Skip to main content

AKB48 is the most popular group in Japan.  It's made up of 90 girls who are all in their teens and 20s, with the most popular girls making up a sub-set which is able to be the face of the whole group.

Minami Minegishi is one of the original members (since 2005), and one of the main ones as well.  She is 20 years old - thus she was 13 years old (or even 12) when she was selected to be eye candy for rabid fans who like to imagine themselves being the first ones to break her hymen.

The rules that every AKB48 member must follow is "no boyfriends"..."no love"...as long as you're with the group.  Thus, from age 13 to 20, she has been an innocent fruit ripe for the picking.

No longer.  Recently, she was caught coming out of a boy's house.  Because of that, she risked being fired from the group.  Otaku don't like it if they have to imagine getting sloppy seconds.  Minami promptly shaved her head and sorrowfully apologized on YouTube.  Her video was hosted by the Official AKB48 YouTube page.

She tearfully asked for another chance, although she doesn't deserve it.  She won't make the mistake of falling in love again.  But she will still be demoted to "trainee level".  Her unforgivable mistake will most likely keep her out of the limelight in the future.

Here is a link to a story about the "incident":
http://japandailypress.com/akb48s-minami-minegishi-caught-leaving-mans-apartment-shaves-head-posts-tearful-youtube-apology-0122526

Here's a link to her in concert before the incident:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke_7yHk24RM

I'll be quite honest.  I prefer "nice" virginal girls.  I'm not into the "dirty" slutty type, as is more popular in the American context.  But getting young girls in order to be fantasy objects without letting them lead independent lives is just crazy.  On top of that, when they turn a certain age, they're kicked out because there's another 13-year-old who is fresher.  These "idols" are not treated anything like stars in the West.  It's more like indentured servitude with few financial or other benefits of note.  They are basically used by agents and others who can do as they please and get most of the money.  It's a pretty sad life.

I think this might be a job for the French.  When they're done with Mali, they can visit Japan.
A translation of her apology is below:

 "I am very sorry for worrying the members, you fans, staff members, my family, and many people for the article about me on a weekly magazine that will be released today.

 As the first generation member of AKB48 that was formed back in 2005, I was supposed to be in the position where I always had to act as a role model for the junior members. However, what I have done was such a thoughtless and a lack of self-awareness behavior.

 Since my mind is still in blank, I did not know what to do or what I can do, but as I just saw the magazine, I could not sit still, so I decided all by myself to shave my head without even telling the members or my agency.

 I do not expect that I would be forgiven by doing this, but what I first thought was that I did not want to quit AKB48.

 I was unable to think of leaving AKB48 now where the members I love and spent my youth together, and you warm fans are. I know this is being over‐optimistic, but I want to stay as Minegishi Minami of AKB48 if possible.

 It was all my fault about this. I am very sorry.

 I will leave everything to Akimoto-sensei’s and the management’s judgement. Though I haven’t been able to sort out my feelings, I just wanted to tell you how I was feeling right now.

 Thank you."
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In Defense of...Cecil Rhodes?!

You all know Cecil Rhodes, right?  He was a British Imperialist (living from 1853-1902) who founded the De Beers diamond mining and trading company.  Just this morning, I came upon a post comparing him to Adolf Hitler, and claiming that Cecil Rhodes killed at least 60 million Africans.  It has been shared 99 times.  Here is the post: https://plus.google.com/+TonyJefferson/posts/CZ6HW3AxDo6 Unlike many, I decided to do some research on it.  That is my nature.  I don't accept things without evidence given, and even when no evidence is provided, I search for evidence.  If after looking, no evidence is forthcoming, then I discount the claim unless compelling evidence does surface.  After my research on this topic (taking up about an hour of my day and 28 open tabs on my browser...but still an enjoyable time because this is what I like to do), I found that my initial skepticism was well justified and that this comparison is incorrect.  Adolph H...
3 comments
Read more

Inconvenient History – The Barbary Slave Trade

Once upon a time, slavers ravaged the coastal towns of the European continent. Eventually, the response to that would include clear proof that the United States is not founded on a religion. Soon thereafter, European imperialism would become the driving force for the abolition of slavery around the world. Continue reading to learn more. The Barbary Slave Trade is a relatively small part of the Arab Slave Trade, which itself is only one part of the Islamic Slave Trade (which besides Arab slavers, includes Turks enslaving Europeans and Africans, Muslim invaders of India and Sub-Saharan Africa, Malay enslavers of local minorities, and other Islamic slavers). For example, the Arab Slave Trade may have enslaved up to 18 million people over its span (not including those born enslaved), while the Barbary Slave Trade enslaved some number over 1 million. Bear in mind that this number is three times the number of enslaved people (roughly 388 thousand) sent to the area of the United Sta...
Post a Comment
Read more

Biden Just Won The Election

Biden just won the election. I just watched the first debate. It was a disaster for Trump. I pretty much saw the entire debate, and I haven't listened to any pundits (who can never be trusted to give an accurate review). Not only was Biden lucid, but Trump would not stop interrupting. I think Trump was trying to "be Trump", instead of trying to be natural. But he must have had a false idea of what "being Trump" is. He must have seen ownage videos of himself on the internet and thought that should be the entire debate. But he forgot that the highlights were well-timed, humorous quips like "Only Rosy O'Donnell" and "Because you'd be in jail". Unfortunately, he made none of those well-timed, humorous quips in this debate. Instead, he would not stop interrupting, and he showed himself in a bad light. Most people who support one candidate or another can never admit if their preferred candidate lost a debate. But if your stomach drops and y...
Post a Comment
Read more