Japanese Girl Band Member Fined by Court for Bringing Male Fans Back to Her Hotel Room 

A member of a Japanese girl band has been found in breach of contract and fined by a district court for supposedly bringing male fans back to her hotel rooom in 2013. The girl, then 15, had signed a “no dating” contract as part of her membership in the group, and a judge ruled that she’d tarnished the “image” of the band. This is all remarkably creepy.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that the girl, now 17, was ordered to pay about $5,400 by a Tokyo District Court judge, who ruled that she’d violated her band’s celibacy clause:

“The clause prohibiting dating was necessary to get the support of male fans,” said Judge Akitomo Kojima in his ruling, adding: “The revelation of an idol’s relationship damages their image.”

Contracts forbidding romantic engagements are standard for members of Japan’s idol groups, but this is understood to be the first time a management company has successfully sued for damages.

The six-member group signed its contract in March 2013 and debuted in July of that year. After reports surfaced that the one member, who would have been 15 at the time, went to a hotel with two male fans, the group was disbanded in October 2013.

No-sex clauses are common for Japanese pop groups girl pop groups. In 2013, a young woman named Minami Minegishi recorded a profoundly disturbing apology video after she was discovered to have a boyfriend. Minegishi’s head had been shaven and she sobbed throughout the video. She was 20 years old at the time. Last year, two members of a group called Aoyama Saint Hachamecha High School, 19 and 22 at the time, were expelled for dating male fans; they, along with their parents and the men they went on dates with, were sued by their management company.

The Hollywood Reporter says that the teenager fined in this most recent incident wasn’t named in the public court filings, but is believed to have been a member of a group called DokiDoki, managed by a company called Spiral Music.

Screengrab via YouTube/Tokyo Spiral