[article - Japan Times february 2008] Vultures circle as idol Koda licks her wounds

[Halla]

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0080217pb.html

Vultures circle as idol Koda licks her wounds

By PHILIP BRASOR

If the furor over comments that J-pop superidol Kumi Koda made on the radio a few weeks ago teaches us anything, it's to "be careful what you joke about." There are two problems with using humor in public: Either the joke falls flat and nobody laughs, or the topic is beyond the pale and people are offended rather than amused.

The latter problem applies in Koda's case, but the joke was so bizarre that it deserves more scrutiny than it has received. During a conversation on Nippon Hoso's late-night talk show "All Night Nippon," Koda mentioned that her manager, a woman, recently got married. When asked when the manager planned to have a child, Koda said she hoped she would have one as soon as possible. "After a mother turns 35, her amniotic fluid becomes spoiled," the singer said between husky giggles. "True, true! It gets dirty. That's why I want her to have a baby before she turns 35."

The comment didn't elicit shocked silence or the sound of sucked-in air from her interlocutors. "All Night Nippon" is famous for such flippant comments, and by the standards of established comedians such as Beat Takeshi and Sanma Akashiya, who have spent a lot of time on late-night radio, Koda's joke was fairly tame. However, the comment was reproduced on a number of Internet sites, and from there the chat got so poisonous that some people complained directly to Koda's record company, Avex Trax, as well as to companies that use her to sell their wares. The upshot is that Kose Cosmetics and Kirin Beer have canceled ad campaigns featuring Koda, and Avex has suspended PR activities for her new album, "Kingdom," which was released Jan. 31. Despite — or even because of — the negative publicity, the album remains at the top of the charts.

Since then, media pundits have generally danced around the subject as well as the tone of Koda's comment. Wide-show hosts Monta Mino and Tomoaki Ogura both said that the producers of "All Night Nippon" should have edited the comment out of the program, since it was prerecorded. Showbiz commentator Matsuko Deluxe said as much on TBS, but she also pointed out that no one seemed bothered by the joke until the Internet picked it up and the tabloid press then made a big deal out of it. Hirotaka Futatsuki, an ex-editor of one such tabloid, Nikkan Gendai, also commented on TBS that Koda obviously wanted to say that women should have babies at a young age, but the way she put it was "unimaginable."

Koda's remark sounds like the kind of spontaneous stab at humor that pops out during conversations with friends — unguarded, off color, nonsensical. Her use of the word yosui (amniotic fluid) is especially weird, since it's not a term that springs readily to mind, much less the lips. If Koda were a professional comedian, rather than a professional singer who tries to be funny and down-to-earth in personal appearances and interviews, her joke might have been received as high-concept improvisation. Male comedians make insulting jokes about older women's bodies all the time, and nobody complains.

The offended parties took the remark at face value, and said that Koda was being disrespectful to older women who wanted to have babies. The media, in turn, took this reaction at face value. Some news shows even interviewed gynecologists, who clarified that amniotic fluid does not become spoiled after a certain age because amniotic fluid is not something a woman carries around. It's only present when a woman is pregnant. When Futatsuki said Koda's comment was "unimaginable," he didn't mean it in the sense of "horrendous," but in the literal sense: How could anyone ever come up with such an idea?

The weekly magazine Aera wondered the same thing. Is Koda's gynecological musing indicative of the biological knowledge of women her age? For sure, physicians say that having a baby tends to become more dangerous, both to mother and baby, the older the mother gets, so did this information somehow get twisted into an urban myth about rotten amniotic fluid? It would seem unlikely. Some experts said that most young women nowadays don't even what yosui is.

Last weekend, Koda appeared in an exclusive interview with Fuji TV to formally apologize. Some of the media were angry that Fuji, the parent company of Nippon Hoso, got Koda all to itself. The singer's management most certainly cut a deal since a press conference would have exposed her to all sorts of embarrassing questions. Koda appeared in a dull sensible suit minus her famously elaborate makeup and nail art, but chat sites picked up on how much skin she revealed by leaving the top buttons of her white shirt unfastened. TBS, perhaps miffed at having been denied an interview on its own, did a quick survey and found that 81 percent of the respondents thought that Koda's statement was "an excuse, not an apology."

The copious tears indicated she regretted something, and if she didn't actually utter the words "I'm sorry," she did acknowledge that her way of speaking in public "is not good" and that she "knows nothing about amniotic fluid."

The media said the negative reaction came mostly from older people, and when reporters went out on the streets to solicit opinions they only talked to older women, who don't seem to like Koda in the first place — not so much because of her music but because of her image. Unlike her main J-pop rival and Avex labelmate Ayumi Hamasaki, Koda is not unapproachable or mysterious. She's crude and candid, and as she herself admitted not very careful about her use of words.

One person's friendly candor is another's sign of casual disrespect. Some Internet commentators were also offended by Koda's reference to her older handler as "manejimento no ko (a girl in my management company)." They thought it sounded condescending, but Koda's fans probably think it's a compliment.

interesting read, and clear ups a lot of misconceptions about the whole incident.

