Producer Yasushi Akimoto Slammed for ‘Sexualizing Young Girls’ as Old Lyrics Resurface — CNN Once Grilled Him Too

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The story

Criticism accusing songwriter-producer Yasushi Akimoto of “sexualizing young girls” is spreading again on social media, centered on lyrics from the idol songs he has produced over the years. The trigger was a news article revisiting his old lyrics, which also recapped how CNN once grilled Akimoto over the sexual exploitation of underage idols. The story was cross-posted to 5channel’s Geinou/Sports Breaking News+ board, where users cited lyrics and episodes from the AKB48 and Onyanko Club eras, sparking both defenses and criticism. Defenders pointed out that the original “1st generation” members were popular with female fans too, while critics mostly focused on the lyrics themselves and the industry’s structural problems.

Amid the backlash against Yasushi Akimoto, the resurfaced lyrics for a “sexy elementary schooler idol” song are almost too much to stomach

Hit-maker Yasushi Akimoto is facing a flood of “sexualizing young girls” criticism on social media.

What was the “get-out-of-jail-free card” Akimoto once used when CNN grilled him over the “sexual exploitation” of minors?

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here

What people said

10AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:36
Yeah, it's not "Life Isn't an Anime" — it's "Like Melos."
"The Times Are Crying" has good lyrics too.
48AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:41
Re: #10
Layzner's got good music, though.
18AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:38
It was tolerated back then, so…
well, it's not great, but yeah.
27AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:39
Re: #18
The recent lyrics are creepy too, though.
20AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:38
Tell 'em about "Banana's Tears" too.
132AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:57
Re: #20
The worst of Akimoto's lyrics has to be
"Oops, CHIKAN!" — a song that plays false groping accusations for laughs.
21AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:38
Honestly, I think it's a stain on Japan.
And it all traces back to Fuji TV in the end.
49AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:41
Re: #21 Right, and that's exactly why Fuji TV ended up like this.

They dragged "Shimiken" — no party animal, just a guy who quietly did serious work — up from deep in the ranks and made him president,

stuck him with all the cleanup duty, and here we are.
28AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:39
With Akimoto, staying silent no matter what gets said is just standard practice.
44AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:40
Re: #28
Shokotan and this guy are the poster children for "no reaction, no apology, no statement of feelings."
57AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:43
Akimoto himself is a genuinely decent guy —
it's the shady "dragon tattoo" types swarming around him that are the problem.
64AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:45
Women are women's own worst enemy.
This is exactly how women's jobs keep disappearing.
Western motorsports used to have race queens too, but feminists got them criticized out of a job.
The women who actually worked those jobs were furious at the feminists.
127AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:57
Re: #64
Race queens disappeared simply because of the recession — motorsport declined and there's no money left.
Teams are skimping even on mechanics' pay, so there's no way they're paying women just for decoration lol.
And the women found AV (adult video) work paid better anyway, so race queens naturally died out.
65AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:45
For some reason everyone assumes Akimoto does absolutely everything by himself.
73AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:47
Re: #65
Kind of like assuming Nakai did everything all on his own.
77AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:47
So this was 40 years ago, huh.
82AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:48
Re: #77
"…I, the author, 53 this year, am one such person too, but when it comes to the 'ick factor' of the Nezumikko Club (likely a garbled name for Onyanko Club), Akimoto's lyrics are also—"
it actually says that, lol.
88AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:49
Honestly, being able to properly convert "cute" into money is impressive.
99AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:52
Re: #88
Converting "sexual," not "cute," into money is what's gross.
In that sense it really does feel like it's pushing right up to the line.
97AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:52
Your elephant-san's
scanty (skimpy underwear)
must surely be me.
108AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:54
Re: #97
Someone in an old Onyanko Club thread once told me it's actually about a condom.
And yeah, listening to it now, that's exactly what it sounds like.
117AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:55
If there's no equal exchange it's exploitation, but if there is, it's not exploitation.
125AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:56
Re: #117
Pretty much every member is just a sacrifice for the sake of a chosen few, you know?

Background and Key Points of the Debate

For nearly 40 years, from the Onyanko Club in the 1980s to AKB48 (formed in 2005), Yasushi Akimoto has planned and written lyrics for numerous idol groups. What’s being revisited now are lyrics from songs released during that span; claims that they depict minors as sexual objects have surfaced repeatedly before, and overseas media have previously covered the topic in the context of critiquing idol culture. In the thread, opinions split between those defending the material by pointing to the makeup of the fan base at the time, and those criticizing the lyrics themselves and the industry’s underlying structure. Unverified rumors about Akimoto’s personal life were also posted, but since the facts could not be confirmed, they are not covered in this article.

*This article is compiled by excerpting and summarizing the 5channel (Geinou/Sports Breaking News+) thread “[Entertainment] Backlash floods in against Yasushi Akimoto over ‘sexualizing young girls’ — “It’s creepy”: resurfaced explicit lyrics, and how CNN once grilled Akimoto too“.

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