Kakizaki Memi (Memitan) / 1st Generation

There is, they just don't use it.

Here's an article(a few years old though) https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2...ti-stalking-laws-are-a-dead-end/#.XVH5ruhKiUk

And an excerpt.

This isn't what I meant at all. I was merely pointing out an example of Sakamichi not pushing someone out just because they have a stalker.

 

@MasToppu taking Kpop as comparision in this case is not useful I fear. Dorms system - and members number - is quite different and depends on agencies in both countries. I wish though that the same outcry this would have sparked in kpop would have been raised up in jpop... while I saw only Memi fans and some Japan-news account on twitter, talking about it.
Differently from @ukifune I'm not prone to put Memi case on the same level as Maho, because other than having her group members and mngmnt on it, Maho has been attacked in her own home and the outcome could have been 100 time worse if another person didn't came at the moment.
I hope Memi - or any other idol - had never, nor ever would be, in a similar situation.

But, this doesn't mean what happened to Memi is not a problem, and exactly like I said about Maho's case is a problem that affect every single idol regardless of the group they belong to, and it should be resolved by the industry, by every company, pretending, first and foremost a better law (if it even exist) against stalkers and such.

It will never happen, but removing this kind of people - or "fans" that attend HS just to insult the girls - definitely from attending any Sakamichi event would be already a step forward in giving the girls a better enviroment to work in.

 

@gish0046 -- Good information. Thank you.

I'm feeling more relaxed about this whole thing again: sometimes bad causes lead to good changes. Clearly, Memi has long had other things she has wanted to do, as Manafi has posted. And nothing lasts forever: she had a good idol life and now she will have a new kind of life that could be even better.

And I was struck by this tweet: "When I found out why Memi graduated, I didn't say: 'Oh, how awful!' To smile through your fear is what it is to be an idol. To talk about the reason she was graduating was not easy. She may be an 'idol', but she's one human girl. Thank you for being an idol right to the end." (@9hGGMtVOlHtyp93)

I myself have always seen fear lurking in the eyes of most idols: maybe fear of failure, fear of being unpopular, fear of management, fear of stalkers, fear of all those eyes watching you. But I never really saw fear in Memi's eyes: insecurity and uncertainty, but not fear. Until this year. I wonder if Memi is graduating and leaving show business because she refuses to live with fear, not just of stalkers but of all those other things.

I think many things combined, including the stalking, to encourage Memi to graduate. I think the stalking pushed her to leave show business entirely. Here's the earliest first-person report I have of what she said in Nagoya: "Actually, I encountered a stalker. It scared me and I stopped going to handshake events. I want to retire from the entertainment world and live life as an ordinary girl.... Every day in Hiragana was like a dream." A later report says "in Hiragana and Hinatazaka," but I do think she was less attached to Hinatazaka than Hiragana, as her reaction when the name was changed February 11 showed. And Manafi has written of the natural "change of atmosphere" in the group as time went by.

In late January, Memi said in Message that all her dreams recently had been nightmares, maybe because she had been watching horror films. In February, Memi was given a spot on an ETV show, but no drama. Manafi said in an interview that the choice seemed odd. Who knows if a drama would have come if she had stayed, but in any case drama was something she often said she wanted to do more of. Who knows also if she would have been in the front three if she had done Doremi, but the trend was against it, despite the amazing progress she had made in singing over the past year. Perhaps she felt she was spinning her wheels in Hinata.

Here's a bit of a timeline, based mainly on Memi's Keyaki Message posts:

Spoiler: timeline

At the beginning of March, Memi and all the members seemed happy and getting along well, particularly in their Showroom broadcast on 1 March.

But March was a tiring month, and at the rainy and cold Laguna festival on 23 March, she dropped her mic during performance and in a brief clip with Meimei and a cinematographer she looked nervous and uncomfortable, even scared.

On 5 April, she made her highly unusual solo trip to Kamakura to go beachcombing. Does this suggest that she was not scared of stalkers then? Or was she testing her freedom?

Her final TV show recording was supposedly done around 10 April, including her superlative "ghost burikko" performance on HinaAi; "Memicho" on HinaBINGO; and her vivid, natural manner on HinaROOM, talking about Kamakura and about her grandmother's axolotl.

In the Premium Melodix interview, broadcast after midnight on 14 April and probably recorded that day or earlier, suddenly Nao was the group's winker. The other guests -- Kumi, Kyouko, MiiPan, Katoshi -- all tried winking, but Memi, the one member who had been featured winking for months, did not. Something had changed.

A voice Message on 14 April was her last real post to Message, until the end.

On 15 April, her father's twitter said he met a daughter in Tokyo. Her face wasn't shown, but the coat suggests Memi. Were they talking about Memi being overwhelmed by her feelings about the stalking? Did it happen first in mid-March or in early-mid April?

