Japanese idol group asks fans to be respectful towards pre-teen singer for heartwarming reason
soranews24.com
With the Christmas season here, management asks for sensitivity regarding one specific topic.

The problematic nature of Japanese Idol culture is acknowledged. I still thought this was heartwarming.

An important announcement regarding Seira Umegwa

Thank you all for your continued kind support of Idol Kyoshitsu New.

Seira Umegawa is currently in the sixth grade, and we are informing everyone that as of the time of this writing, November 25, 2024, she believes in Santa Claus.

We apologize for the suddenness of this, but following discussions between the other members of the group and Umegawa’s parents, we are requesting that fans conduct themselves, in words and actions, with the presumption that Santa Claus exists.

  • CrisEnglish
    4•2 days ago

    I don’t think you’re wrong at all to think it’s wholesome! I just also think your initial comment relfects a lack of context about what idol culture is like, it’s a lot more toxic than being a child actor or singer, or being on Nickelodeon. Where abuses sometimes, or perhaps even often happen there, and the exposure to celebrity from a young age can be really bad for kids, idol culture and agencies codify and intentionally facilitate things that are bad for kids.

    And to be very clear, I don’t see it as a personal failing for someone to not know about this. It’s a distinct thing from other cultures that most people here have no exposure to, and it doesn’t disallow you from appreciating this nice occurrence.

    In 2014 when child pornography was outlawed, there were a number of idol distrubtors who closed due to the ban because it used to be very common to produce child pornography of idols. It is still a thing that idols are asked to participate in (idols age out at 25, I haven’t investigated the age range of idols in the survey):

    In 2017, through a survey conducted by the Japanese government, 53 out of 197 women contracted with talent agencies stated that they had been asked to take part in pornographic photo or video shoots of which were not previously disclosed nor included in their contracts. 17 of the women stated that they had performed the request anyway.

    That was taken from the Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_idol?wprov=sfla1). If you read the section on critisisms I think you’ll start to understand what I mean, as it’s pretty horrific, especially as a thing to subject children to. The agencies and culture around idols are HIGHLY exploitative, intentionally by design. They’re exploitative in terms of labor practices, in terms of sexual exploitation, and they (by definition) subject children and young girls to levels of parasocial obsession that pretty much doesn’t exist outside of idol culture to the best of my knowledge. That parasocial obsession is what the girls’ public image is designed for and marketed on, and it has escalated, not just to stalking or harassment, but violence on multiple occasions, which the Wikipedia page covers.