DEGREES OF COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES In English, as in Russian, ...
Korean, Japanese, Hong Kong, Chinese and Taiwanese pop music is becoming more and more popular on the world stage. Japan, which is the world's second largest music market, is known for its "eccentric" entertainment music videos. Korean K-pop, which originally appeared as a musical genre (with elements of Western electropop, hip-hop, dance music and modern rhythm and blues), over time has become a large-scale subculture with millions of fans in Asia and beyond. However, behind the sweet faces of beautiful young men and women singing and dancing to sophisticated pop music (usually written by Scandinavians, which is quite surprising), there is actually something dark and terrible...
1. Sasaeng
The Korean word "sasaeng" (sasaeng) is a neologism meaning fanatical fans of K-pop artists.
K-pop artists have millions of fans both in South Korea and beyond. The most fanatical of them are "sasaeng fans" who are ready to do anything for their idols. These typically include girls between the ages of thirteen and twenty-two, whose obsession with pop idols has reached an unhealthy level. One ardent fan of Ok Taek Yong from the popular Korean group 2PM sent him a letter in which she wrote with her own menstrual blood: “To you, Taek Yong, I dedicate this letter written with my menstrual blood. Well, Taecyeon, now you can't live without me. In the envelope you will also find a tuft of hair from my pubis.”
Park Yoochun of K-pop group 'JYJ' was shocked to say the least when he learned that sasaeng fans had installed (or hacked into) cameras in the parking lot of his house and posted pictures of him leaving and returning home .
The personal lives of members of the Korean pop group "TVXQ" seem to be of particular interest to their fans. Fans are reported to have made a copy of the key to the apartment of one of the members of the TVXQ group, hacked it mobile phone To check who he was calling, they used his personal seal to register his marriage papers, put women's underwear in his bags and ordered home delivery of food, for which, of course, he had to pay. Other members of the group had to deal with the fact that at night the fans made their way into the hotel rooms where they slept and began to kiss them. In addition, relatives of "TVXQ" members often receive calls from abnormal fans.
Sasaeng fans are always fiercely protective of their "territory" by attacking anyone who dares to approach or touch their pop idol. Some sasaeng fans are reportedly pouring piss and smearing feces on the doors of hotel rooms where K-pop stars stay to "mark their territory."
Sometimes sasaeng fans ruin their lives for the sake of constantly pursuing their idols; they drop out of school and become prostitutes in order to earn money to pay for special taxi services. These taxis travel at speeds of 200 kilometers per hour to keep up with the buses in which pop idols tour the country.
2. Anti-fans
It is said that hate is not the opposite of love; rather, they are two sides of the same coin. This is especially true of anti-fans who hate certain pop stars and go out of their way to annoy them and their fans.
In 1999, Kang Mi-young of the popular Korean group Baby V.O.X received dozens of envelopes filled with razor blades and an angry letter written in blood, along with photos of herself in which her eyes were gouged out, in the mail.
In 2000, "g.o.d" member Yoon Kyo-sang received a drink mixed with bleach and detergent. It was drunk by his mother, who subsequently ended up in the hospital.
In 2006, TVXQ member Yunho needed a gastric lavage after drinking a drink mixed with glue.
In 2008, during the "Dream Concert", the girls from the South Korean group "Girls' Generation" became victims of the incident, which later became known as the "Black Ocean". It was rumored that the Girls' Generation members were disliked by many due to their excessive arrogance. Fans of boy bands such as "TVXQ", "SS501" and "Super Junior" hated the "Girls' Generation" girls for allegedly infringing on "their boys", so they decided to organize a boycott during the "Dream Concert" ". When the "Girls' Generation" members took to the stage, instead of the joyful cries of their fans, they were faced with darkness and complete silence in the stands.
3. Diploma of rapper Tablo
The anger and fury of anti-fans is not limited to physical attacks and public insults. Attacks on reputation, even if unfounded, can cause huge damage to popular Korean artists. The most striking example of this is the story of the rapper Tablo, also known as Daniel Sung Woon Lee. He is considered one of the most famous hip-hop artists in the Korean music scene. After Daniel Sung Woon Lee announced his engagement to actress Kang Hyo Jung, he began to be viciously attacked by anti-fans.
In the latter case, a South Korean online anti-fan community called "TaJinYo" (Korean acronym meaning "We Demand the Truth from Tablo") accused Daniel Sung Woon Lee of having his diploma from Stanford University (California, USA) fake. When Tablo released a copy of his gradebook and was publicly vouched for by Stanford University employee Thomas Black, anti-fans turned to conspiracy theories. They began to claim that Tablo had stolen the identity of another Korean Stanford graduate named Dan Lee, an engineer living in Wisconsin.
After the anti-fans turned their anger against the Tablo family, accusing his mother of not winning, but buying gold medal at the international hairdressing competition in 1968. Tablo's brother, David, began receiving threatening phone calls that caused him to lose his job at the broadcaster.
