Many Japanese venues allow concertgoers to wave glow sticks, but waving your junk? That’s a no-no.
Although idol singers are expected to be good-looking and emotionally attractive, their most obsessive supporters generally don’t care for it when the pop vocalists present anything other than a very pure image. However, judging from what transpired at a recent idol event, some fans apparently don’t think such outward chastity needs to be a two-way street.
On February 3, the bombastically named Japan Idol Super Live 2016 vol. 2 was held at Tokyo’s O-East music club. A total of 20 idol groups came together for the joint concert at the venue, located in the Shibuya neighborhood.
Among the performers was Maneki Kecha, a five-person idol unit made up of members between the ages of 16 and 20. However, while the young ladies were on stage, a portion of the crowd got out of control. Some of them slipped on masks and started throwing beans, which isn’t something you should ordinarily do at a club, although they might have been able to get away with it since February 3 is also Setsubun, the holiday on which throwing beans is said to banish evil demons.
It’s a bit harder to justify ignoring event staff’s directions by climbing over fences that had been set up, presumably to keep some kind of buffer between the idols and the audience. But even that isn’t quite as bad as what some were spotted doing: dropping their pants and exposing their naked lower bodies.
Kan Furuya, head of Maneki Kecha’s talent agency Collet Promotion, issued an apology through a pair of tweets, the first of which came on the day of the incident.
“This is an unfortunate announcement, but at the concert today a number of fans were seen engaging in outrageous behavior. If such actions constitute a disturbance of the event, those fans will be asked to leave, and we will bar them from any future events at which our company’s talent appear. Moreover, please be aware that for those ejected from the event, refunds will not be issued.”
“We reserve the right to prioritize making a safe, enjoyable concert environment. Our measures may be strict, but that is our stance on the matter. Thank you for your understanding.”
We’re not sure asking concertgoers, no matter how excited they may be, to literally keep their pants on qualifies as a “strict stance,” but in any case we hope that if and when Japan Idol Super Live vol. 3 rolls around the unsheathed dong-to-idol ratio is lower than it was for vol. 2.
Source: Suponichi via Hachima Kiko