Minami
Minegishi of all-girl group AKB48 issues a tearful video of her saying sorry
for breaking her band's no dating rule.
A Japanese pop star has appeared in a
video sobbing after shaving her head in penance for being caught spending a
night with a boyfriend.
Minami Minegishi, 20, of all-girl group AKB48 was forced to make
an apology on screen after she broke her band's strict no dating rule.
A tabloid newspaper leaving the apartment of her boyfriend, Alan
Shirahama, a dancer in a boy band, had photographed her.
The video of her apologising which appeared on the group's
website and was later posted on YouTube has been seen by more than six million
people.
During the four-minute-long video, with tears streaming down her
cheeks, she says: "I don't believe just doing this means I can be forgiven
for what I did, but the first thing I thought was that I don't want to quit
AKB48.
"It was impossible for me to think of leaving AKB48, which
has supportive fans and fellow members I have spent most of my youth with. I
know this is too optimistic, but I still want to be Minami Minegishi of AKB48.
"It
was all my fault. I sincerely apologise for it.
"I leave further decisions to Mr Akimoto [producer] and
staff members. I don't know how to deal with this matter yet, but all I can do
now is expressing my feelings here. Thank you very much."
Head shaving is a traditional form of showing regret and
publicly seeking forgiveness in Japan.
AKB48 is the world's largest girl pop group and has a total of
48 members putting it in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Every year, fans vote to determine the most popular members out
of a 237-member pool.
The members of AKB48 and their affiliated troupes are then
rotated in and out according to their popularity.
The girl with the most votes becomes the leader of this
sprawling group.
Minegishi was one of the original members of AKB48 when producer
Yasushi Akimoto launched it in 2005.
In a stroke of marketing genius, fans only get to vote by
purchasing AKB48 CDs. One CD buys one vote.
In
exchange for being part of the lucrative group, the band members must not date
men so they do not shatter the fantasies of male fans that buy their records.
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