Tablo was forced to terminate his contract with Woolim Entertainment when they said they "have nothing to say about the accusations against the rapper regarding the authenticity of his education diploma."
Eventually, it got to the point where Tablo began receiving threatening messages on Twitter, being attacked by anti-fans on the street, and fearing for the safety of his newborn child.
Only after a journalistic investigation by the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and the publication of the results of an official check, Daniel Sung Woon Lee was able to regain his former reputation. The court issued an arrest warrant for the leader of the Internet community "TaJinYo", who turned out to be a fifty-seven-year-old Korean businessman living in Chicago. In his defense, he stated that slander is not an international crime.
4. Coercion to sexual relations
Almost all girls in Korea dream of K-pop idol popularity and a bunch of fans. But once they sign a contract with a company, they have to do more than just work hard and persevere. To succeed, future stars (even underage ones) are forced to have sex with clients who are looking for them by those who are engaged in their "promotion". According to one of these girls, clients paid between $220 and $900 for a “meeting” (depending on the notoriety of the company that forced their charges into prostitution).
In 2010, Taiwanese singer Estrella Lin claimed that when she was a member of 3EP Beauties, the group's promotion company forced her into sexual relations with potential investors. According to her, it's no secret that Korean actresses and singers voluntarily or involuntarily provide sexual services in order to move up the career ladder.
In 2002, Yang Seok-woo, the CEO of Open World Entertainment, was arrested on charges of forcing young girls and boys (even minors among them) into sexual relations.
5. Johnny Kitagawa
Johnny Kitagawa, a former US Marine originally from Los Angeles, after a trip to Japan, decided to move to this country for permanent residence. In 1962, he founded Johnny & Associates (an idol agency specializing in boy bands) here. Bands such as "Kinki Kids", "V6", "Hey! Say! JUMP" and "SMAP" may not have achieved international recognition, but have become extremely popular in Japan. Anyone who decides to start working with Johnny & Associates is first subjected to a rigorous vetting process, followed by harsh working conditions, meager privileges and fees, and full control over operations.
Johnny Kitagawa maintains the illusion of diversity by funding artists and releasing albums under various sub-labels to disguise Johnny & Associates' monopoly. His company is considered the most powerful force in the Japanese island music industry, the second largest in the world. Kitagawa has tremendous power over advertisers, television stations, and magazine publishers. He pushes them around, preventing them from doing business with competing agencies or forcing them to cover up the Johnny & Associates scandals.
Johnny Kitagawa always prefers to promote artists that he says are "easier to manage". In fact, he means those who are ready to provide him with services of an intimate nature. In 1988, Kita Koji, a former member of the Four Seasons boy band, accused Kitagawa of sexual harassment and rape. This did not affect his reputation in any way as he filed a libel suit and called the Japanese public ignorant.
6. No dates
In 2013, Minami Minegashi of the J-pop group "AKB48" shaved her head and posted a video on YouTube in which she was crying and begging for forgiveness. What did she do wrong? I started dating a young man. As a rule, the owners of Japanese idol agencies force young performers to sign contracts stating that they are not allowed to date anyone during the period of the contract. Shukan Bunshun magazine published photos of Minami Minegashi outside the home of Alan Shirahama, a member of the popular EXILE boy band, wearing a baseball cap and a surgical mask that hides his face. The agency that promoted Minegashi reprimanded her and forced her to make a public apology. Such moral standards, in principle, can be considered acceptable, if you do not take into account the fact that the group "AKB48", of which Minegashi became a member at the age of thirteen, is known for performing songs with sexual connotations like "My school uniform interferes with me." The theme of the group "AKB48" is based on the concept of "forbidden love" between people with a decent age difference. The former lead singer of "AKB48", Tomomi Kasai, once found herself in the center of a high-profile scandal after mass media there was a photograph where she is depicted with a boy who covers her bare chest with his own hands. Given all this, the ban on female performers maintaining any kind of relationship with the opposite sex, allegedly introduced for moral reasons, seems simply ridiculous.
In turn, male performers, apparently, do not adhere to any rules and standards at all. They date whoever they want, get drunk, get naked, yell at the cops in the parks, in general, they do everything to attract the attention of the media and not lose popularity. Meanwhile, in 2015, Aoyama St. Hacha Mecha High School members Miho Yuuki and Sena Miura were forced to leave the group after it became known that they were dating their fans. What's more, the Moving Factory agency that promoted them sued the girls, their legal guardians, and even the young people they dated. This caused an extremely negative public reaction.
7. Slave Contracts
For many years, Korea has been famous for its "slave contracts" that major labels and young artists enter into. According to these contracts, the performer does not have the right to terminate cooperation with the agency ahead of time (in some cases, it can be up to thirteen years). The agency fully assumes all costs associated with the training of future stars, including the cost of vocal and choreography lessons, stylists and makeup artists, housing, meals, and so on. The terms of the contracts also provide for extremely grueling and strenuous work for many hours (in contrast to the flexible, measured schedules of Western pop stars). This is justified by the fact that if you really want to become popular and famous, then you must overcome all the difficulties encountered on the way to the goal.
