Recently, we wrote about the startling incident involving Yamaguchi Maho, a member of the idol group NGT48 in Japan. Despite being attacked and nearly raped in her home, Yamaguchi’s assailants were let go by police. When Yamaguchi then took her case to her fans on the Internet, her group’s management company, AKS, forced her to apologize on stage to the group’s fans for “causing trouble”. The incident provoked a fierce backlash both in Japan as well as abroad.
In this first episode of the Unseen Japan Kaiwa YouTube channel, I sat down with English language YouTuber Misaki to get her thoughts on the incident as a Japanese woman. Misaki and I discussed the incident itself, how idol culture creates pressure for women in Japan, and the strict standards of beauty set by Japanese culture. (Note: Video is English/Japanese with English subtitles.)
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Misaki is a native of Kagoshima in Japan. She currently lives near Seattle, WA, where she works as a dental hygienist. Misaki maintains her own YouTube channel where she teaches English to Japanese speakers, and shares tips and tricks for getting by in America.
