Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/07/30/japanese-idol-momoka-tojo-must-post-solo-good-night-photos-for-1-year-after-being-seen-with-boyfriend.html
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Is she underage? Does her o̶w̶n̶e̶r̶ manager really want to encourage this unhealthy obsession from fans? That’s how stalking happens. This honestly turns my stomach.
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Yes, they absolutely do.
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Insert :barf: reaction here.
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She only joined the group last month, together with two other new members, so this might be a publicity stunt. They haven’t released any new songs in over a year, and lots of members have left.
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If there’s any veracity to this story, and its’ not just a stunt for PR; it’s creepy as all fuck.
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this sounds like a very healthy environment for a young woman to be in. and unfortunately if she doesn’t comply, she’s just a replaceable part. it’s pretty sad. who is watching the watchers?
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The Japanese entertainment industry is highly abusive, especially towards women entertainers. It’s beyond gross. 
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It could be a PR stunt and still be creepy. This kind of parasocial thing is pretty normal and expected in Korea/China/Japan for pop groups. Couple that with the conversations of mental health not really being a widely accepted thing in Asian countries and the whole thing just stinks.
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You’re correct; it’s fucking creepy, either way.
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The J-Idol and K-pop (which seems to have looked at the J-Idol phenomenon as the basis for how it’s developed) industries are all about the parasocial relationships. I find it absolutely fascinating (by which I mean horrifying). K-pop seems to have systematized and industrialized it, taken it to extremes, even for the biggest groups. The musical performances seem like a small part of the work that the singers do - there’s a whole “reality show” element where they’re expected to be under constant surveillance, doing frequent video-streams (especially in the evenings), constantly putting video they’ve taken of their lives online, going on recorded “dates” with their fellow band members (which functions both as “proof” of their fantasy availability to fans, but also a touch of queer-baiting), etc. It’s beyond oppressive - I can’t imagine anyone going through it and coming out of the industry (sometimes when they’re still in their teens) intact.
The whole J-pop/K-pop “idol” industry is absolutely based on these dynamics. And I don’t know about this case, but it’s not uncommon for idols to “debut” in groups when they’re of high-school age, as young as 13 or 14 years old (after years of “training,” having potentially started when they were 11 or 12). It’s grotesque.
Given that it’s pretty common for idol groups (both J- and K-pop) groups to have, as part of their code of conduct, that the members aren’t allowed to date at all, much less be seen dating (and for their social media to reflect this), I think we can safely assume this happened. Members of other groups have been kicked out for less. It’s totally horrifying, what the kids in these groups get subjected to.
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I don’t know a whole lot about the industry, but ‘G Dragon’ (of Big Bang) seems to have aged rather poorly after his stint in the spotlight a decade or so ago:
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I really wonder how all these former “stars” (anyone who ended up in a group for any length of time) survive, post-fame. They get started in grade school, so they have to be missing out on a significant amount of education, they have no hope of going to university, they’ve been through this traumatizing idol experience, and now they’re jobless (and without marketable skills) in a society that expects a degree for any sort of decent paying job (after having been paid pretty poorly for their idol work, even for popular groups).
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Absolutely. That is the point. These managers are competing for the attention and $$ of fans, who have hundreds of other idols they can choose to spend their money and attention on if anything shatters their fantasy and unhealthy obsession. Hence punishing harshly the girls who break their rules: it signals to the fans that management is apologizing/acquiescing to their customers for (at least temporarily) shattering their fantasy, and scares the other girls into submission.
As for the mental, emotional, and sometimes even physical safety of the girls? Unimportant. For every girl that quits, gets kicked out, or ‘graduates’ (read: gets too old to meet the loli fantasies of the fan base and so are summarily retired) there are dozens of younger girls lining up to take their place. It’s a renewable resource, so just use it, throw it away when no longer useful, then replace it.
The goal of most of the girls is to be able to transition to something more mainstream in the entertainment industry (acting, solo artist, fashion model, etc.) before they ‘graduate’, get kicked out, and then forgotten. However only a very small fraction of them actually manage to do so. So for the girls it’s a lottery at best, or a Ponzi scheme at worst (many of the girls have to pay for their first few years of ‘training’ and then become indentured to the production company they signed with).
I’ll also note that boy idol groups don’t have it much better and have similarly overly strict and controlling rules and restrictions placed upon them. It’s equal opportunity misery and exploitation!
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Just a slight note, i loathe to call it a correction, but you mention K and J-pop but this industry is set up across other countries as well. I know for a fact that it’s also present in China in the same form, it’s likely also present in other countries as well but i haven’t taken the time to look it up/research it. It doesn’t change the discussion but i bring it up because it paints a bleaker picture that the problem is more widespread.
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The group Menudo comes to mind…
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This whole thing is utterly fucked up and fuckwitted. but even allowing for the management’s PR needs to manage her image making them think they need to dictate her private behaviour, them openly calling it a “punishment” is beyond fuckwitted and deep into “yes, we are evil” territory.
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