Japanese pop group AKB48 member Minami Minegishi has taken the extreme to apologise for her dating scandal by shaving her head.
The 20-year-old was caught sleeping over at a man’s place by the paparazzi, which is strictly forbidden by the group’s management. As strange (and perhaps inhuman) as it sounds, the idol-no-dating rule is very common in East Asia, though there’s not many agencies that enforces the regulation as religiously as AKB48.
It’s said that she shaved her head on her own accord. Whether she’s told to do so or not it shows how much pressure she was in to try and get out of the trouble.
Although many people has said that the (self) punishment is too harsh, the act might actually save her AKB48 career as she was “merely” demoted to trainee status. There were others who were penalised heavier (expelled etc.) for lesser evidence.