SM Entertainment, one of Korea's largest music labels, has faced claims and lawsuits several times due to harsh contract terms. In 2009, Han Gyong, a former member of Super Junior, stated that the owners of SM Entertainment forced him to do things he didn't want under the threat of heavy fines, and wouldn't let him take sick leave when he was diagnosed with gastritis and kidney problems.
In 2009, members of the music group JYJ revealed to the press that their 13-year contracts with SM Entertainment were effectively indefinite, profits from performances were unevenly distributed, and they were allowed no more than four hours of sleep a night.
These disputes were settled, but in 2012 EXO's leader Chris filed a lawsuit to have his contract with SM Entertainment canceled because they neglected his opinion and health. In 2009, the Korea Fair Trade Commission introduced "standardized contracts," meaning they can be concluded for no more than seven years. However, other issues have not been resolved. Artists are still forced to pay exorbitant fines for terminating contracts with unscrupulous agencies that seek to concentrate all profits in the hands of the prince.
8. Racism
Despite the artistic and stylistic influence that African-American culture has had on the pop music of Korea and Japan, racist sentiments can still be traced in the work of performers from these countries. Korean and Japanese pop singers and entertainers often perform on stage as blacks.
In 2012, American professional boxer Floyd Mayweather wrote on his Twitter page: “Undoubtedly, Jeremy Lin [approx. American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association] is a good player, but everyone thinks he's cool just because he's Asian. Black basketball players do the same thing every night as Lin, but not as popular as he is." Korean-American K-pop composer Jenny Hyun reacted inappropriately to the tweet, calling black people "subhuman, ungrateful apes" and "the cancer of the planet" and calling for the eradication of the black race.
Racism against other Asians also exists. In 2010, three members of the Japanese J-pop group "Morning Musume" posted photos online of them with narrowed eyes and wrote, "Who is this? Koreans".
Members of another popular Japanese group, "°C-ute", on the air of the evening show, broadcast on one of the largest TV channels in Tokyo, said that Adolf Hitler was "the greatest man in the history of the world." They called him "Uncle Hitler" and brought along a cute caricature of the bloody dictator.
9. How they become stars
Some K-pop idols start their careers as children. They are helped in this by booking agencies, whose job is to find talented and attractive children. Others become stars after participating in special auditions held both in Korea and abroad, or TV programs like the Superstar K talent show. "Superstar K" is a television music project that was submitted by 4 percent of South Korea's population in 2012.
After a young artist, for example, passes the casting, he is faced with a tough training program, first developed by Johnny Kitagawa in the 1980s and subsequently refined by time. This is an extremely exhausting period that can last for several years. During it, young talents hone various skills and are desperately waiting for their debut.
During the training period, future stars work 14 hours a day; they work out in the gym, dance, swim and sing. Their breakfast is limited diet cookies, bananas and greens. For dinner, they eat chicken breast and a simple salad. After seven in the evening they are not allowed to drink water so that in the morning they look fresh and cheerful. Future stars visit the toilet and bathroom only under someone's supervision. They are also forced to wear sunglasses at all times and everywhere. If the producer is not satisfied with the appearance of the future pop idol, he will offer him to do plastic surgery.
10 Edison Chen
Sex scandals are quite common in the world of Asian pop music.
In 2008, Hong Kong pop idol Edison Chen lost his laptop. The repairman who repaired it found intimate photos of Chen on the hard drive, where he plays with famous actresses and pop stars. Later, they all gradually began to appear on bulletin boards in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. Hong Kong police arrested eight people on suspicion of leaking information.
After the pictures were made public, a real scandal erupted, ruining the reputation of many girls who were captured in photographs from Chen's laptop. Bobo Chan lost lucrative contracts and the young man she was already engaged to. Later, she flew to the United States of America, where she remained permanently, leaving the entertainment industry forever. Actress Jillian Cheung wanted to commit suicide. Edison Chen himself publicly apologized to everyone and, having decided to temporarily leave show business, went to North America. This, apparently, was the right move on his part, since the leader of one of the Chinese triads promised to pay 91 thousand dollars to anyone who cuts off both of Chen's hands. He returned to Hong Kong only to testify in court. Upon arrival, the police provided him with round-the-clock security and protection from press attacks. In 2009, Chen held several speeches in Singapore, after which the Hong Kong station "Cable TV" received a golden bullet and a letter saying that after April 4, Chen should not appear in public at all: "We hope that Edison Chen is serious accept this warning, otherwise his personal safety will be endangered.”
Ultimately, Chen returned to the stage, but never learned from the mistakes of the past. In 2011, he was again at the center of a sex scandal. This time, photos leaked to the network in which the thirty-one-year-old Chen hugs and kisses the naked sixteen-year-old model Kami Tse. Kami Ze admitted that she really slept with Chen, who, by the way, dumped her right at the conference that took place after the leak of intimate photos.
