Quote:
Originally Posted by nmskalmn
Aren't things changing though? Utada is married and it didn't hurt her career.
Who else?
Shiina Ringo - married and divorced
Amuro - married and divorced
Tomoko Kawase - married
Hyde - isn't he married? (I'm not sure)
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Those people, except for Amuro, are not "idols" so the rules don't apply to them. And yes, when Amuro was married, had a child, and divorced it did damage her popularity and image in Japan - it was quite a big deal. To us in the west that sounds ridiculous but in Japan it is not. It is slowly being less of a problem but it still exists. Ayu and Tomoya have been together a long time now so most people have probably gotten used to the idea but I'm sure it is one of the reasons why there relationship was kept secret and is still downplayed very much to this day.
And no one has even gotten into the story about the idol that committed suicide because she wasn't allowed to have a boyfriend. This kind of thing gets taken seriously in Japan to a very extreme degree.