Oricon conducted an online survey of 1,000 people asking them who they felt would be the most prominent 18-year-old celebrity this year. Choices were limited only to celebrities who were 18 on April 1.

The number one choice was actress Yui Aragaki. She started off as a model in fashion magazine nicola, then moved on to become a gravure idol and actress. Her popularity has been increasing through multiple commercial and drama roles, and this summer she makes her big screen debut.

Second on the list was Rakuten Eagles pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka was the ace of high school Komadai Tomakomai, which failed to defend its title at last August's Koshien tournament. He lost to Waseda Jitsugyo's Yuki Saito (admired by women across the nation as the "Handkerchief Prince"), but he at least ranked two places ahead of him in Oricon's survey.

Actress Erika Toda was ranked third, while actress Maki Horikita came in fifth. The rest of the top ten included table tennis star Ai Fukuhara, boxer Daiki Kameda, J Leaguer Takayuki Morimoto, singer Miliyah Kato, and Chunichi Dragons infielder Naomichi Donoue.