Many consider the Japanese to be Buddhists. There are indeed quite a few Buddhists in the Land of the Rising Sun. But the traditional religion of Japan is Shintoism. This is a very ancient and completely open faith for all who are interested. However, surprisingly little is known about her outside the islands.
In Russian, the Japanese concept of "Shinto" can be translated as "the path of the gods." This is the name of the traditional religion of this people. The Japanese believe that the gods, like the souls of the dead, live everywhere. Only the material shell dies, but the souls remain and receive shelter in natural objects or objects created by human hands.
The Japanese call these eternal souls of the world "kami". Kami can live in stones and trees, take possession of an entire grove or mountain, a waterfall or a river, a sword, a mirror, a precious ring, a tablet with a sacred text ... This world is filled with “empty objects” for us, for the Japanese all objects in the surrounding world - it's someone's soul.
Kami-kiri, also called "hair thief" kamikyu.
Dispute between the gods
According to traditional Japanese beliefs, our world was created in the following way. At first everything was in a state of chaos, and there was neither harmony nor beauty anywhere. But one day all the elements of the world began to gather in divine pairs.
In the midst of chaos, heaven and earth suddenly formed - Takamano Hara and the Akitsushima Islands (Plain of the High Sky and the Dragonfly Islands). And then the first gods appeared. One such divine couple created the island of Onnogoro (Middle Pillar of the Earth), and many other islands and other kami were born from their marriage.
Hyakkyagyou - "Parade of a Hundred Demons" An old legend says that every year Japanese supernatural beings take to the streets during the summer nights.
But nothing lasts forever, not even the gods. Having given birth to the god of fire Katsuguchi, the goddess Izanami died and went to the Land of Gloom. Her husband Izanagi was very upset by the death of his beloved and decided to take her away from death: he went to the underworld and found her decayed body. But the sight of this body so frightened him that, sobbing, he returned to the ground, and filled up the entrance to the dungeon with stones.
He himself went to take a bath - so disgusting was the sight of decomposed flesh. Washing, he shook off the drops, and so the gods began to be born. From the drop that washed his left eye, Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, was born. From the drop that washed her nose is her brother Susanoo, the god of the wind. And many others.
The goddess Izanami, who was in the world of the dead, became angry and promised, in retaliation for her husband's cowardice, to kill the people he had created, and her husband promised her to build more and more huts and populate them with people. So they began to compete with each other: Izanami kills people, and Izanagi breeds new ones. There was also enmity between Amaterasu and Susanoo. The brother once burst into the chambers of Amaterasu and frightened her so much that her sister took refuge in a cave.
It became dark on the ground, eternal night came. It was only by common efforts that the gods persuaded Amaterasu to look out of hiding. And then the clear sunny day returned again. And the obstinate Susanoo was driven out of sight so as not to frighten his sister. The Japanese believe that Amaterasu became the ancestor of the imperial family.
The goddess's grandson, whose name was Ninigi, descended to the Japanese islands to rule the people. And a descendant of Ninigi named Jimmu became the first emperor of Japan. According to tradition, Jimmu founded the state in 660 BC.
From generation to generation, the Japanese passed on a sacred object: the mirror of the goddess Amaterasu, which is considered a symbol of imperial power. As they believe on the islands, the sacred mirror is kept to this day in one of the three imperial temples. Indeed, according to Japanese beliefs, the emperor is not the viceroy of God on earth, as the Europeans believed, but he himself is a deity. It wasn't until after World War II that the Japanese emperors agreed to no longer refer to themselves as gods.
Life without suffering
If Christians have an established creed, then the Japanese do not have rigid dogmas. They just know that initially the world is good, and evil comes into it when people lose their purity and stop listening to their own soul. Good and evil as separate concepts do not exist at all. Evil, by and large, is just a "disease", and a person who is greedy or cruel is sick. If he can restore the original purity of the soul, he will recover. There are many myths and legends about this topic.
Sometimes insight comes under the influence of sleep. Sometimes a person suddenly hears the voice of a kami, which guides on the right path. And sometimes he himself understands his mistakes and makes a vow to correct them. The Japanese do not know any punishment after death, like among Christians. But evil souls after the death of their owners can become evil spirits and frighten good people, even appear to them in the form of ghosts.
The Japanese consider illness and death objectionable to their kami: it was not for nothing that Izanagi fled from the decomposed body of his wife. It is forbidden to enter the temples with bleeding wounds or if a person has lost bodily integrity and purity due to illness. Inside Shinto shrines, you will not see the graves of the righteous and heroes, as is customary in Christian culture. Burying inside a temple is like making a temple a haven for evil. Temples should bestow peace and peace of mind, and not remind of suffering and death.
