2025.05.19
Do you know what the biggest topic in the KPOP scene is right now (as of May 19)?
In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it is currently the hottest topic in KPOP for 2025.
Yes, it is the “Chouchou Girl.”
The large KPOP festival “KCON JAPAN 2025” was held at Makuhari Messe from May 9 (Friday) to May 11 (Sunday).
Since Kep1er was also performing, the author participated on the 9th and 10th.
KCON features not only live performances by artists but also a meet-and-greet event (hereafter referred to as “M&G”) that includes talk events and farewell sessions, and an incident occurred during this M&G.
To participate in the M&G, a ticket costing 8,900 yen (about 10,000 yen including fees) is required for each artist, and most fans purchase this ticket with the intention of attending the farewell session.
For those wondering what the farewell session is, it is an event where fans walk past their favorite group members as they literally send off each fan leaving the event. There is time to exchange a word or two, and fans can receive direct words from their favorites like “I love you~” or “Thank you always,” making it an irresistible event for fans.
Moreover, typically, you would need to buy CDs to have a chance at such events, and even if you buy 10 CDs costing around 1,500 to 2,000 yen each to apply, it is common not to win. In other words, being able to participate for a guaranteed 10,000 yen in an event where you might spend nearly 20,000 yen without winning is a must-have opportunity for KPOP fans.
However, this year, a major problem occurred at the M&G farewell session, which was supposed to be a guaranteed fun event.
It is an excessive “removal” of fans.
“Removal” refers to the act of staff separating fans from artists, and to put it bluntly, the removals at this year’s KCON meet-and-greet were abnormal. A certain female staff member who was conducting the removals was wearing a hair scrunchie on her head, leading to her being referred to as “Scrunchie Woman” on X (formerly Twitter). The videos of these removals quickly spread, causing “Scrunchie Woman” to trend.
With over 2.8 million followers on X, the strongest influencer in the X community, Takizawa Gareso, also covered the incident (the relevant post with the video had 74,000 likes and 33.49 million views as of May 19), and the name “Scrunchie Woman” became known to people beyond the KPOP scene.
Subsequently, the topic was also covered on AbemaTV’s AbemaPrime and on the YouTube channel of comedian Soshina, with media that typically do not cover KPOP jumping on the bandwagon.
Then, an aggressive online identification group quickly obtained “Scrunchie Woman’s” personal information, spreading it online and triggering relentless defamation.
While I think it is excessive to identify and defame an individual, the way the staff conducted the removals that day was, to put it mildly, not appropriate for customers who had paid 10,000 yen to be there.
The author participated in the Kep1er meet-and-greet farewell event, and even while walking normally, I was pushed by staff. The farewell event for ZEROBASEONE (commonly known as Zebewan), which sparked the controversy, was even worse than that of Kep1er.
If you watch the video of the incident shared on X below, you will understand that anyone would be angry if they paid 10,000 yen for this treatment.
And some may wonder here.
Is it that this time was the first time a problem arose when usually things are more peaceful? The truth is, that is not the case.
Recently, the attitude of staff at KPOP offline events has often been a point of concern.
The reason why this time it has spread so widely and become a major issue is simply that KCON had allowed filming with smartphones as a general rule.
Typically, filming is not permitted at offline events in Japan (although there are very rare events where filming is allowed), and even if the staff’s attitude is terrible, there is no way to leave evidence of it.
However, this time, clear footage of the staff’s actions was left as evidence, causing those who had been dissatisfied until now to explode in frustration.
KCON, taking the situation seriously, posted an apology on their website, and the event company “STARTPOINT,” which dispatched the on-site staff, also officially published an apology.
Honestly, it is quite rare for the organizers to apologize for such issues.
Until now, it has often been the case that fans had to suffer in silence. There must have been significant protests, and perhaps Samsung, the main sponsor of this KCON, also had something to say about it.
Of course, it cannot be denied that there are troublesome fans, and I believe that a firm stance should be taken against such individuals.
However, what about taking such an attitude towards fans who are following the rules and participating quietly? I strongly hope that this incident will prompt event organizers and management companies to return to operations that consider the fans.
Fans go to the hair salon and dress up to meet their favorite idols.
Some people even travel from distant regions just for this day.
This time, the KCON meet-and-greet farewell event was 10,000 yen, but there are people who spend around 100,000 yen on offline events where you can only meet if you win by purchasing CDs.
I hope they consider the feelings of fans who are looking forward to spending such money and time with their idols a little more.
Which store treats customers who have paid a lot of money poorly?
Isn’t it a bit much to take the idols as hostages and treat fans badly?
I’m not saying you have to be kind.
At least just be normal. That is all we, the fans, wish for.
End
Neko-machi Peko
Team Leader of SKOOTA KPOP Division
〈Originally a Western rock music fan, I was even considering a job at Rockin’ On at one point. I started listening to KPOP because of BTS, then got hooked on BLACKPINK, and dipped my toes into the KPOP world. I became obsessed with the survival audition show ‘Girls Planet 999’, commonly known as Garupla, and as a result, became a hardcore fan of Kep1er, who debuted from that show, fully immersing myself in the KPOP world.〉