As summer started, things were on an upswing forMomoka Tojo. In June, she became a member of idol singer groupKatacoto Bank(stylized as KATACOTO*BANK), and in July she’d be celebrating her 20th birthday, traditionally considered the start of adult life in Japanese society (though legal adulthood in the country now begins at 18).
“Last chance to see teenage me,” posted Tojo to her Twitter account on July 22, the day before her birthday.
A few days later, on July 26,Momoka posted photos from her birthday celebration, showing her eating cake and posing with balloons of the number 20. That’s not out of the ordinary in today’s social media-infused idol community, but what was unusual was thatthe photos weren’t of Momoka alone, but of her celebrating with a young man, and it was just the two of them celebrating.
It’s long been the norm for idol unit management and talent agencies to prohibit, or at least strongly discourage, performing idols from dating, either throughexplicit contract clausesor throughless direct forms of pressure. After the photos began to attract attention online, Momoka deleted her post which contained the images, and the Katacoto Bank official Twitter account issued a statement the next day which includes an unorthodox “punishment” that has been placed on Momoka, in which she will now post a good-night photo of herself, alone, every night, for an entire year.
The statement says:
"Before going to bed last night, Momoka Tojo mistakenly posted photos of herself and man who could be seen as her boyfriend. Through a through fact-finding investigation conducted by management, it was been determined that she is currently dating him, and that her boyfriend is a person from outside the entertainment industry.
We have cautioned her that this is “unthinkable conduct showing a lack of mindfulness as an idol,” and after discussing the matter together, the following course of action has been decided on.
“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” duty will be placed upon her.
Through this, we will have Momoka Tojo comply with the concept that “the most important thing for an idol to do is to be (sleep) by the side of each individual fan.” ※Should it appear that her boyfriend is present in her photos, please inform us.
Momoka Tojo has only recently become an idol, and it is our sincere hope that through this incident she will take the job of being an idol seriously. To all of you, her fans, we hope that you will continue to encourage, scold, cheer for, and promote her."
The statement then goes on to mention Katacoto Bank’s upcoming November 12 concert at Shibuya Veats in Tokyo and concludes by asking fans to refrain from making slanderous comments about Tojo’s outside-the-entertainment-industry boyfriend.
▼ Tojo’s first “good night alone” photo, posted July 28…
▼ …and her most recent, as of this article’s writing.
Following the announcement of her punishment,Tojo also posted a handwritten apologythrough her Twitter account, saying:
"I sincerely apologize for my recent careless actions, which caused a great deal of trouble and stress to our fans and other related parties.
I was lacking in proper awareness of the role of an idol, and what I did was inconsiderate to the fans, other members of the group, and other parties who support me each and every day. I deeply regret and am reflecting upon my actions.
I will make every effort to prevent such a thing from happening again, develop a thorough understanding of what it means to be an idol, regain the trust of those who support me, and contribute as a member of Katacoto Bank."
With that, Katacoto Bank seems to consider the matter settled.There’s been no indication that the group/its management is asking Tojo to step down, or to have her go on a temporary hiatus from performances and promotional appearances while the situation blows over.
Still, posting a daily good-night photo of herself alone is the strangest act of contrition for an idol being seen with her boyfriend sinceoriginal AKB48 member Minami Minegishihad her head shaved down to a buzz cut after it came out that she’d spent the night at a man’s apartment.
When such scandals happen in the idol world, there’s often a reaction of“Who cares is a musician has a boyfriend?”from the level-headed general public. However, a major amount of the idol industry’s lifeblood comes from fans whose level of obsession isn’t exactly level-headed. Much like mobile/gacha video gaming,the idol industry has long been reliant on catching whales, obsessive customers who represent revenue streams exponentially larger than other demographics.
Historically, for these whales it’s been the quasi-social bond that draws them to idol music, the idea that “My favorite idol may not know me personally, but if we everdidmeet, she’d probably recognize and appreciate my attractive qualities.” If you gathered a dozen random idol fans, some would be totally fine with their favorite idol openly having a boyfriend, but the whales’ enthusiasm might be dampened enough that they’re no longer each going to buy 20 identical copies of all the group’s CDs to try to win meet-and-greet event tickets to shake hands with their favorite member.
It’s worth pointing out that,in its own weird way, Tojo’s solo good night photo punishment is a sign of increased industry acceptance of idols dating. The pledge to “maintain a measure of distance” from him notwithstanding, nowhere in their statements do Katacoto Bank or Tojo make any indication that she’s going to break up with or stop dating her boyfriend. In effect, Katacoto Bank’s reaction to the birthday photos boils down to management officially announcing and accepting that a member has a boyfriend, while at the same time wanting to prevent that aspect of her life making it harder to sell whales the “my favorite idol might have a thing for me if she knew me” fantasy. It’s not like it requires master-of-subterfuge-level skills for Tojo to quickly angle the lens so her boyfriend is out of frame in her good night snapshots, then go right back into couple’s time after, so the good night pics are arguably less “Here’s proof that I’m not with a guy” and more “Here are a bunch of photos to rebuild your fantasy.”
