On February 7th, 2012, the tabloid magazine Shukan Bunshun (週刊文春) reported that "Takahashi Minami's mother has been arrested for committing a lewd act with a 15-year-old boy".
A little background on Bunshun - it is known for publishing "scoops that you won't see in the news". While Bunshun is not as low as the tabloids in US, it is probably not the most reliable source of news and has gotten into some controversies in the past, so down some salt before reading the full translation at the bottom of the post. The news has been confirmed by the bigger news agencies in Japan like Jijipress though.
It appears that this incident was discovered during the investigation of another case, where 3 local delinquents severely injured a boy in Hachiouji, Takahashi's hometown. During routine questioning, one of the boys suddenly brought up the fact that he had a sexual relationship with Takahashi's mother. The police then brought her mother in for questioning, and detained her after she admitted the allegations.
The circumstances are a bit more complicated, though. It turns out that this boy is a friend of Takahashi's brother, who is also a local delinquent and let members of the group gather at his house during all times of the day. The 15-year-old boy used his seniority in the delinquent group and cornered Takahashi's mother into having a sexual relationship with him. They went to nearby love hotels multiple times for this purpose.
According to Jiji Press, she will be fined 500,000 Japanese Yen (approximately USD 6,511) for violating The Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youths (東京都青少年健全育成条例).
Once and for all,
Takamina is not directly involved in this case.
I have seen many comments on facebook misquoting Tokyohive and saying Takamina has a part of this. Which is the reason why I posted article.
Fans have already responded on the members' and staffs' Google+ accounts, and mostly the comments are supportive, asking Aki-P and Togasaki to take care of Takamina while she goes through this ordeal.
Now here's the full translation of the Shukan Bunshun article:
Akimoto Yasushi, the Executive Producer of AKB48, has a lot of trust in Takahashi Minami. Not only is she the captain of Team A, she is also the voice of AKB48 that greets everyone at events or news conferences. It is not out of line to say that she is the leader of the entire AKB48 group.
However, lately she has been bothered by an unfortunate family incident.
When Takahashi "Takamina" speaks, even the loud and rowdy young members shut themselves up. She is known as the "Class Representative", but there are probably not very many members that know about the pain she's been going through because of her family.
The insider who knows about this requested anonymity as a condition to give us the details.
"Takahashi lives by herself in the city because she's so busy with work these days. But until a few years ago, she used to live with her mom (43 years old) and her brother (15 years old) in an apartment in Hachiouji. Her mother was arrested because the police found out that she had a sexual relationship with a boy who was 15 at that time and lived near them.
They visited the love hotels near their apartments multiple times. The boy involved is a friend of Takahashi's brother."
This shocking story was discovered last October, during an investigation for an assault incident. "Three local boys were pissed off at a 4th boy 'because we didn't like what he said in a text message.' They met up with the boy somewhere, continuously punched and kicked the boy and injured him seriously. The three boys were arrested and one of them said 'I have a sexual relationship with Takahashi Minami's mom'. The police then talked to her mother, who admitted having a sexual relationship with the boy, so she was taken into custody."
The three boys arrested were from different grades of the same local middle school, and one of them is Takahashi's relative. They are close to Takahashi's brother and visited his home frequently.
The mother of a national idol and a 15-year-old boy --------
We won't be able to understand this sudden development unless we first discuss Takahashi's family situation.
These are excepts from interviews with people who live close to Takahashi's family in their hometown.
"Takahashi's brother is the same generation as the three boys who were arrested. He is infamous around here for being a delinquent, and used his home for gatherings until last autumn. Everyone around here tells him, 'You live with your mother, please behave yourself.' They were always noisy, even the police came by a few times but it didn't work."
Her brother often hangs out with older delinquents. They always knock on the first-floor windows of the house, and then Takahashi's brother can be seen exiting the house to go out with the delinquents.
Another neighbor also gave an account.
"They rode motorcycles around in the middle of the night. They also climbed to the top of the building, which we thought was inaccessible, and drank there. Empty beer cans were tossed from the roof, and when we told them to behave, they did not listen. There was also a time when they sprayed a huge amount of motor oil at the entrance of the building. When we confronted her brother, he just dismissed us by saying, 'it wasn't me.' In the end we told the building owner to have a talk with his mother."
Her younger brother's reputation as a local delinquent started about 2 years ago.
His elementary/middle school classmate gave an account.
"He started telling everyone that his sister is 'Takamina' near the end of 7th grade. His friends started asking him for her autograph. Then around 8th grade he started acting like a delinquent and stopped coming to school every day. One day an older delinquent forced her brother to take him [the older delinquent] home and demanded, 'Let me meet your sister", and her brother complied without even fighting back. His mother was very angry."
These days, Takahashi still goes home from time to time, and sometimes can be seen shopping at the local grocery store with her mother. But things have changed a lot since she debuted.
Her parents have been living apart since a few years ago, and have already divorced by now. Without a father, the delinquents were coming and going into her house during all hours of the day. One of those boys, A-kun, ended up having a relationship with her mother.
One of the boys from a local group gave knowledge of what happened between A and Takahashi's mother.
"The 'taboo' relationship between A and her mom is something that everyone knows. When he was busted for assault, he was so stupid that he admitted proudly, 'I slept with Takahashi's mom.' According to A, they went to love hotels and did it multiple times. If adults had sex with a teenager my age, surely the police will catch them. And how long did she stay in the holding cell? The cops probably fed her really gross meals. A was so stupid. The family was being nice to him and all."
Her mother once had a dream of being a singer, and that's why she pushed Takahashi so hard before she debuted in the entertainment industry. She even accompanied her daughter to shows if it helped with her popularity.
As a mother that prioritized Takahashi's activities, she apparently also spoiled Takahashi's brother.
"When the police asked her about this, she told them, 'my son's older friend was pushing me for it and there was nothing I could do.' It seems like she was unable to refuse when A mentioned that he is Takahashi's senior in the delinquent group, and used the senior/junior dynamic to demand the mother. She has talked to A's parents through lawyers even before the assault investigation started." (Information provided by an authorized source)
It looks like charges were filed but she was not sentenced.
When our reporters went to his house to get a comment, A started yelling at the reporters.
"This is not relevant, yeah? And? Don't think you can come around here and just ask questions!"
When our reporters when to Takahashi's house to talk to the mother, she answered through the doorphone.
"Please do not ask me for any comments. I cannot answer anything."
As for her brother, he did admit that his mother was arrested.
"Why do I have to answer your question? I just think it was strange that my mom was arrested."
Then he left.
Takahashi's agency responded with, "we are investigating this", though it looks like Takahashi has already told them what happened.
This is how Takahashi talked about her mother in an earlier interview with a weekly magazine: "The way my mother raised children is a great model. I want to one day take "a mother's love", passed down from my grandmother's generation to my mother, and pass it down."
How will her mother respond to that?
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