What should the minimum age for members be?

Although this isn't a new issue, the sensationalist media from Japan is catching on now and people are upset about one of the draftees being 11 years old seeing comments from FB and other places.

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/04/...or-the-akb48-draft-this-year-is-11-years-old/

Yes, there have been successful members who started that young and there are other groups where this is normal.

I think there should be a higher minimum age requirement to join though, for maturity reasons.

What do you think the minimum age should be?

 

No minimum.

 

Let them finish Elementary School at least.

 

Well, I would put more emphasis on their psychological age (maturity).
Personally speaking, I usually don't like seeing members 14 and younger. In most cases, they seem to immature.

 

Remeber Tanaka Natsumi and Matsui Jurina were also eleven years old when they joined. So as long as the girl has a good support system I don't see why not.

 

Yeah, but Oku Manami joined when she was 10 and she was terrible

 

First year high school (15-16) or last year middle school (14-15) is good. I think. Not too old yet not too young.

 

I think 14 would be a good age too since the first generation members are that age and older when they started, except for Miichan who was 13

 

Early Middle School (JP age, like Jurina or Natsumikan) only in very, very rare exceptional cases.

I'd like 13 or 14 at least.

 

I don't think it matters much. Most members don't get much work until they enter high school, anyway (and even more when they graduate from high school) due to child labor laws.

 

IMO, the actual age doesn't relates to maturity.

But i can agree that at least they shouldn't allow to elementary students to enroll. Not for "maturity" issues, but working issues, remember how many times NakoMiku have to leave early from events.

 

10 or 11 should be the starting age, basically at the end of elementary school. Which is what I think it has been so far (not sure if it's an unwritten rule or not), and obviously they have parental permission to to do it.

I don't see anyone upset though (except Western people), and the only news about it is from an English-language paper that covers Japanese topics. The only thing I found about her from Japanese news sites is that the members thought she was really cute. It's a complete non-issue in Japan.

 

No limit.

Good example - main C-ute girls joined H!P at age 8. Youngest one was even 6. Today they are all adult woman and still performing. Obviously nothing wrong happened to them due to joining at early age. Of course risks that something might happen are higher, but all that can be mitigated with good parenting and responsible idol management.
In fact idol girls are a lot more protected than regular schoolgirls.

I'd say if you have problem with age then it's probably in your head.

 

I actually don't agree with that.
My problem with younger ages (psychologically speaking) has to do with the lack of a normal childhood, it has nothing to do with how we, westerners, see it.
The biggest difference when comparing AKB and other "talent" children has to do with the frequency of their work. Nowadays, I have no idea how occupied the younger girls are (AKB has so many members now), but before team 4 and 8 were created, they would have to work, at least at the theater, with considerable frequency. Other "talent" children, usually, have a bigger interval between events, and for that reason, might have a small time to be still, actually, children.

 

Seriously no idea why anyone would be interested in seeing girls that young do anything really.

 

^Because it's cute, duh!

How much do 'normal' Japanese kids and teenagers have the time to be just kids compared to our western standards? I heard if they're not studying, they're expected to be involved in some kind of hobby, be it for example sports or music, leaving them very little free time to just hang around and do whatever. Is there much difference between a girl going to an after school club to practise singing/dancing, spending most of her evening there and an AKB member performing at the theatre, if we're talking about things like work and free time?

 

Thank you very much for bringing that up. That goes directly to the heart of what I was trying to say.
It seems to be the norm (at least accordingly with anime) for kids to have extra curricular activities in Japan (actually it is the same in my country. Not clubs but extra curricular activities). But that is not much different from what I did when I was in school. Most of the time I would play football (soccer in some countries) with my colleagues and friends for around 2 to 4 hours in late afternoon.
The biggest difference from what I did or those school activities that school children have in Japan and what AKB members have is the responsibility that comes with a "job". They are not playing around like they would be if they were just having normal dancing lessons, or singing lessons, or something else similar. What they are doing is a "job". You could easily say that they are working minors.
The simple fact that they have a "job" changes everything because with it comes the responsibility that, in my opinion, shouldn't be placed up on children.

 

Minimum 15 but I prefer older. Children should have their childhood and schoolgirls should be in school, not being used for making money for business companies.

 

I don't know a lot about those after school clubs, but I don't think it's comparable to just hanging out with your friends after school. I think those clubs have certain rules and expectations as well and considering the social pressure that encourages hard work and good performance, I don't think slacking would be tolerated even among friends. I've heard the club activities go on in weekends and during vacations as well, but I'm assuming it differs from school to school or club to club.

Those club activities weren't even my main point though, it's the fact that many Japanese kids have very little free time outside of school. They experience a lot of pressure from their parents and their school to get good grades and do well on their exams so they can enter a prestigious university and get a good job. That's why it's very common for kids to attend extra lessons after regular school hours, not as an exception for those who need extra help with certain subjects, but as a common way of preparing oneself for the exams. This need to get good grades or else you're a failure and your whole future is ruined way of thinking can actually be much more stressful than having a job. I've heard about teenagers having mental breakdowns and even committing suicide over this, not just in Japan.

Yes, a real job does come with its own issues and responsibilities, but I don't think the 11 year old employees (in this case) are treated the same way the adults are. I doubt our little girls are lying awake at night calculating income taxes and worrying about their pension fund.

 

Didn't Jurina start at the age of 11 and Mayuyu at the age of 12? I mean they were very successful. On the other hand, in the interest of child protection, I think idols should be a least 15 years old.