My mother was an OG stan and used to follow TOKIO and KinKi kids (and I’m sure we have some cassettes/CDs of theirs in our attic), and even she talks about the terrible abuse rumours that went around during those days. For context, those two groups debut around 1993 or 94.
This has been going on for a long time. The J-Idol market (like most entertainment media industries) needs a top to bottom cleanup. I hope the victims at least find some peace.
I have no idea if KinKi kids is a bad translation, an abriviation, or what but it looks like someone was trying to tell on themselves with that in English.
Haha, Kinki is actually another (old school) name for Kansai region in Japan. In Kanji it’s basically “Near the capital” (Kyoto at the time).
So KinKi Kids were named because they grew up in Kansai. I actually don’t know if the double entendre was intentional when they started!
Rich fucks and getting away with crime. Can you name a more iconic duo?
I would also like to add that another horrible treatment of young men and women involved in the Japanese idol market (I would call it a meat market even) is the immense social pressure from the talent companies, which has been ruled illegal and unconstitutional, to keep romantic relationships secret, to always appear “available” to the fans. Despite the rulings there are still idols who get caught up in “scandals” from time to time and are more or less forced to issue massive apologies or leave their agency.
I really do not like the phrase “teen idol market”
Oh yeah. The industry is just straight up creepy. The “talent” gets scouted as kids and gets used up for a couple of years until they get “too old” and maybe some of them transition into successful entertainment careers in adulthood. Some are able to go back to a “normal” life if their career was short and easily forgotten. Others might get away with a short gravure career… Others still go on to join the AV industry.
Of course, some enjoy their careers, and have no regrets about their choices.
But change is still badly needed. The idol industry has contracts that get really fucking close to straight up slavery with how tightly the agencies control the personal lives of the “talent”. And that some are willing, doesn’t excuse the treatment of the many who aren’t.
And that’s just industry standard, before we even consider the abuse happening behind closed doors.
So this Kitagawa guy is the Japanese version of Lou Pearlman?