Whether or not it’s fair for Tojo to have to jump through those hoops is another, much longer discussion, involving the increased mainstream popularity of idol music over the past 15 years, decreased individual consumer spending on music products, and divisions in marketing appeal between the Japanese idol industry and other musical genres. Will Japanese idol music ever reach a point where performers’ personal love lives aren’t seen as a liability that could hurt the group’s chances of success? Maybe one day it will, but in the meantime, for the next 300-plus nights, Tojo will be posting good night photos.
Sources:Twitter/@katacoto_bankviaAnime News Network/Ken Iikura-Gross,Twitter/@10_momo23,Model Press
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- AKB48’s final original member, who had to shave her head, is leaving the group
-- Japanese idol singer who was attacked at home makes on-stage apology for “causing commotion”
-- Idol says her on-stage apology after being attacked was something her managers forced her to do
© SoraNews24
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40 Comments
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Oldyeller
Ahh! The psychosis of the Idol industry. So KAWAIIIII... Not!
-1(+23/-24)
dagon
Momoka deleted her post which contained the images, and the Katacoto Bank official Twitter account issued a statement the next day which includes an unorthodox “punishment” that has been placed on Momoka, in which she will now post a good-night photo of herself, alone, every night, for an entire year.
There are simps and parasocial relationships in the West too. And some influencers suffer a drop in subs when it is revealed they are in a relationship.
But these talent agencies looking at a drop in their bottom line and imposing bizarre penances on girls are grotesque.
16(+20/-4)
GuruMick
Bring back the stocks !
Hair shirt for pajamas .!
0(+4/-4)
Peter Neil
except for the guy taking the photos…
10(+10/-0)
garypen
How does nobody involved - management, idols, fans - see how utterly ridiculous that all is?
11(+14/-3)
falseflagsteve
Disgusting, sounds like Johnnies type of tactics. This dross is offensive to decent people with a functioning brain.
4(+14/-10)
virusrex
The whole idol genre should be scrapped, people that are mediocre at best at singing, dancing, acting, etc. are given a place under the spotlight only because they pretend to be single for the fans to adore.
If the person has not enough talent or discipline to be in showbusiness then just leave that space for someone that does, but "cheating" by pretending to be the spiritual lover of the fans is just ridiculous.
14(+17/-3)
browny1
ust tell me this is a "Summer Holiday" joke in the vein of April Fools.
So we can all laugh and forget the heat.
After all of the Abuse of the Johnnies world spread globally and a spotlight on the Suspect Japanese entertainment industry to clean up it's act, we get this.
It's actually Big H Big P Power Harassment that the industry should be speaking out on. It's not about contractual obligations. This would never stand a chance in most courts in most modern societies.
Sadly to date, media and industry haven't and probably won't speak out. Weak as.
If she does then she's untouchable in the industry.
Buck the system - then there's plenty more lining up for your job.
Disposable goods.
Sick.
5(+8/-3)
falseflagsteve
I agree with Virusrex
-3(+6/-9)
GuruMick
In Israel and many other countries, at her age, she'd be doing compulsory military conscription.
That'd knock the "kawaii " out of her.
-7(+7/-14)
Sanjinosebleed
Creepy stuff!
This idol stuff is basically legalised pedophilia .
-5(+12/-17)
falseflagsteve
Sanjin
Yup, you should see how many middle aged and older foreign blokes get obsessed over these young girls.
-9(+9/-18)
Garthgoyle
So gross. So she's nothing but sexual candy. Which yes, we know the idols industry is just that. But still.
-6(+10/-16)
DanteKH
This is so sick, gross and discussing on so many levels.
Basically this is pedophilia hiden into this retarded idol culture, where mostly only perverts and sexually disturbed people are entertained.
How is this even allowed to exist, in a so called civilised country, is beyond comprehension.
-7(+10/-17)
finally rich
SNS mental illness or fatherless activities?
-5(+3/-8)
Futaro Gamagori
I don't really care and it's none of my business
But i care enough to read articles that i know right from the headline that it is something that i don't care about but will still read it anyway and share comments with others who are doing the same thing and talk about how we don't really care about what we just read that we know from the beginning that we don't care about before reading it
4(+10/-6)
CaptDingleheimer
God forbid a bunch of 48-year old salarymen think she isn't single and ready to mingle...
9(+9/-0)
BRS
Thanks, CB and Sora, for keeping us informed about the things that matter in Japan; you have an uncanny, unerring ability to sink to this level.