To live virtuously and honor gods and ancestors, the Japanese build Shinto shrines, which consist of two parts. The first part is the honden, where the altar is located and the sacred object is kept, into which the spirit of the kami has infused. The second is haiden, a room for believers. Sometimes both halls are combined into one. Sometimes the honden is located directly under the open sky, and a stone or mountain serves as an altar. The temple may look like a rectangular area with two pillars - gates without doors, called torii.
The services are led by a kannushi dressed in a white kimono, the same trousers and a black cap. Sometimes his assistants, miko, take part in them. In temples, the Japanese perform four Shinto rituals - symbolic purification (harai), offering to the gods (shinsen), ritual prayers (norito), ritual feast (naorai). Harai is the washing of the mouth, hands and face with temple water. Any gifts to the gods can be used as shinsen - food, objects dear to the heart, sacred texts, money.
Prayers are usually read by clergy and are accompanied by other rituals, and all parishioners gather for a ritual feast. They eat and drink part of the offerings with their kami, sharing a ritual meal with the spirits. Some prefer to pray to the kami alone. For the uninitiated, it looks strange - a person stands in complete silence, sometimes spreading his arms wide and clapping his hands with force. The Japanese believe that with the help of clapping they attract the attention of the kami to their prayer.
In addition to temples, the Japanese pray at home altars, which often look like a simple shelf on which sacred objects are placed. A couple of times a year, major holidays are celebrated in Shinto temples, which are associated either with the history of a particular temple, or dedicated to the deity who patronizes it.
Kami named Christ
Shintoism originated in the distant past of Japan and permeates the entire Japanese culture. At the same time, this religion is very tolerant of other beliefs, so it absorbed, for example, the features of Buddhism. It is not uncommon to see images of the Buddhas in Shinto shrines. There even Buddhist sutras can be read and Buddhist symbols used.
At one time, Japanese Shintoism was so closely intertwined with Buddhism that even Shinto Buddhist temples appeared. And only a special decree of the emperor stopped this fusion. In some areas, Shinto intertwined with Confucianism.
The only "imported" religion that failed to intertwine with Shinto is Christianity. And not at all because the Shintoists were not ready to introduce the European Christ into their pantheon. Jesus appeared to the Japanese as an excellent kami, and they were ready to worship him. But the Christians were outraged. They demanded that the Japanese recognize the exclusivity of Christ and their kami as harmful spirits. The Japanese didn't go for it.
The funny thing is that the Japanese themselves consider Shinto not a religious doctrine, but the cultural characteristics of their homeland. Even the name of Japan - the Land of the Rising Sun - is associated with the Shinto goddess Amaterasu. Religious and cultural layers in the minds of the Japanese are so closely connected that they cannot be separated. This amazing unity gave rise to a special Japanese way of thinking and life, which seems completely incomprehensible to foreigners and very attractive.
Nikolai KOTOMKIN
Kami-kiri, or as it is also called kamikyu ("hair cutter"), are mystical arthropod-like demons with razor-sharp scissor-shaped arms and beaks. Despite the fact that few people outside of Japan have heard of them, in the Land of the Rising Sun itself, kami-kiri is mentioned quite often.
There were times when this strange-looking demon even got into the pages of newspapers. In addition, the police were given an order, if they see a kami-kiri unbelted, to pacify him at the same time.
Appearance of a kami-kiri
Initially, the kami-kiri was described as huge, like a bear, with a completely black body and burning eyes. He suddenly pounced on unsuspecting people from behind with yells of "Mogaaaa!" After which he dug his scissor-like teeth into the hair of the victims. Most often, he attacked people right on the street.
However, over time, it began to be described in a completely different way. Now he has become a very dodgy demon with a rather flimsy and skinny body. His arms became long and claw-like or scissor-like, as was his crow-like head, which had a beak.
The evolved kami-kiri became more stubborn and nimble. Due to its small size, it could quietly enter the house through windows or doors. Then he would sneak into the bathroom and quietly give his "client" a forced haircut. After this procedure, he grabbed the cut hair and retired.
Kami-kiri habits
Kami-kiris are very secretive. Their goal is to carefully sneak up on the victim and suddenly cut off a tuft of hair, and if possible, even more. They can hide on roofs under shingles and cut their hair when someone passes under it. Moreover, they absolutely do not care who they attack, whether they are women or men, the poor or the rich.
The habitats of these demons are cities, in particular lanes, and bathrooms are their favorite places. Quite often, kami-kiri are not noticed until they see a cut lock of hair on the ground, or until another person tells the victim about the cut lock of hair. It was not uncommon for a kami-kiri to go about his business while a person was sleeping on the bed.
The kami-kiri was a particularly terrible monster in those days when long hair was popular among the Japanese. He was most feared in the aristocratic quarters. Nowadays, kami-kiri are no longer feared as much as they used to be.
In rare cases, a kami-kiri attacking a person may mean that the victim is about to unknowingly marry a ghost or youkai. The thing is that, according to legends, sometimes werewolves or kitsune can deceive a person and marry him. However, such marriages tend to end in disaster, and the kami-kiri try to prevent them from taking place.
