Latest news with #Yashiro
Tokyo Weekender
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Tokyo Weekender
Anger as Record Company Releases Private Nude Photos of Deceased Singer Aki Yashiro
On Monday, New Century Records released Wasurenaide — meaning 'Don't forget me' — a collection of songs by the late Enka artist Aki Yashiro. Yet rather than just focusing on her music, including popular tracks such as ' Funauta ' and 'Ame no Bojo ,' the Kagoshima-based company decided to try to boost sales by including two fully nude photographs of the singer when she was in her mid-20s. The pictures were shot by an individual she was living with at the time. List of Contents: Online Petition Gathers More Than 50,000 Signatures About Aki Yashiro Related Posts Online Petition Gathers More Than 50,000 Signatures New Century Records' decision to release the photos along with the CD has been heavily criticized online. A petition titled 'Protect Aki Yashiro's dignity and stop revenge porn,' has amassed more than 50,000 signatures at the time of asking. It was started by Keiichi Aoyama, who wrote, 'If this is released, all female artists will work in fear of the possibility of their dignity being trampled upon after their death.' Makoto Ono, president of Yashiro Music and Gallery, issued a statement about the pictures on April 14. 'The publication of this controversial work is an extremely unpleasant event and is absolutely unacceptable,' he wrote. 'I myself have once again recognized the weight of the responsibility entrusted to me by Aki Yashiro, both during her lifetime and after her death. I'm prepared to take all possible measures to protect Aki Yashiro's honor in the face of such barbaric acts.' Takashi Kimura, the governor of Kumamoto Prefecture, where Yashiro was born, also weighed in on the issue. At a press conference on April 16, he said , 'It's unacceptable. The release should be canceled.' Despite the backlash, New Century Records refused to back down. Speaking to The Asahi Shimbun , President Hiroshi Hayakawa said the company bought the master recording rights to several of Yashiro's songs along with her public and private photographs around a quarter of a century ago. 'There is also a purchase agreement,' he said, adding, 'It's just business.' About Aki Yashiro Aki Yashiro was born in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, in 1950 and took her stage name from her hometown. After working as a bus tour guide, she eventually fulfilled her dream of becoming a singer, making her debut in 1971 at the age of 21. Her first big hit, 'Namida Goi,' was released two years later. In 1980, she won the Japan Record Award. She was the first female Enka singer to have seven top 10 singles on the main Oricon chart. Yashiro died in 2023 at the age of 73. Related Posts Spotlight: Hibari Misora — The Queen of Enka There's More to Japanese Music Than J-Pop and Enka History of Karaoke in Japan
Japan Times
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Times
Nude photos of deceased singer Aki Yashiro spark row in Japan
A Japanese record company is facing a backlash after announcing it would release a CD by a deceased singer that will include nude photographs of her taken privately. The governor of Kumamoto Prefecture, where the singer, Aki Yashiro, was from, slammed the decision as an "unforgiveable" act in a blog post published Wednesday. The CD is due to be released on Monday by the record company, which has announced that the product will feature two nude photos of Yashiro, who died in 2023 at age 73, as a "bonus feature." It said the photos were taken by her then-partner when she was in her 20s. "If this is not revenge porn, what is it?" Kumamoto Gov. Takashi Kimura wrote in a blog post, referring to the act of sharing intimate images without a person's consent. Makoto Ono, a representative for the company that runs Yashiro's website, has also spoken out against the move. "The announcement (of the nude photo release) is an extremely unpleasant event and absolutely unacceptable," Ono said in a press release this week. Ono's company sent a letter to the record company in March through legal channels demanding that the release be called off, but no response has been received, the firm said. The record company, based in Kagoshima Prefecture, has told Japanese media they hold ownership rights to the nude pictures. Social media users in Japan condemned the company with the hashtag "Protect the dignity of Aki Yashiro." An online petition calling for its cancellation has received more than 7,000 signatures. "Naked photos being published without permission after death. ... This terrible thing must not happen," one user wrote on the platform X. Yashiro, who debuted in Japan in the 1970s, is a household name known as the queen of enka — a genre of Japanese music. She was also a jazz singer. She regularly featured on NHK's prestigious "Kohaku Uta Gassen," a staple of New Year's Eve television.