And here's an upvote for you, Futaro.
-7(+1/-8)
buchailldana
Japanese worker protection rights are primitive.
If this was in Europe she'd be entitled to huge compensation.
A whole year of this charade.
Shocking
6(+9/-3)
Some dude
Anyone seen the Beat Takeshi film "Dolls"? It runs multiple stories together, and one of them is about what the article calls the "whales": a complete loser who's obsessed with an idol and goes to insane lengths to meet her.
9(+9/-0)
Samit Basu
This is why Japan's most talented idols flee Japan and move to Korea, where they are free to date anyone they want.
-13(+2/-15)
Gaijinjland
@ Samit Basu
I don’t think South Korean talent agencies are any less stringent with dating… they’re probably worse. And aren’t most of the non Korean idols in Korea from Thailand and China?
11(+12/-1)
virusrex
If this was in Europe she'd be entitled to huge compensation.
If this was in Europe she would not have a job in the first place, which is fine. The whole business model would be impossible to implement.
9(+10/-1)
桜川雪
Instead of having to debase herself, can she not self-manage and be famous without her Idol company that has those strict no dating policies?
7(+7/-0)
Haaa Nemui
This from the article made me laugh.
When such scandals happen in the idol world, there’s often a reaction of“Who cares is a musician has a boyfriend?”from the level-headed general public. However, a major amount of the idol industry’s lifeblood comes from fans whose level of obsession isn’t exactly level-headed.
6(+7/-1)
Capuchin
Gross, as is every part of the idol industry.
1(+4/-3)
Moonraker
She looks about 11 years old. The men who idolise her must have real psychological problems. But she is also a role model for young Japanese girls. There is a positive feedback involved where the industry turns young girls into fodder candy for insecure nerds. You would think there would be some kind of real self-analysis going on in this country regarding this whole phenomenon but self-awareness is strangely absent and even resisted.
-9(+6/-15)
Garthgoyle
Samit
and move to Korea, where they are free to date anyone they want.
You obviously haven't been to Korea for a while. Otherwise, you'd know your statement is entirely incorrect.
8(+9/-1)
Moonraker
In short, she is, in this form, an outgrowth of the real sickness of the society.
-4(+3/-7)
smithinjapan
Didn't take long to jump back into the "jonny's" practice, I see. Sexualize these little girls and boys as much as you can, but hell, don't let them have a life of their own. When they commit suicide, "Aw, shucks! Couldn't-a seen-it comin'! Who'd a thunk it? (bow bow) We're so vewy sowwy!"
-1(+4/-5)
Samit Basu
@Gaijinjland
I don’t think South Korean talent agencies are any less stringent with dating…
Again I am not sure why there is a misconception in Japan that a dating ban exists in Korea, which would be illegal. Korea is a complete opposite of Japan in many ways, starting with women's rights.
You can literally see who's dating who here right now, it's all public info. In fact, the busiest leak time is when some massive political scandal is brewing, to divert public's attention away.
https://www.j-14.com/posts/k-pop-stars-who-are-dating-korean-singers-in-relationships/
https://www.lifestyleasia.com/hk/entertainment/celebrities/k-pop-idols-who-are-dating-in-2024-hyuna-jihyo-and-more/
-3(+1/-4)
Makoto Shimizu
Invisible and unnecessary social pressure. Stupid values. Hypocrisy. Since early childhood people are trained to pretend, to hide genuine feelings, to not express itself, the recipe that leads to depression, to unhappiness.
Poor girl. Mako Prince should be reminded as an example to runaway of tradition, to be free of nonsense invisible social rules.
2(+2/-0)
tora
This is actually a human rights issue and a form of sexualised servitude. As others have said, the entire industry needs to be shut down. There is no way such practices should be legal.
1(+2/-1)
Speed
Imagine a society or company that enjoys proof everyday of a person not being able to snuggle up to a person they love or like.
3(+3/-0)
u_s__reamer
Sexist public humiliation of girls by bullying infantile male pervs doesn't come any kinkier (only in Japan!)
2(+3/-1)
Corey
Just such a stupid business. What can you say? I’m just adding my thumbs down vote. Otherwise, speechless.
2(+3/-1)
Corey
And these people are the hope of older Japanese to carry the country forward with intelligent policies? That shows the old are just stupid in a different way.
0(+2/-2)
Newgirlintown
Why is it always females that this seems to happen to?
-3(+1/-4)
tora
Why is it always females that this seems to happen to?
Not true. Exploitative practices throughout the idol industry and look at what at Johnny & Associates. The entire idol / entertainment / geino industry needs to be completely overhauled. Time to protect the vulnerable, Japan.
1(+2/-1)
Newgirlintown
True.
1(+2/-1)
