AKB48, affiliate groups cancel events after attack

Bouncers — called “peelers” here —

come on! that does injustice to the whole "bouncer" community. you can't call a lanky 20-year-old kid a bouncer.

but it's sad that these random acts of violence are increasing here and all over the world. it seems like a lot of young men have no sense of worth anymore. thank goodness no one was killed this time.

And now the accessibility issue begins. Regardless of what you think about the AKB family, the music and the fan base, you have to remember that this is a business based the 'Accessible Girl Next Door' image. The management will now have to redo security and people movement as well as educate it's fan base on interaction etiquette. A sad day.

These 'handshaking events" are an inane idea in that they senselessly put these young girls in very dangerous situations involving deranged fans.

The promoters who manufacture AKB48 should be held liable for exploiting and endangering the girls to this degree.

Very sad indeed that they have had to cut the number of appearances they do and restrict access. surprised nobody saw this coming.

These 'handshaking events" are an inane idea in that they senselessly put these young girls in very dangerous situations involving deranged fans.

You're determining that based on a single incident out of thousands of these events?

Try to keep some perspective.

I know that this opinion is a bit extreme, but I feel these "akshukai's" are almost like prostitution. You buy a CD for the chance to shake a girls hand. The more CD's you buy, they more girls you can meet and shake hands with. There is no way in hell these girls enjoy this, as most of the fans are creepy otaku type guys. I read that for the more famous girls in the group, before guys can shake their hands they are checked and cleaned to make sure they don't have any strange stuff in their hands!

Umeta told investigators that he was not an AKB48 fan and just wanted to commit random murder.

So why didn't he attack the people standing in line? Doesn't make sense.

Of course, it would be really bad for AKB Inc. if it turned out that any of its fans had mental health issues.

Way to let the lunatic win. Congratulations. Why not just make him your god and bow down to him?

Should have went with business as usual.

What was up with the towels on their hands??

if they were smart they would change nothing and tell the fan base that AKB is risking their lives everyday just for tme.

What's up with the face mask for your media conference. Know when to ditch those stupid things, please!

If they start canceling these absurd events, it is going to have an impact on sales and the bottom line. AKB's twisted business model depends on selling multiple copies of their CDs to people who seek out these handshake tickets. Who needs multiple copies of the same CD? No one. But they prey on the most rejects out there, who are willing to buy another CD for another golden ticket and the chance at a few seconds' brush with one of the idols. Let that sink in a bit. Counting on increased CD sales not based on the quality or appeal of the musical product, but rather the obsessiveness of a subset of fans. Its disgusting and the organization gets what it deserves sometimes.

time for such dangerous exposure for these nice girls to stop. Their safety is more important.

Who needs multiple copies of the same CD? No one.

Obviously a false statement, otherwise nobody would buy more than one. What you MEANT to say is that YOU do not need to buy multiple copies of the same CD and because YOU don't, there's no reason why anybody else in the world would need to. If you were the center of the universe, I might agree with you. However...