As summer time began, issues have been on an upswing for Momoka Tojo. In June, she turned a member of idol singer group Katacoto Bank (stylized as KATACOTO*BANK), and in July she’d be celebrating her twentieth birthday, historically thought of the beginning of grownup life in Japanese society (although authorized maturity within the nation now begins at 18).
“Last chance to see teenage me,” posted Tojo to her Twitter account on July 22, the day earlier than her birthday.
A couple of days later, on July 26, Momoka posted images from her birthday celebration, displaying her consuming cake and posing with balloons of the quantity 20. That’s not out of the abnormal in at this time’s social media-infused idol neighborhood, however what was uncommon was that the images weren’t of Momoka alone, however of her celebrating with a younger man, and it was simply the 2 of them celebrating.
It’s lengthy been the norm for idol unit administration and expertise companies to ban, or a minimum of strongly discourage, performing idols from courting, both by express contract clauses or by much less direct types of strain. After the images started to draw consideration on-line, Momoka deleted her put up which contained the pictures, and the Katacoto Bank official Twitter account issued an announcement the following day which incorporates an unorthodox “punishment” that has been positioned on Momoka, wherein she is going to now put up a good-night photograph of herself, alone, each evening, for a whole 12 months.
The assertion says:
“Before going to mattress final evening, Momoka Tojo mistakenly posted images of herself and man who may very well be seen as her boyfriend. Through a by fact-finding investigation carried out by administration, it was been decided that she is presently courting him, and that her boyfriend is an individual from outdoors the leisure {industry}.
We have cautioned her that that is “unthinkable conduct showing a lack of mindfulness as an idol,” and after discussing the matter collectively, the next plan of action has been selected.
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“Moving forward, Momoka Tojo will maintain a measure of distance from her boyfriend.”
- As punishment, “For a period of one year, every night when going to bed, Momoka Tojo will, without fail, post a ‘saying good night alone’ photo” obligation will likely be positioned upon her.
Through this, we could have Momoka Tojo adjust to the idea that “the most important thing for an idol to do is to be (sleep) by the side of each individual fan.” ※Should it seem that her boyfriend is current in her images, please inform us.
Momoka Tojo has solely just lately turn out to be an idol, and it’s our honest hope that by this incident she is going to take the job of being an idol critically. To all of you, her followers, we hope that you’ll proceed to encourage, scold, cheer for, and promote her.”
The assertion then goes on to say Katacoto Bank’s upcoming November 12 live performance at Shibuya Veats in Tokyo and concludes by asking followers to chorus from making slanderous feedback about Tojo’s outside-the-entertainment-industry boyfriend.
▼ Tojo’s first “good night alone” photograph, posted July 28…
▼ …and her most up-to-date, as of this text’s writing.
Following the announcement of her punishment, Tojo additionally posted a handwritten apology by her Twitter account, saying:
“I sincerely apologize for my latest careless actions, which induced a substantial amount of bother and stress to our followers and different associated events.
I used to be missing in correct consciousness of the function of an idol, and what I did was thoughtless to the followers, different members of the group, and different events who assist me every day. I deeply remorse and am reflecting upon my actions.
I’ll make each effort to forestall such a factor from taking place once more, develop a radical understanding of what it means to be an idol, regain the belief of those that assist me, and contribute as a member of Katacoto Bank.”
With that, Katacoto Bank appears to think about the matter settled. There’s been no indication that the group/its administration is asking Tojo to step down, or to have her go on a brief hiatus from performances and promotional appearances whereas the state of affairs blows over.
Still, posting a day by day good-night photograph of herself alone is the strangest admission of guilt for an idol being seen together with her boyfriend since authentic AKB48 member Minami Minegishi had her head shaved all the way down to a buzz lower after it got here out that she’d spent the evening at a person’s condominium.
When such scandals occur within the idol world, there’s typically a response of “Who cares is a musician has a boyfriend?” from the level-headed basic public. However, a significant quantity of the idol {industry}’s lifeblood comes from followers whose degree of obsession isn’t precisely level-headed. Much like cell/gacha video gaming, the idol {industry} has lengthy been reliant on catching whales, obsessive prospects who signify income streams exponentially bigger than different demographics.
Historically, for these whales it’s been the quasi-social bond that attracts them to idol music, the concept “My favorite idol may not know me personally, but if we ever did meet, she’d probably recognize and appreciate my attractive qualities.” If you gathered a dozen random idol followers, some can be completely nice with their favourite idol brazenly having a boyfriend, however the whales’ enthusiasm is perhaps dampened sufficient that they’re now not every going to purchase 20 equivalent copies of all of the group’s CDs to attempt to win meet-and-greet occasion tickets to shake fingers with their favourite member.
It’s value declaring that, in its personal bizarre manner, Tojo’s solo good evening photograph punishment is an indication of elevated {industry} acceptance of idols courting. The pledge to “maintain a measure of distance” from him however, nowhere of their statements do Katacoto Bank or Tojo make any indication that she’s going to interrupt up with or cease courting her boyfriend. In impact, Katacoto Bank’s response to the birthday images boils all the way down to administration formally asserting and accepting {that a} member has a boyfriend, whereas on the similar time wanting to forestall that facet of her life making it tougher to promote whales the “my favorite idol might have a thing for me if she knew me” fantasy. It’s not prefer it requires master-of-subterfuge-level abilities for Tojo to rapidly angle the lens so her boyfriend is out of body in her good evening snapshots, then go proper again into couple’s time after, so the nice evening pics are arguably much less “Here’s proof that I’m not with a guy” and extra “Here are a bunch of photos to rebuild your fantasy.”
Whether or not it’s honest for Tojo to have to leap by these hoops is one other, for much longer dialogue, involving the elevated mainstream recognition of idol music over the previous 15 years, decreased particular person shopper spending on music merchandise, and divisions in advertising and marketing attraction between the Japanese idol {industry} and different musical genres. Will Japanese idol music ever attain a degree the place performers’ private love lives aren’t seen as a legal responsibility that might damage the group’s possibilities of success? Maybe someday it would, however within the meantime, for the following 300-plus nights, Tojo will likely be posting good evening images.
Sources: Twitter/@katacoto_bank by way of Anime News Network/Ken Iikura-Gross, Twitter/@10_momo23, Model Press
Read extra tales from SoraNews24.
— AKB48’s remaining authentic member, who needed to shave her head, is leaving the group
— Japanese idol singer who was attacked at house makes on-stage apology for “causing commotion”
— Idol says her on-stage apology after being attacked was one thing her managers pressured her to do
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