A man in his late thirties living in Tokyo earlier this year sued AKS, the company that manages AKB48, as well as King Records (AKB’s record label), and Google Japan for “nonfulfillment of financial obligations” after he had been denied the chance to shake hands with his favorite idol, Karen Iwata.
The verdict on the case was heard in a court in Tokyo on November 20th.
The court threw out the Hidenobu Onishi’s suit, since it ruled the complainant had the choice to purchase or not purchase the band’s CDs with the handshaking event tickets.
The fan had previously sent AKB member Karen Iwata, who was still a junior high school student, over 500 fan letters in a year. Clearly he had a thing for Karen!
The judges did nonetheless rule that it would be unlawful for AKS to deny the fan access to the handshaking events without a justified cause, even though he possessed tickets.
However, the fan had used sexual language when writing to Iwata and had proposed marriage, as well as raised questions about her parents educational policies. The court ruled that his actions were inappropriate for a juvenile girl — they do not seem to question if it is “appropriate” for Iwata even to be a member for the idol group in the first place — and they constituted grounds for denying the fan the right to shake hands with his favorite idol.
Live and learn, Hidenobu!
