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INTEREST: Sakura Wars Creator Photographed at AKB48 Idol's Home


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nechronius



Joined: 23 Nov 2005
Posts: 275
Location: So Cal, USA
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 6:51 pm Reply with quote
By my meager calculations I believe they're both consenting adults, so what exactly is the problem regardless of the nature of their association or age gap. Are AKB48 idols not allowed to see men?
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doubleO7



Joined: 17 Jul 2009
Posts: 1073
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 7:05 pm Reply with quote
nechronius wrote:
By my meager calculations I believe they're both consenting adults, so what exactly is the problem regardless of the nature of their association or age gap. Are AKB48 idols not allowed to see men?


No, they're not.

Heres a little tidbit from Kotaku (who posted a similar article)
Quote:
Idols are not supposed to have boyfriends. In fact, one of the rules that's AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto (no relation to Sayaka), set forth was no boyfriends. If it's known that the girls are dating guys, then the motivation for fans to, say, buy AKB48's rejection simulator (an upcoming PSP game) evaporates.

This has been a long standing tradition for Japanese idols — male and female — because having a lover destroys the illusion for fans.

(bolded part added by me)
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Sticks



Joined: 14 Apr 2007
Posts: 199
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 7:30 pm Reply with quote
Contract or no, people are human beings and it sucks that these girls can't be involved in personal relationships because of it.

I hope for all their sakes it changes for the better... Confused
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theblackpaladin



Joined: 15 Apr 2010
Posts: 30
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 7:38 pm Reply with quote
Dear Lord...that's very interesting, but how utterly sad. And how totally opposite from American culture, ya know? Over here you see magazines all the time dedicated to the "WHO'S DATING WHO!?" craze. Hmm...guess this means if J.Lo were in Japan, she'd have been fired twenty times over.
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ayashe



Joined: 31 Mar 2008
Posts: 123
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 7:57 pm Reply with quote
This is one of the things I hate about the Japanese, always having to apologize for stupid things they shouldn't have to apologize for. The Japanese culture is so controlling.

Quote:
Idols are not supposed to have boyfriends. In fact, one of the rules that's AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto (no relation to Sayaka), set forth was no boyfriends. If it's known that the girls are dating guys, then the motivation for fans to, say, buy AKB48's rejection simulator (an upcoming PSP game) evaporates.

This has been a long standing tradition for Japanese idols — male and female — because having a lover destroys the illusion for fans.


It's horrible they're not allowed to live their own lives, just because it might upset some obsessive stalkers... I mean fans.
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noriko-takaya



Joined: 12 Sep 2002
Posts: 80
Location: Edgewater, Maryland
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:26 pm Reply with quote
Oh come on! It was just a booty call!

By the way, high five Hiroi-san!
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tuxedocat



Joined: 14 Dec 2009
Posts: 2183
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:33 pm Reply with quote
Being an idol in Japan must be like joining a convent or something.... how ridiculous.
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PetrifiedJello



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 3782
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:35 pm Reply with quote
I'm sorely disappointed that isn't a photo of me.
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Shenl742



Joined: 11 Feb 2010
Posts: 1525
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:40 pm Reply with quote
And...it's Aya Hirano all over again.

What, is the Japanese pop-industry ran like 1940s Hollywood? I wonder if they're stuffing these girls with anti-depressants like Judy Garland...
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zanarkand princess



Joined: 27 Oct 2007
Posts: 1484
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 9:26 pm Reply with quote
The rule is more like "Don't get caught" then "Don't have a boyfriend" You have an image to keep up, so you make sure you keep your personal life personal at all times. Ask some Hello! Project members.

Also, I believe her, because history says that she would be fired, not protected by the agency if this was true.
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boznia



Joined: 28 Aug 2005
Posts: 189
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 9:59 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
This has been a long standing tradition for Japanese idols — male and female — because having a lover destroys the illusion for fans.


The Japanese obsession for their idols to remain "pure" (or more specifically, the illusion of purity) has always been rather sad to me. You're already imagining yourself with them (which is never gonna happen), just use your imagination a bit more and pretend they're single.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14889
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 10:58 pm Reply with quote
Yeah right, Hiroi! Sure! Sure! Very Happy


tuxedocat wrote:
Being an idol in Japan must be like joining a convent or something.... how ridiculous.


Just because they can't have a boyfriend doesn't mean they can't have an one-night stand or two.

And that's how shotgun weddings prevalent in Japan. Laughing
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6229
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 11:05 pm Reply with quote
OOOOOOOH!!! SCANDALOUS Rolling Eyes

gotta love the Japanese press. I wonder if she'll get Mari Yaguchi'd
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CareyGrant



Joined: 18 Nov 2009
Posts: 453
PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 2:14 am Reply with quote
1) Yeah, they were totally knockin' boots. Period. It's Casting Couch 101 -it's the basic fundamental laws of wealth and the entertainment industry. She's a hot up-and-comer and he's the connected, wealthy older man... It's not hard to figure out. He was tappin' that (lucky SOB).

2) I think the Japanese put far too much stock in saving face and keep up appearances. Their knee-jerk overreactions remind me of something you'd read about in Victorian England (or some other overly stuffy/uptight period in history) regarding impropriety or scandal.

It's so sill, I think, or rather, I think they take it way too far. It's still good to have some shame (not like the US, where public shame and disgrace don't mean much of anything besides selling more tabloid newspapers or getting your fifteen minutes of fame and a book deal).

3) For all you thinking the Japanese are weird for their reactions or about how idols aren't supposed -to get caught- to have romantic lives (or normal lives for that matter), just look at Disney. Think Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Bros., The High School Musical crew and Hillary Duff and all the other pre-fab teen/tween stars -Drones- in the Disney stable; Disney does the exact same thing. These kids aren't allowed to be teens or real people all for the sake of protecting there public Disney image (not unlike the idols of Japan). The system is so two-faced.

And for the record, whether in Japan or the US, I think such things are completely ridiculous.

4) This young woman is 22 freakin' years old, not some tween. She can do (literally) whatever (or whomever) she wants.
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 9902
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 4:22 am Reply with quote
CareyGrant wrote:
This young woman is 22 freakin' years old, not some tween. She can do (literally) whatever (or whomever) she wants.

You are correct, legally. If Akimoto has any other man as her boyfriend her fans wouldn't have reacted so violently. However, Hiroi is the producer/writer of many AKB48 stage plays; Akimoto has prominent roles in plays he wrote, as well as being the lead female of his radio program.

I also wonder how many posters in this thread has seen the interior design of AKB48 Gekijo. For any Sakura Wars fan, it is not difficult to recognize its similarity to Daiteikoku Gekijo, the main base of operations of Teikoku Kagekidan.

Having affairs with a stranger man is one thing; having affairs with a man who has direct controls over the operations and careers within a group of 4-dozen idols is another. Looks like few, if any, posters in this thread recognized the difference between the two.
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