Interest

Women's Group Complains About Male-Only Momoiro Clover Z Concert

On October 31, the J-pop group Momoiro Clover Z will hold a concert in the city of Dazaifu in Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu. The concert will be called "Momoclo Otoko Matsuri [Man Festival] 2015 in Daizaifu" and be open to men only. While gender-segregated concerts are common in Japan, a few factors make this concert stand out: it will take place at a medieval historical site — the ruins of the Heian-era Dazaifu Administrative Buildings — and it is sponsored by the Dazaifu Tenman Shrine, the Dazaifu municipal government, and the Kyushu National Museum.

A local women's group, the Dazaifu Citizens' Network to Promote Male-Female Cooperation, has complained about public backing for a gender-segregated concert. A representative, Yukishiro Suyama, said the group "complained to the city that [the event] went against the equality of the sexes." Dazaifu's mayor, Shigeru Ashikari, accordingly requested that the concert's executive committee change the event's name and sell tickets to women as well. Members of the municipal assembly also questioned municipal sponsorship of a for-profit event.

A lawyer from the Sakka Law Office agreed that aggrieved citizens had ample ground for a lawsuit. The lawyer pointed out that the Japanese constitution outlaws gender discrimination (Article 14), that the Local Autonomy Law forbids discrimination in public facilities (Article 244, Section 3), and that Dazaifu has regulations encouraging male-female cooperation.

At present the concert's executive committee is still discussing the matter with Stardust Promotion, Momoiro Clover Z's talent agency, and has not yet reached a decision. Tickets are being raffled off and the application deadline has passed, but about 2,500 tickets have not yet been sold.

For comparison, the rock band Maximum The Hormone has a history of bizarre discrimination in its concerts: women without makeup (2006), men and women over 178 or 168 centimeters (5'10'' or 5'6''), respectively (2008), people over 16 years old wearing down jackets, and people in visual kei-style clothing and makeup (both in 2009), for instance.

[Via Asahi Shimbun, Livedoor News and Hachima Kikō; Image from Girls Channel]