but she keeps on putting out
in boys' and mens' magazines like she always has. I don't know how she
is as an actress on regular shows, but her appearance in those Promise
commercials is about as modest as I've seen her get. Maybe it's
because she got a rather late start, in her 20s instead of her teens,
or wants to milk this idol thing for all she can. She isn't as dumb as
she lets on, either.

On the other hand, Yumi Adachi is just one example of an experienced
idol who has made a decision to show herself off perhaps to counter a
dramatic decline in popularity since her child actress days.