[2006] Tomoya Nagase's father about Ayu & Tomoya

[nmskalmn]

Originally Posted by extepan

i agree.

nearly 20 years ago, when Jackie Chan was found out to be married, a number of Japanese fans committed suicide because he was no longer single.

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)

I can't think of which other J-pop singers are married right now, but I think if Ayu did marry it wouldn't damage her fanbase. Not sure sure about TOKIO, but they are all almost 30 or older. How can fans these days expect men that age not to be thinking about serious relationships?

[SunshineSlayer]

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)

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.

[extepan]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

Those people, except for Amuro, are not "idols" so the rules don't apply to them.

that's exactly true. if idols get married, then career will be over. it is very similar in the hong kong music scene as well. the most popular idols are all single, such as Andy Lau, Leon Lai, Aaron Kwok, Kelly Chen, Joey Yung, Sammi Cheng etc.