Outcry over Japan’s ‘vicious’ idol industry after NGT48 singer Maho Yamaguchi’s assault allegations go unresolved
- The 23-year-old went public in January with claims she had been attacked at her home by two men who said they got her address from a bandmate
- But after an internal investigation, her management agency says it can find no evidence that any member of the group was involved
In a video live-stream, she told fans that the two men had entered her home, covered her mouth and tackled her to the ground before she managed to get away.
The men – who have not been named – were later detained but denied carrying out the assault, telling police they had merely tried to talk with the pop star.
Questions were raised over how the men had found out Yamaguchi’s home address and schedule. According to her account, one of them told her that a bandmate of hers had given them the information.
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But on Friday, music management agency AKS – which represents the group – said at a press conference that it had found no evidence of this after concluding an internal investigation.
Soon after the allegations initially surfaced, the singer appeared on stage with the rest of her group for a three-year anniversary concert and was filmed bowing deeply several times before apologising for causing “trouble”.
At the time, many commenters voiced their suspicions that Yamaguchi had been forced to issue the apology by the group’s management.
In the video, the then 20-year-old Minegishi appeared with a shaved head, a traditional act of contrition.
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Calls were made for an independent ombudsman to be set up to regulate the industry, with the general mood being summed up by one commenter who said they were “disappointed but not surprised”.
Such an independent regulator to protect the interests and welfare of performers is unlikely to appear any time soon, according to Jake Adelstein, editor of the Japan Subculture Research Centre – a news website set up in 2007 “to expose the hidden side of Japan”.
“It’s a vicious industry,” he said. “The whole idol industry in Japan is that way, but the AKB business model is particularly unpleasant. The public gets to vote on who is the most popular girl and the ones that are not popular get frozen out, so there is an inbuilt rivalry there.”
With performers being pitted against each other, a dog-eat-dog culture has emerged in which pop stars “might smile and be sweet when they’re on the stage, but they’re anything but in real life”, Adelstein said.
This, he said, is reflected in Yamaguchi’s recent announcement that she will continue to perform with NGT48.
“What else could she do? If she walked away then she would be shunned by the industry as a troublemaker and she would never get another chance,” Adelstein said.
“But if she sticks at it, then companies will say that she’s willing to put up with everything that goes on in the industry and she will get more opportunities. That’s just the way it works.”