How to get rid of kami-kiri
To do this is not very easy. However, at least one method is known. To do this, you will need a spell that you need to write on the door of the room or on an item that you wear in your hair (for example, a hairpin). If you do all the rules, then this demon will not harm you.
The text of the spell: "異国 より 悪魔 の 風 の 吹き くる に そこ 吹き もどせ 伊勢 の 神風", which in Russian means: "When the devilish wind comes from foreign lands, may the gods send him a windy Ise." Ise is considered a sacred place of Shinto, highly revered by the monks.
Trace of the kami-kiri in culture and history
At the end of the 17th century, there were repeated reports from people that they were cut baldly by an unknown creature during night walks. Moreover, people did not notice this until someone told them about it. Then they returned by the same route and the hair returned to its original place.
Later, on April 2, 1810, an incident occurred with the maid Tomigoro Kojima in Edoshimota. In the morning, as usual, she went outside, but when she opened the door, she suddenly felt that something had fallen from her head. Looking down, she saw her own hair on the floor.
And one of the cases was even published in the newspaper. It happened in the vicinity of Tokyo on May 20, 1874, at about 9 pm. A young maid, whose name was Gin, went from the master's house to the annex. Entering it, she felt an unpleasant chill, and after a moment her hair fell on the girl's face (her long tail was completely cut off). The girl succumbed to panic and ran into the house to the neighbors, and ran into it, fainted. Then the neighbors went to this annex and examined it, finding Gin's hair scattered on the floor. Since that unfortunate incident, this extension has never been used again.
In modern culture, the image of the kami-kiri can be found in various manga and anime. The most famous character can be called Kami-kiri from the well-known series "Naruto". True, there it is not a demon, but a man. This gloomy type in this anime series was not noted for special merits, but was remembered by many viewers.
Korean, Japanese, Hong Kong, Chinese and Taiwanese pop music is becoming more and more popular on the world stage. Japan, which is the world's second largest music market, is known for its "eccentric" entertainment music videos. Korean K-pop, which began as a musical genre (with elements of Western electropop, hip-hop, dance music and modern rhythm and blues), has evolved over time into a massive subculture with millions of fans in Asia and beyond. However, behind the sweet faces of beautiful young men and women singing and dancing to sophisticated pop music (usually written by Scandinavians, which is quite surprising), there is actually something dark and terrible...
1. Sasaeng
The Korean word "sasaeng" (sasaeng) is a neologism meaning fanatical fans of K-pop artists.
K-pop artists have millions of fans both in South Korea and beyond. The most fanatical of them are "sasaeng fans" who are ready to do anything for their idols. These typically include girls between the ages of thirteen and twenty-two, whose obsession with pop idols has reached an unhealthy level. One ardent fan of Ok Taek Yong from the popular Korean group 2PM sent him a letter in which she wrote with her own menstrual blood: “To you, Taek Yong, I dedicate this letter written with my menstrual blood. Well, Taecyeon, now you can't live without me. In the envelope you will also find a tuft of hair from my pubis.”
Park Yoochun of K-pop group 'JYJ' was shocked to say the least when he found out that sasaeng fans had installed (or hacked into) cameras in the parking lot of his house and posted pictures of him leaving and returning home .
The personal lives of the members of the Korean pop group 'TVXQ' seem to be of particular interest to their fans. Fans are reported to have made a copy of a TVXQ member's apartment key, hacked into his cell phone to check who he's calling, used his personal seal to register his marriage papers, put women's underwear in his bags, and ordered food delivery. on the house, for which, naturally, he had to pay. Other members of the group had to deal with the fact that at night the fans made their way into the hotel rooms where they slept and began to kiss them. In addition, relatives of 'TVXQ' members often receive calls from abnormal fans.
Sasaeng fans are always fiercely protective of their "territory" by attacking anyone who dares to approach or touch their pop idol. Some sasaeng fans are reportedly pouring piss and smearing feces on the doors of hotel rooms where K-pop stars stay to "mark their territory."
Sometimes sasaeng fans ruin their lives for the sake of constantly pursuing their idols; they drop out of school and become prostitutes in order to earn money to pay for special taxi services. These taxis travel at speeds of 200 kilometers per hour to keep up with the buses in which pop idols tour the country.
2. Anti-fans
It is said that hate is not the opposite of love; rather, they are two sides of the same coin. This is especially true of anti-fans who hate certain pop stars and go out of their way to annoy them and their fans.
In 1999, Kang Mi-young of the popular Korean group Baby V.O.X received dozens of envelopes filled with razor blades and an angry letter written in blood along with photos of herself in which her eyes were gouged out in the mail.
In 2000, g.o.d member Yoon Kyo-sang received a drink mixed with bleach and detergent. It was drunk by his mother, who subsequently ended up in the hospital.
In 2006, TVXQ member Yunho needed a gastric lavage after drinking a drink mixed with glue.
