Human Trafficking and J-Pop Idols
According to Osaki, the Japanese ministry has taken various precautions to eliminate the threat of enjo kosai and JK businesses from Japanese society by creating laws that target the girls involved in such activities; yet this seems counterintuitive when the adults exploiting the girls are deemed to be upstanding citizens and youth everywhere continue consuming Japanese idol culture.
AKB48, a Japanese pop idol group consisting of 140 women (ranging from their early teens to mid-20s), is possibly the ultimate example and representation of Japan’s idol culture. Yasushi Akimoto, the creator and manager of the group, established AKB48 as a group that would cater to its fandom on a daily basis. He wanted to reshape the relationship between the idol and the fan and sought to create a fantasy where the girls would be able to personally interact with and exist solely for their fandom. Male agents and mangers soon bought into this trend and began capitalizing on young girls who wished to become famous J-Pop idols, and eventually, a new form of trafficking was born right before everyone’s eyes: the sexualized commodification of female idol groups. Because it is important for idol groups to maintain the fan's fantasies created by their owners, their media portrayals become one with their personal lives. For AKB48 members such as Minami Minegishi, Yuka Masuda, or Rina Sashihara, their personal affairs with boyfriends were contractually forbidden due to the image they were expected to maintain. After being discovered, all of these women were forced to publicly apologize for their inconsiderate and thoughtless behavior, and were demoted from the main AKB48 stage (Martin). While authorities attempt to clear the streets of young girls participating in JK businesses or chasing down girls attempting to break into the enjo kosai market, little attention is paid to the perverse nature of the idol industry’s domination over female independence. Just as the other two trafficking models, the idol industry and the media fetishizes the young and vulnerable female body, molds it into something proper for consumption, and capitalizes off the fame. Martin highlights the extent of the perverse nature of AKB48’s relationship to its fans when he states that the fans (mostly male) are allowed to vote on the relevancy of each member. This process of objectifying and selling the young female body for male consumption directly mirrors the “immoral” acts by female participants in enjo kosai and JK businesses but is completely normalized through the media.
The enjo kosai and JK business model extends further into Japanese media with the introduction of new female idol groups. Last year, The Margarines, Japan’s newest idol group, announced their arrival onto the idol scene during a press conference in Tokyo. The women, ranging from ages 19 to 30, reported that their desire to form a girl group was to use their dancing and singing—their bodies—to pay off their collective ¥127 million (roughly $1,068,340) debt (Brasor). While the concept of using one’s talents to pay back debts has existed for quite some time, the reality is that the girls whom The Margarines wish to inspire are being taught that through making their bodies available, they too can repay anyone—any man. The link between the idol industry and human trafficking is a lot easier to see when considering that many contracts between prostitutes and their owners revolve around debts that are owed.
.
Martin, Ian. "AKB48 Member's 'penance' Shows Flaws in Idol Culture | The Japan Times." Japan Times. Japan Times, 01 Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2015..
AKB48, a Japanese pop idol group consisting of 140 women (ranging from their early teens to mid-20s), is possibly the ultimate example and representation of Japan’s idol culture. Yasushi Akimoto, the creator and manager of the group, established AKB48 as a group that would cater to its fandom on a daily basis. He wanted to reshape the relationship between the idol and the fan and sought to create a fantasy where the girls would be able to personally interact with and exist solely for their fandom. Male agents and mangers soon bought into this trend and began capitalizing on young girls who wished to become famous J-Pop idols, and eventually, a new form of trafficking was born right before everyone’s eyes: the sexualized commodification of female idol groups. Because it is important for idol groups to maintain the fan's fantasies created by their owners, their media portrayals become one with their personal lives. For AKB48 members such as Minami Minegishi, Yuka Masuda, or Rina Sashihara, their personal affairs with boyfriends were contractually forbidden due to the image they were expected to maintain. After being discovered, all of these women were forced to publicly apologize for their inconsiderate and thoughtless behavior, and were demoted from the main AKB48 stage (Martin). While authorities attempt to clear the streets of young girls participating in JK businesses or chasing down girls attempting to break into the enjo kosai market, little attention is paid to the perverse nature of the idol industry’s domination over female independence. Just as the other two trafficking models, the idol industry and the media fetishizes the young and vulnerable female body, molds it into something proper for consumption, and capitalizes off the fame. Martin highlights the extent of the perverse nature of AKB48’s relationship to its fans when he states that the fans (mostly male) are allowed to vote on the relevancy of each member. This process of objectifying and selling the young female body for male consumption directly mirrors the “immoral” acts by female participants in enjo kosai and JK businesses but is completely normalized through the media.
The enjo kosai and JK business model extends further into Japanese media with the introduction of new female idol groups. Last year, The Margarines, Japan’s newest idol group, announced their arrival onto the idol scene during a press conference in Tokyo. The women, ranging from ages 19 to 30, reported that their desire to form a girl group was to use their dancing and singing—their bodies—to pay off their collective ¥127 million (roughly $1,068,340) debt (Brasor). While the concept of using one’s talents to pay back debts has existed for quite some time, the reality is that the girls whom The Margarines wish to inspire are being taught that through making their bodies available, they too can repay anyone—any man. The link between the idol industry and human trafficking is a lot easier to see when considering that many contracts between prostitutes and their owners revolve around debts that are owed.
References
Brasor, Philip. "In-debt Idols Send Wrong Message to Girls | The Japan Times." Japan Times. Japan Times, 11 Oct. 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.Martin, Ian. "AKB48 Member's 'penance' Shows Flaws in Idol Culture | The Japan Times." Japan Times. Japan Times, 01 Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
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