YAAAAAAAAHHH!!!! THAT'S WHAT YOU CALL LIVE PERFORMANCEEE!!!!!!!!!
THAT. IS. LIVE. PERFORMANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HYORISOO LIVE QUALITY EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!
EVEN THE CHOREO WAS MADE RIGHT THEN AND THERE!!!!!!!! THIS IS THE NO.1 GIRL GROUP GIRLS' GENERATION ๐๐ฅโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ๐ฅ๐
A sad thing happened in Japan
An 11-year-old boy named Yuki was reported missing in Kyoto.
His stepfather was out on the streets, handing flyers to neighbors, asking for help finding him.
This week, that same stepfather was arrested.
He has reportedly told police he โlost his temper and strangledโ Yuki, then dumped the body in a mountain forest.
The boyโs mother, by every account, believed him until the end.
This is where most people will stop reading, and this is exactly where the harder conversation should start.
Japan has a quiet, persistent problem that rarely makes it into the English-language conversation about this country: children living with stepfathers or their motherโs new partners are overrepresented in serious child abuse cases.
In Japan, when child abuse crosses into criminal prosecution, around 72% of offenders are โfather figuresโ โ and within that group, over a third are stepfathers, adoptive fathers, or the motherโs live-in boyfriend.
Given that stepfamilies make up only around 7% of marriages in Japan, that share is not small.
Child welfare data tells a similar story, case after case โ sustained beatings, torture, sexual abuse, disposal of bodies.
It is not that stepfathers are monsters. Most are not.
It is that a country that treats family as a private black box โ where divorce still carries stigma, where mothers are often financially cornered into remarrying, where schools and neighbors are trained not to intrude โ systematically fails to see the children inside those homes until it is far too late.
Yukiโs mother handed out flyers next to the man who now says he killed her son.
Japan just began allowing joint custody this month, after decades of delay.
But the harder reforms โ mandatory home visits, real authority for child welfare workers, serious screening around non-biological caregivers โ are still stuck.
This is not an abstract policy argument. It is the difference between an 11-year-old going to school next week, and an 11-year-old becoming a headline.
Rest in peace, Yuki.
Jessica Jung performed several Girlsโ Generation songs tonight at her โReflectionsโ tourโ This marks the first time Jessica has performed any #GirlsGeneration songs since her leaving the group in 2014.
Back in 2010, Taeyeon of Girls Generation spoke out against Music Bank following an onstage earpiece malfunction, claiming the show refused to let them perform again. When the group later won an award, she said:
"Everyone who performed today did really well! I hope Music Bank is able to provide a better environment so all these hard working artists are able to perform well."