In 2008, during the Dream Concert, girls from the South Korean girl group Girls' Generation were victims of an incident that later became known as the Black Ocean. It was rumored that the Girls' Generation members were disliked by many due to their excessive arrogance. Fans of boy bands such as TVXQ, SS501, and Super Junior hated Girls' Generation for allegedly infringing on "their boys," so they decided to boycott the Dream Concert. ". When the members of the Girls' Generation took to the stage, instead of the joyous cries of their fans, they were faced with darkness and complete silence in the stands.
3. Diploma of rapper Tablo
The anger and fury of anti-fans is not limited to physical attacks and public insults. Attacks on reputation, even if unfounded, can cause huge damage to popular Korean artists. The most striking example of this is the story of the rapper Tablo, also known as Daniel Sung Woon Lee. He is considered one of the most famous hip-hop artists in the Korean music scene. After Daniel Sung Woon Lee announced his engagement to actress Kang Hyo Jung, he began to be viciously attacked by anti-fans.
In the latter case, a South Korean online anti-fan community called "TaJinYo" (Korean acronym meaning "We Demand the Truth from Tablo") accused Daniel Sung Woon Lee of having his diploma from Stanford University (California, USA) fake. When Tablo released a copy of his gradebook and was publicly vouched for by Stanford University employee Thomas Black, anti-fans turned to conspiracy theories. They began to claim that Tablo had stolen the identity of another Korean Stanford graduate named Dan Lee, an engineer living in Wisconsin.
Afterwards, anti-fans turned their anger against the Tablo family, accusing his mother of not winning but buying a gold medal in an international hairdressing competition in 1968. Tablo's brother, David, began receiving threatening phone calls that caused him to lose his job at the broadcaster.
Tablo was forced to terminate his contract with Woolim Entertainment when they said they "have nothing to say about the accusations against the rapper regarding the authenticity of his education diploma."
Eventually, it got to the point where Tablo began receiving threatening messages on Twitter, being attacked by anti-fans on the street, and fearing for the safety of his newborn child.
Only after a journalistic investigation by the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and the publication of the results of an official check, Daniel Sung Woon Lee was able to regain his former reputation. The court issued an arrest warrant for the leader of the TaJinYo Internet community, who turned out to be a fifty-seven-year-old Korean businessman living in Chicago. In his defense, he stated that slander is not an international crime.
4. Forced sexual relations
Almost all girls in Korea dream of K-pop idol popularity and a bunch of fans. But once they sign a contract with a company, they have to do more than just work hard and persevere. To succeed, future stars (even underage ones) are forced to have sex with clients who are looking for them by those who are engaged in their "promotion". According to one of these girls, clients paid between $220 and $900 for a “meeting” (depending on the notoriety of the company that forced their charges into prostitution).
In 2010, Taiwanese singer Estrella Lin claimed that when she was a member of 3EP Beauties, the group's promotion company forced her into sexual relations with potential investors. According to her, it's no secret that Korean actresses and singers voluntarily or involuntarily provide sexual services in order to move up the career ladder.
In 2002, Yang Seok-woo, the CEO of Open World Entertainment, was arrested on charges of forcing young girls and boys (even minors among them) into sexual relations.
5. Johnny Kitagawa
Johnny Kitagawa, a former US Marine originally from Los Angeles, after a trip to Japan, decided to move to this country for permanent residence. In 1962, he founded Johnny & Associates (an idol agency specializing in boy bands) here. Groups like Kinki Kids, V6, Hey! Say! JUMP" and "SMAP" may not have achieved international recognition, but have become extremely popular in Japan. Anyone who decides to start working with Johnny & Associates is first subjected to a rigorous background check, and then they will face harsh conditions, meager privileges and fees, and full control over their operations.
Johnny Kitagawa maintains the illusion of diversity by funding artists and releasing albums under various sub-labels to disguise Johnny & Associates' monopoly. His company is considered the most powerful force in the Japanese island music industry, the second largest in the world. Kitagawa has tremendous power over advertisers, television stations, and magazine publishers. He pushes them around, preventing them from doing business with competing agencies or forcing them to cover up the Johnny & Associates scandals.
Johnny Kitagawa always prefers to promote artists that he says are "easier to manage". In fact, he means those who are ready to provide him with services of an intimate nature. In 1988, Kita Koji, a former member of the Four Seasons boy band, accused Kitagawa of sexual harassment and rape. This did not affect his reputation in any way as he filed a libel suit and called the Japanese public ignorant.
6. Slave Contracts
For many years, Korea has been famous for its "slave contracts" that major labels and young artists enter into. According to these contracts, the performer does not have the right to terminate cooperation with the agency ahead of time (in some cases, it can be up to thirteen years). The agency fully assumes all costs associated with the training of future stars, including the cost of vocal and choreography lessons, stylists and makeup artists, housing, meals, and so on. The terms of the contracts also provide for extremely grueling and strenuous work for many hours (in contrast to the flexible, measured schedules of Western pop stars). This is justified by the fact that if you really want to become popular and famous, then you must overcome all the difficulties encountered on the way to the goal.
