Since I never really wrote any details about the kind of events 
that I'm going to recently, I wrote up a little something. (^_^;
Not that much related to seiyuu, but there is a little crossover.

Since I haven't been following the underground idols that long,
I may be wrong on the stuff written here..
Comments, questions, corrections are welcome.

--

What are underground idols?  Hard to say.  Maybe anyone who isn't
a major idol is an underground (also called pre-idols or minor idols).
But it's hard to define a "major" idol.

Obviously, Morning Musume and others you see on TV and commercials
a lot is a major idol.  But what about someone like Ogura Yuko?
She appears on TV from time to time, appears in LOTs of magazine
spreads (mostly swimsuit), and has released CDs, DVDs, photo
collections.  But I doubt the average person on the street knows her.
Inoue Waka?  Shaku Yumiko?  Nagasawa Nao?  Ohmori Reiko?
They could be borderline, but since I'm going to be digging very low
underground, I'll put all of these idols in the "major" category.

Even in the underground idols, there are those who belong to
productions (companies that promote idols).  There are productions
that have 100s of idols, and there are those who carry only 2 or 3.
There are also many underground idols who don't belong to any.

I think this last category is very new, and probably caused by the
Internet, as the Internet allows self promotion much easier than any
other media in the past.

When did the underground idols start?  I don't know.
But recently, they aren't as underground as before..

What do these underground idols do?
Singing, acting, modeling, narration, companions, etc.
Just about anything for money/fame. (^_^;

I think the one thing that differentiates the underground idols and
major idols is that the underground idol doesn't make enough money
to survive on just the idol work(s) alone.

Recently, there is some crossover between these underground idols
and minor seiyuu and cosplayers.  Some minor seiyuu and cosplayers
are appearing at the underground events.  Some minor idols are doing
seiyuu work.  Some cosplayers are starting to sing.

--

Some upcoming events that I plan on going (or might go).

03/13 17:00 Ishimaru Soft One (Akihabara)
      Shintani Sayaka CD event (1500 yen)
      This is an event for those who buy Shintani Sayaka's debut CD
      at Ishimaru Soft One.
      Sayaka will sing several songs, maybe talk a bit, and have a
      photo session (a couple minutes).

03/13 17:00 Messe San Ou (Akihabara)
      Izayoi Renka event (free)
      There will be 4 cosplayers dressed in miko outfits passing out
      flyers for the upcoming game Izayoi Renka in front of the store.
      One of the cosplayers is Oda Yumiko.  I don't know if photos
      are allowed, but I'm gonna take some "hit 'n run" if I have to..

03/14 17:00 Joining Square (Akihabara)
      Shintani Sayaka CD event (1500 yen)
      This is an event for those who buy Shintani Sayaka's debut CD.
      The ticket for the event is included in the package of the CD.
      Sayaka will sing several songs, maybe talk a bit, and have a
      photo session (a couple minutes).

03/16 19:30 Joining Square (Akihabara)
      Actio Entertainment Live (3500 yen)
      This is a singing event featuring almost 20 girls/groups.  Each
      girl/group will sing 1 or 2 or 3 songs, mostly recent idol songs.
      After the event ends, some of the girls will sell CDs, pictures,
      etc, and you can go get their signatures if you want.
      Photos allowed during the entire event, but no videos.
      I will go mainly to see Oda Yumiko.

03/20 14:30 Irene Hall (Ochanomizu)
      Happy Holiday vol 19 day (3000 yen)
      This is a talk event featuring three or four guests.
      The guest this time are Shinomiya Rino and Sawai Natsumi.
      Photos, videos, recording not allowed.

03/20 19:00 Irene Hall (Ochanomizu)
      Happy Holiday vol 19 night (3500 yen)
      This is a singing event featuring several girls/groups.
      Usually there are only 5 or 6 girls, but this time there seems to
      be more than 10 girls. (;_;)  I want to go because Sawai Natsumi
      will be one of the guests, but I don't want to see the others..
      Photos, videos, recording not allowed.

03/22 19:30 Joining Square (Akihabara)
      Actio Entertainment Live (3500 yen)
      [event description above]
      I will go mainly to see Andou Akari (going under the name Comoe).

03/28 18:00 Joining Square (Akihabara)
      Ani Song Holiday (3500 yen)
      This is a singing event featuring several girls, where they sing
      various anime related songs.  Photos, videos, recording not allowed.
      I will go mainly to see Shinomiya Rino, but I have baseball earlier
      in the day, so I'm at 50-50 for going to this.

03/29 18:30-19:40/19:50-21:00 Artemis Studio (Akihabara)
      Comoe (Andou Akari) Photo sessions (3500 yen each session)
      This is a photo session where you just take pictures.
      Previous Artemis Studio photo session reports at
      http://www.usagi.org/doi/events/photo/

--

Right now my favorites among the "active" ones are:

 1. Andou Akari (Comoe), cosplayer
 2. Oda Yumiko, cosplayer
 3. Shinomiya Rino (Takase Noriko), Kira Melo girl, seiyuu wannabe
 4. Ohtsuka Mae, Kira Melo girl, stage actress
 5. Takahira Jun, Kira Melo girl, singer

--
Hitoshi Doi                                      "this place also for rent"
                           " this space for rent "
http://www.usagi.org/doi/                                     doi@usagi.org