The Rice University Neologisms Database

A young, pampered female Japanese pop icon who is featured in all kinds of media. (‘Vivian Hsu is an idoru.’) Interpretation of intended meaning An idoru is something that really does not exist in American culture. It refers to a young female Japanese pop culture icon. Presumed reason for coinage Since the word is a direct borrowing from Japanese, it has no component parts in English; it simply exists as a whole. I think it has recently come into the language because of an American fascination with Japanese culture in the 1990s. This word has existed in Japanese for some time, but it has only recently appeared in English. It is getting a lot of exposure as the title of William Gibson’s 1996 novel.