[minkAYuko]

True true... thanks for the info halla!

ome news shows even interviewed gynecologists, who clarified that amniotic fluid does not become spoiled after a certain age because amniotic fluid is not something a woman carries around. It's only present when a woman is pregnant.

To say: he amniotic fuild rottens is the most stupid/ignorant thing to say, that comment is so weird weird in the first place and it dosen't fit the category of a truth obviously.. maybe as a "joke" but a really stupid joke!.

And this explains it:

The copious tears indicated she regretted something, and if she didn't actually utter the words "I'm sorry," she did acknowledge that her way of speaking in public "is not good" and that she "knows nothing about amniotic fluid."

[AyuGAME]

interesting, thanks for the article
but i think the damage of this scandal is huge, her kingdom sales is below expectation, and its hardly reach 550k..its really suprise me a lot

[KarenPang]

Originally Posted by AyuGAME

interesting, thanks for the article
but i think the damage of this scandal is huge, her kingdom sales is below expectation, and its hardly reach 550k..its really suprise me a lot

it's still hard to say whether sales of Kingdom are below expectations since it was released in stores barely less than 1 month or so .

thanks for posting the article up & it's just unfortunate that people blew something so small/candid into something so big . It's like making a mountain outta a molehill .

No offense to anyone but I feel that the pretty pony~pretty pony~pretty pony~ are a bit ridiculous . Koda already went on TV to apologise but yet they don't buy it . What gives ? do they expect Koda to do something drastic in order for the public to buy her apology ? what they want her to do ? quit singing & 'retire' early ?

[Aga-chan]

Originally Posted by karenpang

do they expect Koda to do something drastic in order for the public to buy her apology ? what they want her to do ? quit singing & 'retire' early ?

Even if she would do that, people would still complain. Haters will keep hating on her no matter what she will do. She already apologised and there the topic should end. But some media keeps focusing on "the scandal" instead of talking about things which are truely scandalous...

I'm not a fan of Koda (but I do enjoy some of her songs). I have to say, though her behaviour wasn't right, the whole thing is going way too far. She already took and is still taking the consequences for what she said.
And one more thing...

"All Night Nippon" is famous for such flippant comments, and by the standards of established comedians such as Beat Takeshi and Sanma Akashiya, who have spent a lot of time on late-night radio, Koda's joke was fairly tame. (...) If Koda were a professional comedian, rather than a professional singer who tries to be funny and down-to-earth in personal appearances and interviews, her joke might have been received as high-concept improvisation. Male comedians make insulting jokes about older women's bodies all the time, and nobody complains.

...I dislike double moral!

[KarenPang]

Originally Posted by Aga-chan

Even if she would do that, people would still complain. Haters will keep hating on her no matter what she will do. She already apologised and there the topic should end. But some media keeps focusing on "the scandal" instead of talking about things which are truely scandalous...

I'm not a fan of Koda (but I do enjoy some of her songs). I have to say, though her behaviour wasn't right, the whole thing is going way too far. She already took and is still taking the consequences for what she said.

yeah I know where you're coming from . It sucks when the media's refusing to let this whole scandal die down despite the obvious fact that Koda & her loyal fans wish to move on & away from this but obviously that's not gonna happen anytime soon .

my concern's that in future articles written about her , they will definitely keep bringing this matter up time & time again .

[njanjayrp]

Yeah, at first I didn't care and thought she does deserve a lesson, but this is pretty sad and rather harsh, and I feel really sorry for her, she deserved to be scolded a bit for not thinking it through but this is going way too far.

[AyUta]

It's gone too far
Poor Kuu...she didn't deserve this.

[Kikaru]

^I guess it's hard for woman who's above 35 and trying to conceive and don't really listen to Jpop (and they're more conservative to begin with) to really see it the same light as the younger population. I dunno, it seems like the Japanese culture has more taboos on certain things that should and should not be said in public. I guess when you really think about why certain things are so offensive, not a lot of it makes sense. I may not agree with the harshness of the Japanese public, but I certainly see where they're coming from.

That's just my take anyways. To be honest, I thought a press conference would have been better. Sure, it could be short and painful, but I thought it could be more reaching to the public.

And the thing is, stuff like this happens. How many times have you said something you didn't mean to or meant to be taken as a joke only to have the person be offended. It's just a pity that the said joking person is a celebrity, but the truth is, stuff like this happens, every day, to everyone.

And I lost track of my thoughts...I suspect that her image doesn't really go well with the older population to begin with, so I think that's really where it started. It's like if 50 cent said something and the adult population got mad or something.

Okay, I officially don't make sense. But overall, I feel for her, but yes, be careful what you say in public.

[KarenPang]

Originally Posted by Kikaru

^I guess it's hard for woman who's above 35 and trying to conceive and don't really listen to Jpop (and they're more conservative to begin with) to really see it the same light as the younger population. I dunno, it seems like the Japanese culture has more taboos on certain things that should and should not be said in public. I guess when you really think about why certain things are so offensive, not a lot of it makes sense. I may not agree with the harshness of the Japanese public, but I certainly see where they're coming from.

