theater manager Togasaki Tomonobu made a public announcement on February 1 emphasizing that head shaving was own decision and the uploading of the video to the official Minegishi’s AKB48 channel on Youtube was by her request as well. As it had served its purpose of Minegishi apologizing to fans, the video has been removed from Youtube. The reality is that the AKB48 love ban has been hard to maintain in recent years. One love affair after another of their members has been exposed by the press, despite the AKB48 best PR efforts to hush the reporters. Below is a list of recent incidents in which management’s the love ban has been breached. Name Time Highest Ranking Offense Penalty in the Group Elections Hirajima Natsumi January, 2012 Dating a Termination of 26th， 2011 boyfriend, employment 平嶋夏海 ignoring the agency’s warnings Sashihara Rino June, 2012 1st , 2013 Magazine report Transfer to sister on prior group HKT48 指原 莉乃 boyfriend Masuda Yuka November, 2012 20th, 2011 Magazine report Termination of on current employment 増田有華 boyfriend Mineshige January, 2013 14th 2010, 2012 Magazine report Demotion to Minami on current probational boyfriend member 峯岸 みなみ Kashiwagi March, 2013 3th, 2011, 2012 Magazine report None on overnight party with male soccer players An important trend is that as time progresses, penalties for breaking the love ban rule has become more and more lenient. While Hirajima Natsumi was fired upon the discovery of her
theater manager Togasaki Tomonobu made a public announcement on February 1 emphasizing that head shaving was Minegishi’s own decision and the uploading of the video to the official AKB48 channel on Youtube was by her request as well. As it had served its purpose of Minegishi apologizing to fans, the video has been removed from Youtube. The reality is that the AKB48 love ban has been hard to maintain in recent years. One love affair after another of their members has been exposed by the press, despite the AKB48 management’s best PR efforts to hush the reporters. Below is a list of recent incidents in which the love ban has been breached. Name Time Highest Ranking in the Group Elections Offense Penalty Hirajima Natsumi 平嶋夏海 January, 2012 26th， 2011 Dating a boyfriend, ignoring the agency’s warnings Termination of employment Sashihara Rino 指原 莉乃 June, 2012 1st , 2013 Magazine report on prior boyfriend Transfer to sister group HKT48 Masuda Yuka 増田有華 November, 2012 20th, 2011 Magazine report on current boyfriend Termination of employment Mineshige Minami 峯岸 みなみ January, 2013 14th 2010, 2012 Magazine report on current boyfriend Demotion to probational member Kashiwagi March, 2013 3th, 2011, 2012 Magazine report on overnight party with male soccer players None An important trend is that as time progresses, penalties for breaking the love ban rule has become more and more lenient. While Hirajima Natsumi was fired upon the discovery of her