Johnny and Associates - one of the biggest agencies of J-pop singers - has been overwhelmed by allegations against its founder (who passed away in 2019) that over decades he allegedly molested hundreds of young artists. An affair that was kept hidden for a long time despite the fact that the first allegations surfaced in 1999. The inadequacy of victim protection measures in Japan.
My mother was an OG stan and used to follow TOKIO and KinKi kids (and I’m sure we have some cassettes/CDs of theirs in our attic), and even she talks about the terrible abuse rumours that went around during those days. For context, those two groups debut around 1993 or 94.
This has been going on for a long time. The J-Idol market (like most entertainment media industries) needs a top to bottom cleanup. I hope the victims at least find some peace.
I have no idea if KinKi kids is a bad translation, an abriviation, or what but it looks like someone was trying to tell on themselves with that in English.
My mother was an OG stan and used to follow TOKIO and KinKi kids (and I’m sure we have some cassettes/CDs of theirs in our attic), and even she talks about the terrible abuse rumours that went around during those days. For context, those two groups debut around 1993 or 94.
This has been going on for a long time. The J-Idol market (like most entertainment media industries) needs a top to bottom cleanup. I hope the victims at least find some peace.
I have no idea if KinKi kids is a bad translation, an abriviation, or what but it looks like someone was trying to tell on themselves with that in English.
Haha, Kinki is actually another (old school) name for Kansai region in Japan. In Kanji it’s basically “Near the capital” (Kyoto at the time).
So KinKi Kids were named because they grew up in Kansai. I actually don’t know if the double entendre was intentional when they started!