Jun 10, 2019 (Japan Today) - These days the list of things to be outraged about is pretty long. Some things are worth addressing, like racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism, but sometimes the things that people get riled up about, particularly when it comes to celebrities in Japan, are major head-scratchers.
Putting your hands in your pockets when it’s cold outside? …How dare you? Tattooing your family’s names on your shoulder? For shame…?
Even fashion icon and superstar singer Ayumi Hamasaki, famous for dominating the Japanese pop music scene in the 2000s, is not immune. She’s been under fire by Korean fans before, but now Japanese fans are mad at her too. Why? Because she posted a photo of herself sitting in a shopping cart on Instagram.
The picture looks entirely harmless. Ayumi is sitting in a red shopping cart, with her knees folded in front of her, wearing stylish round sunglasses and casually dangling her wedge sandals over the edge of the cart. She’s smiling happily and looking like she’s having a great time, and since the picture is off-center, and the colors of the graffiti-painted buildings behind her are bright and vibrant, it’s actually a pretty artistic shot.
But Japanese netizens had nothing but criticism for the photo, according to livedoor news. Many thought posing like this was inappropriate for a 40-year-old woman. Since Hamasaki is an internationally renowned celebrity, she is a representative of Japan, and has an undeniable influence on the youth of Japan. Apparently, sitting in a shopping cart is shockingly immature behavior for a woman of her age and stature.
Interestingly, people seemed half-pleased that she had removed her shoes before climbing in–as a polite gesture to maintaining the cleanliness of the cart, perhaps?–but some said it was not enough, and she was still setting a bad example by being in the cart at all. “Shopping carts are not for riding!†some people allegedly criticized.