On 19 April, Memi missed M-Station. As Manafi posted, it would take something big for an idol to give up M-Station. She did not take part in shooting of the photobook in Okinawa over five days including 24 April. And she started missing handshake events on 29-30 April. Had she and her father decided that she needed a break, no matter what events she was missing?

At the end of April-early May, the 1gen members of Hiragana got together for a meal that Kyouko later said would be a treasured memory. Did Memi tell them about the stalking and her decision to take a hiatus, or even to graduate?

On 3 May, her father's twitter says a daughter helped him in the woods gathering material for an art project. Perhaps Memi had gone home to rest.

On 10 May, a message from management says members and their families had been bothered by stalkers, and asked the stalkers to stop, with threats of banning and police.

On 11 May, a well-known Memi fan in Yamanashi said he saw her playing around with Ayaka during filming of Doremi there. Was she just being with them, without taking part? Or was he mistaken?

On 16 May, her father's twitter was hacked.

On 3 June, it was announced that Nao-chan had finished filming at the end of May of a feature film to be released in the fall. Was this originally going to be Memi's, or had they decided (as would make sense) that they had to promote their centre, who herself wanted to act?

On 21 June, Memi's graduation was announced, though she was still considering what to do after it (members say they knew about her graduation a few days before).

So. My tentative reconstruction is that Memi was dissatisfied with various things, and had other things she knew she might like to do, but things were going well with Kyun. When the stalking started, sometime between mid-March and mid-April, it threw her "mind and body out of balance," and she missed M-Station, Doremi and the photobook and stopped doing handshake.

She was still deciding what to do: hiatus; graduation and staying in entertainment; or graduation and becoming an "ordinary girl." She decided by June 21 to graduate. By August, she had decided to make a clean break and start a new life.

May her new life be even happier than her life as an idol has been.

@Dill -- We don't know how serious the stalking incident(s) affecting Memi were. Serious enough to throw a stable person like her for quite a loop. There may or may not have been physical contact, and the incident(s) may or may not have been at her home. I hope for the best, but I don't know.

 

Memi may have graduated, but there is still lots to say. A couple of blog posts:

First, Memi's graduation dress has a name: the "going at things head-on" dress. The elegant blue dress was from a boutique that gives its dresses names. Some lovely discussion about the dress from the manager of the shop and from a loyal customer. The manager says she's sure Memi knew the name. She did go at the reason for her graduation head-on.




Second, Takamoto Ayaka's moving blog about how much she likes Memi, how hard Memi worked, how she held firmly to her own opinions -- and about going out to eat with her recently and hoping to still go out to eat with her in the future. Aya-chan also talks about being on Music Station again, and about the musical outfits.

 

Unless this is unrelated to stalker case, I would say stalker rarely insult in public event. They usually, like Tomita Mayu case and some more, are among the nicest folks who praise her there. Sometimes her heavy spender fans even.

Insult......is not what she feared here.

 

Just my opinion, but when you don't start to resolve things that you consider small and unrelated, it just mean you may never get down to resolve the very big and worrisome ones.
Like I said, it would be a start if mngmnts give at least a signal that they are present and kicking if necessery, instead of putting always money before idols.
Hiragana mngmnt said they were taking appropriate measures against this kind of things, right? What exactly are them? Does anyone knows?

The same day Memi announced the main reason for her graduation, Hori wrote about people getting into her line just to harass her. So, this may not be what Memi was scared of, but it's part of a mentality that necessarily needs to change for the girls' sake.

On a more happy and unrelated note, since you mentioned Tomita Mayu, around the same time of Memi graduation, I saw a tweet celebrating her being part of a CM. I think it's something we all should be happy for. I can only imagine how long her path to recovery still may be, but it's an hopefully positive step for her.

 

Takase Mana's blog about Memi -- the Snow Princess Angel -- actually graduating. Moving words and good pics of them together.



@Dill -- I'm so happy to hear about Tomita Mayu having recovered enough to do a CM. For those who don't know, she was an independent idol who did small shows and was slashed at one of them a couple of years ago, I believe in the head area, by a "devoted fan" who wanted to be her boyfriend but whom she had rejected. At least that's the story as I've read it. I have continued to look for her name from time to time, hoping to see good news. Thank you.

I do believe in banning people who just come to berate idols, but @EinhanderX is right that stalkers seem to generally be devoted fans who would not criticize. On 5channel, there continue to be accusations that the one who was following Memi was a guy known as Shuuta, or someone in his group of "pirates." He seems to be a well-to-do college student from Hokkaido who attended events all around the country. I used to enjoy his reports from handshake events, where he showed real affection for Memi (and Meimei). Indications were that Memi seemed to enjoy him, too. His reports ceased months ago and his twitter account is now gone.... There are a few voices once again whispering the idea of stopping handshake altogether, but not many.

I continue to be a bit appalled by the lack of mention in the media of Memi having been stalked. Comments about Memi mentioning it range from "she doesn't even know that a bird does not foul its nest when it flies away" to her having protected the other members by revealing it.

