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On August 16, Minami Minegishi, a former member of the idol group AKB48 and TV personality, revealed that she had gotten married. Her husband is Tetsuya, leader of the popular YouTuber group 東海オンエア Tokai On Air.
Minegishi commented on Twitter as follows:
"To all of you who have always supported me:
I, Minami Minegishi, have married Tetsuya of Tokai On Air. Tetsuya-san has always been there for me in spite of my negativity, encouraging me and helping me to look forward.
After I met him, I began looking forward to getting up in the morning every day. I came to think that I wanted to be with him forever.
He accepts both my past and my weaknesses with his generous heart, and just having his kindness by my side gives me the courage to find more strength within me than I originally had.
I am grateful for this relationship and will continue to nurture it, while striving to do my best in my work as Minami Minegishi.
I am happy to say that it's thanks to all of you who have supported me and helped me that I am the person I am today, and I am able to make this announcement today.
Thank you so much for everything.
To ensure that fans who have supported both of us so far will feel confident in continuing their support, we will join forces, nurturing our positive points as we grow together.
I hope you will continue to watch over us warmly.
Minami Minegishi"
While Minegishi, who had the longest tenure among AKB48's original members from 2005 to 2021, is well known among J-pop and Japanese idol fans, she is perhaps most famous internationally for having appeared in a video apologizing to her fans, her head shaved as an act of contrition, after a weekly tabloid reported that she had spent a night at her then-boyfriend's apartment in violation of her management company's no-dating rules. The news not only rocked the Japanese entertainment world but was also widely reported in international media.
She officially graduated on May 28, 2021, after 16 years with AKB48.
Today, however, the unfortunate events of 2013, which may have been a part of the "past" and "negativity" she described in her announcement, are nowhere in the thoughts of most of her fans, who greeted the news of her marriage with messages like "Congratulations indeed!" and "Please be happy!" The two had been reported to be in love in September 2021.
According to Tetsuya in a statement on his Twitter account, he and Minegishi submitted their marriage registration on August 12.
In his statement, Tetsuya expresses his joy in being able to marry Minegishi, whom he had long admired as a fan, saying: "This report sounds like a dream come true, but it's not a delusion."
Both of them surely have a bright future ahead as TV personalities and YouTubers and we offer our congratulations to them on this happy occasion.
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- External Link
- https://grapee.jp/en/
13 Comments
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theFu
It was only international news because she shaved her head, not because she slept over at a boyfriends place or got married. Cultural differences.
kohakuebisu
I saw this on Japanese tv this morning. They did not mention the hair shaving incident, so presumably its not how she is framed in Japan.
Tokai On Air are massive. I wonder what kind of organization they have behind them. Like most Youtubers, they play off the "we're just ordinary folks" angle, but I bet there is a jimusho full of marketers, researchers, etc. behind them, making them little different to AKB themselves. The big gaijin Youtubers in Japan belong to a marketing agency planning their content and doing commercial tie-ups. They are not just your proto "mate" making jokey videos on their own.
finally rich
"She officially graduated...."
facepalm
browny1
Hope she can enjoy her life now that she's free from the clutches of the Fascist Entertainment Industry.
As an adult - 21 years old - she dared to sleep over with her boyfriend and was "demoted" (like the military) and pressured to publicly apologize in a most humiliating manner including shaving her head.
In the army that's called bastardization.
Good Luck to her.
robin12
As an adult, she breached the terms of contract that she agreed to upon joining the group. How is this a difficult concept to grasp ? She shaved her head because she WANTED to stay, the option to walk away was/is always there for these girls. No one is holding them at gun point or blackmailing them to continue doing what they're doing.
James
Wait she gets to keep her Maiden name? Have they changed the rule or is Tetsuya-san taking her surname? or is there a different rule for famous people?
Nemo
Tanslation:
"I am pregnant. Does anyone know how to cook Miso?"
And as a matter of contract law, I am not sure about differences here in Japan, but I am pretty sure that minors are not legally capable of entering into binding contracts. So she could have as an adult, told her mgt. agency to go stuff themselves but then the gravy train would have ended, wouldn't it?
I mean, where or where would the "talent" agency ever find a ditzy doe-eyed teen to auto-tune?
So she shaved her head and the money kept flowing. Hope she saved some of it. I am guessing she is likely to need it when her flash in the pan Hubby either gets a wandering eye or sees his 15 min. expire.
RowanM
No, I'm pretty sure they'll have to follow the same rules. It's more likely that she will take his name for official legal purposes and just use her maiden name as a stage name for the recognition.
Abbey
Do we really care ! And is this news ?
Strangerland
Ten comments on this article show the answers to be yes and yes.
TokyoLiving
Happy marriage and happy life for you !!..
Abe234
She was officially FIRED. Retired...don't make me laugh.lol