SM Entertainment, one of the largest Korean music labels, has faced several claims and lawsuits against them due to harsh contract terms. In 2009, Han Kyung, a former member of Super Junior, stated that the owners of SM Entertainment forced him to do things he didn't want to do under the threat of heavy fines, and wouldn't let him take sick leave when he was diagnosed with gastritis and kidney problems.
In 2009, members of the music group JYJ revealed to the press that their 13-year contracts with SM Entertainment were effectively indefinite, income from performances was unevenly distributed, and they were allowed no more than four hours of sleep a night.
These disputes were settled, but in 2012 EXO's leader Chris filed a lawsuit to have his contract with SM Entertainment canceled because they neglected his opinion and health. In 2009, the Korea Fair Trade Commission introduced "standardized contracts," meaning they can be concluded for no more than seven years. However, other issues have not been resolved. Artists are still forced to pay exorbitant fines for terminating contracts with unscrupulous agencies that seek to concentrate all profits in the hands of the prince.
7. Racism
Despite the artistic and stylistic influence that African-American culture has had on the pop music of Korea and Japan, racist sentiments can still be traced in the work of performers from these countries. Korean and Japanese pop singers and variety artists often perform on stage as black people.
In 2012, American professional boxer Floyd Mayweather wrote on his Twitter page: “Undoubtedly, Jeremy Lin [approx. American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association] is a good player, but everyone thinks he's cool just because he's Asian. Black basketball players do the same thing every night as Lin, but not as popular as he is." Korean-American K-pop composer Jenny Hyun reacted inappropriately to the tweet, calling black people "subhuman, ungrateful apes" and "the cancer of the planet" and calling for the eradication of the black race.
Racism against other Asians also exists. In 2010, three members of the Japanese J-pop group Morning Musume posted photos online of them with narrowed eyes and wrote, “Who is this? Koreans".
Members of another popular Japanese group, "°C-ute", on the air of the evening show, broadcast on one of the largest TV channels in Tokyo, said that Adolf Hitler was "the greatest man in the history of the world." They called him "Uncle Hitler" and brought along a cute caricature of the bloody dictator.
8. How they become stars
Some K-pop idols start their careers as children. They are helped in this by booking agencies, whose job is to find talented and attractive children. Others become stars after participating in special auditions held both in Korea and abroad, or TV programs like the Superstar K talent show. "Superstar K" is a television music project that was attended by 4 percent of South Korea's population in 2012.
After a young artist, for example, passes the casting, he is faced with a tough training program, first developed by Johnny Kitagawa in the 1980s and subsequently refined by time. This is an extremely exhausting period that can last for several years. During it, young talents hone various skills and are desperately waiting for their debut.
During the training period, future stars work 14 hours a day; they work out in the gym, dance, swim and sing. Their breakfast is limited to diet cookies, bananas and greens. For dinner, they eat chicken breast and a simple salad. After seven in the evening they are not allowed to drink water so that in the morning they look fresh and cheerful. Future stars visit the toilet and bathroom only under someone's supervision. They are also forced to wear sunglasses at all times and everywhere. If the producer is not satisfied with the appearance of the future pop idol, he will offer him plastic surgery.
9 Edison Chen
Sex scandals are quite common in the world of Asian pop music.
In 2008, Hong Kong pop idol Edison Chen lost his laptop. The repairman who repaired it found intimate photos of Chen on the hard drive, where he plays with famous actresses and pop stars. Later, they all gradually began to appear on bulletin boards in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. Hong Kong police arrested eight people on suspicion of leaking information.
After the pictures were made public, a real scandal erupted, ruining the reputation of many girls who were captured in photographs from Chen's laptop. Bobo Chan lost lucrative contracts and the young man she was already engaged to. Later, she flew to the United States of America, where she remained permanently, leaving the entertainment industry forever. Actress Jillian Cheung wanted to commit suicide. Edison Chen himself publicly apologized to everyone and, having decided to temporarily leave show business, left for North America. This, apparently, was the right move on his part, since the leader of one of the Chinese triads promised to pay 91 thousand dollars to anyone who cuts off both of Chen's hands. He returned to Hong Kong only to testify in court. Upon arrival, the police provided him with round-the-clock security and protection from press attacks. In 2009, Chen held several speeches in Singapore, after which the Hong Kong station Cable TV received a golden bullet and a letter saying that after April 4, Chen should not appear in public at all: “We hope that Edison Chen is serious accept this warning, otherwise his personal safety will be in jeopardy.”
Ultimately, Chen returned to the stage, but never learned from the mistakes of the past. In 2011, he was again at the center of a sex scandal. This time, photos leaked to the network in which the thirty-one-year-old Chen hugs and kisses the naked sixteen-year-old model Kami Tse. Kami Ze admitted that she really slept with Chen, who, by the way, dumped her right at the conference that took place after the leak of intimate photos.