 

Cmiiw, there will be two letters as her last message to fans and members that will be included in Hinatazaka photobook. It said that the cover will be slightly modified.

Source:https://mobile.twitter.com/hinata_group1st/status/1163435755282132992

According to Modelpress, there will be one special page, the "Snow Princess Angel" page that hold the message from Memi.

Source:https://mdpr.jp/photo/detail/7040368

 

Thanks for this. I wonder what it means. Will there be a photo? (It doesn't sound like it, just letters and name on cover.) Who decided to do this? Will she now get a share of the income from the book? Is it a retroactive approval of her missing M-Station and the Okinawa photo-shoot? Her absences from M-Station and the Okinawa photo-shoot were the first definite indications something serious was going on. They were even before she missed any handshake events. M-Station was 19 April and the photo-shoot covered five days of which 24 April was one. The first handshake events she missed were 29-30 April.

 

She will be missed.

 

Nigaaaiii!!!

 

I just found Nogi 4th gen member that has similar personality/character as Memi.

 

Who?

 

Still need further examination. But, the earlier symptoms show the similarity in several parts.

 

Tsutsui Ayame actually reminds me of Memi in many ways. Not exactly like Memi, but similar.

They both have a pretty, doll-like quality to them with fair skin and long black hair. They both joined young at around the same age but they also both have a air of maturity around them.
They both have the quality of being shy and reserved but at the same time seeming confident and self-assured.
Ayame is a very high-ranking calligrapher for her age making her seem cultured similar to Memi coming from an artistic family.
We don't here much from Ayame now since she's new and shy but I think she seems like she could turn in to a very charismatic and funny member.

 

I see Memi on Yuna. She is calm and cool girl like Memi. But, behind that appearance, Yuna is amaenbou and clingy like Memi. Then,Yuna also love to throw a wink to any member, especially 4ki, that meet her eyes. Now, I just need to wait, whether Yuna also develop the annoying burikko.

 

Memi has been credited as photographer for one of her father's art. He posted it on twitter

https://twitter.com/junichikakizaki/status/1194776730113691649

It's not much and may be only a little step for her, but I'm happy we can at least "see" this much.
Good job Memi

Edit: Link added

 

Yes. Wonderful to see her name there next to his, in an artistic context. Kakizaki-sensei likes to shoot dark, so Memi shot dark, too. There's another shot of the same piece here showing it in fuller light. Memi's is harder to see but stronger emotionally. The piece is called "Mountain of Suffering" (受難の山, see note below) and is made from pyracantha-bush fruit ("firethorn"), apples and stainless steel.

Kakizaki-sensei stopped posting to his twitter and facebook when Memi graduated, in August. He started up both again last week, I guess for this Shinbism exhibition now on in Nagano city. But he also posted pictures of going mushroom-hunting with his daughter -- not specifying which of his two daughters, and not showing her face in either of the two pics including her.

As posters in Japan say, I expect she is currently studying hard to get into university. Perhaps she is aiming at one of the several art universities in Tokyo. I wonder what she thinks when she looks at the members of Hinatazaka, now so busy and rolling toward Kouhaku. I don't think many idol fans in Japan would agree, but I suspect she feels glad to be out of the rush and busy-ness, and in a world more her own. A Japanese poster hopes that when Memi succeeds as an artist, Memi fans may be able to see her again. Another says how fantastic it is that father and daughter can work together.

note: The title of the work uses the word juunan 受難 "suffering," which can also refer to the Passion (i.e., suffering and death) of Christ. I think the translation in Kakizaki-sensei's twitter/facebook "Mountain of Passion" is more likely an error than a Christian reference. I am tempted to think that having Memi do a photo may be a hidden reference to her sufferings this year.

With apologies, I will post Memi's photo here:

 

Kakizaki Junichi has now posted another photo of one of his works taken by Memi. This one is called "Rosehip" (a "rosehip" is the fruit of a rose bush). All of the red things in it could be fruits from various kinds of roses, I think:



Lighting, composition, feeling: all artistic. Off-balance, maybe as if moving ahead to the right. Here's someone else's more straightforward photo.

EDIT: I now read that the exhibition was held in a building in a park that was founded on a private garden's collection of 172 different kinds of roses. There was a kind of night festival for the show, which included three artists. Sunday the show ended.

 

Now that the exhibition is over, Kakizaki Junichi has posted a number of photos of it by his daughter Memi, both in his Facebook and Twitter. Here are a few of them, beginning with a shot showing part of a film of a performance by Junichi-san's Swedish collaborator Su-en. Junichi-san develops the art setting and she does the dancing. Then there's a shot of him (right) giving a talk to people attending the show. (click to enlarge)



Then she has some shots of visitors and bits of the show:



Some of the photos work and others don't, but it's great to see her enjoying herself and developing a style. "Shinbism" was the name of the three-artist show, and Kakizaki-sensei's part of it was called: "Now with what is here." He refers to creating art right now with what is in front of you.