Abiru Yuu Wrapupあびる優について最後の一言

Top right?
あびる優みたいにちょっと悪い過去のある人がアイドルとして活躍してるのってそんなに許せないのか?と2chの住民に聞きたい。ジェラシーにもほどがあるよ。日本って足を引っ張る社会と言われるが、ちょっとした誤りで人生をパーにしてはいけないと思うよ。11のときだよ?

Some of you may be wondering: what the hell does all this matter? Are you just using this as an excuse to post pictures of chicks?

But in all actuality, this incident is revealing of all sorts of pernicious elements in Japanese society. Let me recount some key events :

  • Abiru admits to robbing a market on the TV show Coming Doubt 2/15.
  • 2ch explodes with anger at her, angry e-mails follow.
  • Japan’s daily tabloids make a fuss over it.
  • Nippon TV and Hori Productions apologizes, explaining that “she blew out of proportion a shoplifting incident that happened when she was 11.” Nippon TV says that it was “inappropriate” to use someone’s criminal record as a question on a quiz show.
  • Abiru is suspended and her manager fired.
  • Nippon TV releases the results of an internal investigation: According to a report of an internal investigation by Nippon TV, the story of Abiru’s past theft came up during a meeting between the TV Station and Abiru’s agency, after which it was used on the show. It is said to have aired without the management’s approval at either a program meeting or at editing.
  • The police question Abiru over her involvement.
  • The English language media seem to take some notice, but totally miss the point.
  • It was the concerted effort of 2ch that made this the scandal that it became. 2ch users sent “more than 200 e-mails” calling for the girl’s arrest and punishment. I find this tactic extremely distasteful because it reminds me of the US’ Religious Right complaining about supposed indecency on American TV.

    In cases of robbery in Japan, the perpetrator must either be caught red-handed, confess directly to the police, or the victim has to file charges. None of this happened — the girl only admitted to it on TV.

    The point of Coming Doubt is for a panel of celebrities to guess whether a purported story about the contestant, another celebrity, is true or not. Presumably, the contestants do not know beforehand what story they will be forced to confirm or deny. So it is highly likely that Abiru herself did not know that they would bring up her criminal history.

    The peculiar nature of these reality-style shows makes the case of Abiru Yuu very difficult for the layperson. Was there really a robbery, or was this all made up for TV? Or maybe there was a robbery, but Abiru fudged all the details? As soon as the scandal hit everyone reverted to cover-your-ass mode, so unless there’s some sort of formal trial, we’ll probably never know.

    So, all in all, should this girl’s career have to end because news of a childhood misdeed made it on national television? I am inclined to say no.

    There is an ugly tendency in Japan to condemn people for life (人生をパーにする)at the slightest misstep. For example, it’s not uncommon to see “restructured” workers working as taxi drivers because no one will hire them. Any kind of checkered past can make one unsuitable for marriage (such as a murderer, Korean, or 部落 in the family). And criminals are branded for life, relegated to working at menial tasks forever. Japan is considered to be a 足を引っ張る社会 “A society that holds people back” but why does it have to be that way? Is reform truly impossible?

    2 thoughts on “Abiru Yuu Wrapupあびる優について最後の一言”

    Comments are closed.