日本女子團體成員因違規戀愛 剃頭謝罪

日本流行女子團體AKB48的成員峯岸南日前被拍到在男友家過夜，爲了表示悔過之意，她特意剃光頭髮錄製視頻向歌迷和經紀公司致歉。在視頻中，峯岸南表示，她決定剃光長髮來表達對自己“衝動和幼稚”行爲的悔過。她說：“我並不認爲這樣做就意味着我犯的錯誤可以被原諒，但我首先想到的是，我不想離開AKB48這個團體。”批評人士稱，峯岸南此舉有些小題大做；歌迷還爲其辯護，稱她們應該過正常人的生活。AKB48是目前日本人氣很旺的女子團體，在亞洲其他國家也頗受歡迎。該團體成立於2005年，成員皆爲90後女孩子，峯岸南是該團體早期成員之一。爲了不打破歌迷的幻想，該團體管理公司禁止所有成員談戀愛。剃頭是日本人表達悔過之意的一種傳統方式。

A Japanese pop star has shaved her head and offered a filmed apology after breaking her management firm's rules by spending a night with her boyfriend.

A sobbing Minami Minegishi apologized to her fans and said she did not want to leave the band AKB48, in the video seen by millions on YouTube.

The production company behind AKB48 said Minegishi, 20, had failed to abide by its cardinAl rule - no dating.

But fans have defended her, saying she is entitled to a normal life.

Head shaving is a traditional form of showing contrition in Japan.

Minegishi's apology came hours after a tabloid newspaper published photographs of her leaving the apartment of her boyfriend, Alan Shirahama, a dancer in a boy band.

In the video posted on AKB48's official website, she said she had made the decision to shave off her long hair to show contrition for her "thoughtless and immature" actions.

"I don't believe just doing this means I can be forgiven for what I did, but the first thing I thought was that I don't want to quit AKB48," she said.

At times sobbing and bowing her head during the nearly four-minute-long video, she also said: "If it is possible, I wish from the bottom of my heart to stay in the band. Everything I did is entirely my fault. I am so sorry."

Minegishi was one of the original members of AKB48 when it was launched by producer Yasushi Akimoto in 2005. The band is made up of some 90 girls - whose ages range from mid teens to early 20s - who, in teams, appear daily in their own theatre and regularly on television, in adverts, and in magazines.

They portray an image of cuteness known as "kawaii", and have become a huge phenomenon both in Japan and increasingly in other Asian countries, correspondents say.

The condition for being part of such a successful act is that the girls must not date boys, so as not to shatter their fans' illusions.

AKB48's management office said Minegishi had been demoted to a trainee team as punishment "for causing a nuisance to the fans".

But author and critic Hiroki Azuma said it was "disgusting" that the star felt she should resort to a traditional act of contrition when the only rules she had broken were those of her band's.

Some fans and commentators say Minegishi went too far with her public apology, and that it was unnecessary.

"What's the point of this public execution show? It's like something from the war or a totalitarian state," one fan said on Twitter.