A member of the Japanese pop group, AKB48 has shaved her head in penance for being caught with a man. Minami Minegishi, 20, a member of the popular group reportedly did so because she broke the groups no-dating rule. ABC News reported that she posted a video on the band's YouTube page giving a teary apology.
A Japanese tabloid magazine took shots of her leaving her boyfriend's house last week and in the video she asks for forgiveness and shows her shaven head.
The Daily Mail reported that Minegishi said she decided to shave her long hair off after she saw the photos of her leaving 19-year-old Alan Shirahama's house. The band has strict rules that members of the group cannot be involved in romantic or sexual relationships.
In the Youtube video she called herself, "thoughtless and immature."
"I know this is being over‐optimistic, but I want to stay as Minegishi Minami of AKB48 if possible,' she said, reported The Daily Mail. "It was all my fault about this. I am very sorry."
She added, "As a senior member of the group, it is my responsibility to be a role model for younger members."
The girls in the group are in their teens and early twentie the pop group is extremely popular and have sold millions of albums.
"Her dramatic gesture underlined the strict rules to which Japan's young pop stars must adhere to project an image of unimpeachable morals," reported The Guardian.
"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 added in the video.
The band's management agency demoted he down to "trainee level" according to the band's blog.
Minegishi is one of the band's original members, starting in 2005. Now the group has more than 230 members with four main bands. "In 2012, a TV commercial in which the girls seductively passed confectionery from mouth to mouth attracted complaints, and earlier the same year one of the singer's mothers was arrested for allegedly having sex with a minor," reported The Guardian.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