That's just my take anyways. To be honest, I thought a press conference would have been better. Sure, it could be short and painful, but I thought it could be more reaching to the public.

And the thing is, stuff like this happens. How many times have you said something you didn't mean to or meant to be taken as a joke only to have the person be offended. It's just a pity that the said joking person is a celebrity, but the truth is, stuff like this happens, every day, to everyone.

And I lost track of my thoughts...I suspect that her image doesn't really go well with the older population to begin with, so I think that's really where it started. It's like if 50 cent said something and the adult population got mad or something.

Okay, I officially don't make sense. But overall, I feel for her, but yes, be careful what you say in public.

nah you do make sense in what you said , I understand it so it's alright to me .

I suppose it's Koda's image that does not sit well with the older generation since I assumed that by right all along , the image that pretty pony~pretty pony~pretty pony~ female artistes portrayed are dressed sorta modest to conservative status & then suddenly BAM , Koda comes in , sells sex in her PVs , wears revealing to barely there outfits which probably cause a shock among the older generation of people . If you watched her PVs from real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba onwards , you will know what I'm talking about . So much so that her 1st 2 best albums that I bought from her are slapped with an M18 rating (only 18 & above can buy it) which's no thanks to the PVs .

Having said that , I hope in the light of all of these that has happened , she will learn her lesson & not to repeat such a simliar incident again even though I have a feeling it's gonna be easier said than done .

[Neo Daydream]

poor Kuu... but that was dumb of her lol

[ayumisrael]

I guess that kumi has a teribble time and most likely has to choose her words more carefully, but it's a really over-reaction, though that's how the japanese people are and feeling and we should acknowledge that, for us it's funny but for them it's kinda shameful so we can't judge them, really, and we can't judge kumi either. I hope the newspapers/interviews won't keep mentioning it though after she'll carry on.

[arisu_1love]

I seriously think this issue has been blown outta proportion. I do agree that it's not right for Koda to make such comments with those kinds or wordings, but people make mistakes....

[fanmail]

the title is LOL worthy.

anyway, it's getting old now, all this "we want more bad stuff to happen to her!! BETCH!!!" ¬¬; what more do they want? and it's pretty crappy that this could have been avoided. DX

[ayumisrael]

Originally Posted by fanmail

the title is LOL worthy.

anyway, it's getting old now, all this "we want more bad stuff to happen to her!! BETCH!!!" ¬¬; what more do they want? and it's pretty crappy that this could have been avoided. DX

Well it's a thing that probably will never be forgiven, they are in the "I'll forgive you but never forget" kind of thing

I wish it would dissappear AGES ago but it seems that interviews, articles, newspapers WHATEVER crap just keep bringing that up.

[fanmail]

Originally Posted by ayumisrael

Well it's a thing that probably will never be forgiven, they are in the "I'll forgive you but never forget" kind of thing

I wish it would dissappear AGES ago but it seems that interviews, articles, newspapers WHATEVER crap just keep bringing that up.

ew that's so annoying. I'm still well upset that this has almost ruined koda's career. and of course, the media play their part, they want the hot stories on the front page, and this is hot right now ... until it's a "not" story, the media are still gonna be all "quick! koda! front page!!" ne?

...I have no idea what I'm on about.

[TITANIC]

i think kuu must stop make a joke and be careful what she will say like she said..

but KINGDOM will sell more than GUILTY..

[ayumisrael]

Originally Posted by riozz

i think kuu must stop make a joke and be careful what she will say like she said..

but KINGDOM will sell more than GUILTY..

And only selling more than GUILTY doesn't mean it's good for her, it's just means she sold more than another female artist's album
For kumi Kingdom's sales got low quick from BC, that's the bad part.

Originally Posted by fanmail

ew that's so annoying. I'm still well upset that this has almost ruined koda's career. and of course, the media play their part, they want the hot stories on the front page, and this is hot right now ... until it's a "not" story, the media are still gonna be all "quick! koda! front page!!" ne?

...I have no idea what I'm on about.

LMAO, yeah something like that thing you might be on XD

[TITANIC]

Originally Posted by ayumisrael

And only selling more than GUILTY doesn't mean it's good for her, it's just means she sold more than another female artist's album
For kumi Kingdom's sales got low quick from BC, that's the bad part.

yea, i understand.. maybe it's hard for her to sell more if she realese new single or BEST album again..hehehe

let us see

[ayumisrael]

Originally Posted by riozz

yea, i understand.. maybe it's hard for her to sell more if she realese new single or BEST album again..hehehe

let us see

Well I would except it to sell at least like ayu's (miss)understood, because MY STORY sold 1,120,000 or something like that, and than miss sold 877,000.

BC sold 1,035,000 but Kingdom will be maybe close to ayu's Secret~A BEST 2 -BLACK/WHITE- sales? if she has a good luck with a long chart run maybe 820,000 but I still don't think Kingdom can sell as miss did, and the quick popularity decrease is just because of this STUPID SCANDAL >_<