According to Chunichi Newspaper, the number of high school girls who enter the light music (kei ongaku) club has been increasing due to the boom of K-ON!. In a high school in Aichi Prefecture, 110 out of 760 students of the school belonged to the light music club at the beginning of the year. Now the number decreased to 60 due to the graduation of the third year students and quitting of the news members, but still the club members have to take turns practicing in the music class room. The coaching teacher has been worried about whether he has to select the new members by an audition from the next year.
The light music club of Shiroko High School in Mie Prefecture also had 30 new members this year. Sugihara Riona is one of them. She entered the club influenced by K-ON but she realized her guitar skill won’t be improved by chatting over a cup of tea and cookies. Eleven new members have already left the club but she continued practice and participated in a band tournament.
Okamoto Eiji, the owner of a musical instrument shop, said high school girls often visit his shop in groups. They purchase the same models of the guitars and picks as K-ON characters have. He said “It had been quite rare to see high school girls carrying guitars on their back. I’m looking forward to seeing the new series of K-ON.”
Source: Scan of Chunichi Newspaper
