Haga Yui

 (芳賀ゆい) is the stage name of Higuchi Masako (口麻紀子), a Japanese virtual idol, created by comedian Ijuuin Hikaru.

She was allegedly the winner of a contest called "The 1st Miss Ponytail Contest", although no such contest exists under that name.

She was the world's first "virtual" idol, predating Date Kyoko by six years.

About
Haga Yui was initially created on a radio program called Ijuuin Hikaru no All Night Nippon in late 1989 by comedian Ijuuin Hikaru in late 1989, as a joke about idol names. He had joked that the name Oshima Nagisa (the name of a film director) could belong to an idol due to its nature. Listeners soon submitted that the word hagayui (歯痒い; Frustrating/Irritating) could also be used as an idol name due to the way it sounds. Liking the name, he decided to create an idol known as "Haga Yui". She was created to poke fun of the overwhelming amount of bubble-era teen idols of the 1980s.

Haga Yui's first "appearance" was in February 1990 for a handshake, the rest of her body was hidden behind a curtain. Her later "appearances" showed her as a teenager sporting a ponytail, although her eyes would always be covered, as her true face would never be shown. She was played by over 57 different women.

She released her only single Hoshizora no PASSPORT in July 1990, it became a hit, charting on the Oricon charts at #63 and selling over 50,000 copies. She soon got her own video and photobook released. Fearing that the project was starting to get out of hand, Ijuuin Hikaru decided to end the project on October 11, 1990, writing that Haga Yui would go to Taiwan to study abroad.

As fans gathered to airports with flights to Taiwan to see Yui leave, they were disappointed to learn that Haga Yui never existed to begin with, she was just an imaginary idol.

Single

 * 1) [1990.07.01] Hoshizora no PASSPORT (星空のパスポート)

Video

 * [1990.08.01] Haga Yui Densetsu (はがゆい伝説)

Photobook

 * [1990.09.13] U・SO・TSU・KI (う・そ・つ・き)