日本女子团体成员因违规恋爱 剃头谢罪

日本流行女子团体AKB48的成员峰岸南日前被拍到在男友家过夜，为了表示悔过之意，她特意剃光头发录制视频向歌迷和经纪公司致歉。在视频中，峰岸南表示，她决定剃光长发来表达对自己“冲动和幼稚”行为的悔过。她说：“我并不认为这样做就意味着我犯的错误可以被原谅，但我首先想到的是，我不想离开AKB48这个团体。”批评人士称，峰岸南此举有些小题大做；歌迷还为其辩护，称她们应该过正常人的生活。AKB48是目前日本人气很旺的女子团体，在亚洲其他国家也颇受欢迎。该团体成立于2005年，成员皆为90后女孩子，峰岸南是该团体早期成员之一。为了不打破歌迷的幻想，该团体管理公司禁止所有成员谈恋爱。剃头是日本人表达悔过之意的一种传统方式。

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.