Dark Side of K Pop Industry

Luna Speidel, Belgium

Although K Pop generally classifies “popular music” within South Korea, the term is often used in a narrower sense to describe a modern form of Korean pop that is influenced by styles and genres from around the world. The Asian pop singers are becoming more and more popular and, therefore, the music industry is pushing them harder so they can be at their best on stage, which is understandable. CDs, music videos and interviews have been taking their lives to a point where it becomes too much. Is it normal that at almost every concert at least one of the group members faints? Is it normal that they are doing more then 30 different dance routines per night for many months? We should take a deeper look and see if this is human abuse or not.

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The multi-million dollar industry that is controlling the lives of the big stars, makes everything look so glamorous and nice. But what the fans and the outside world in general doesn’t know, is that behind that fake image the artists are working 12 hours and maybe more a day every day to make everything look perfect. This leads to a form of abuse and is often hidden by the industry itself. You can’t force someone to stay on their feet and give everything they’ve got on a stage in front of millions of their fans. The fainting and collapsing on stage is a message and gives all the hidden darkness away. The industry can’t control everything and certainly not health.

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When you become someone famous in that industry, your whole life is being controlled and getting out of it is almost impossible. Things like dating and getting married are not allowed, unless the significant other is approved by the industry. Everything is made for the artists to become more famous and for that to happen every detail counts. Most of the Kpop singers need to have plastic surgery to maintain their beauty and achieve the perfect look that the fans want. But again, this is something that the entire industry keeps secret so the performers look like natural perfection. Their diets are really strict and can go to a point where these celebrities starve themselves to keep up with their perfect body image. That’s also one of the things that causes the lack of energy and fainting on stage.



With all that negativity that’s hidden, you would think that the artists make a lot of money out of it so it’s at least worth something to them, but even on that level, the Kpop stars are victims of financial exploitation. For one show, a regular Kpop group generally earns $4000, 90% of which goes to the company and 10% gets divided between the singers. The singers are also threatened with blackmail so they don’t break the contracts, which are often for long terms, and stay in the groups. In the end, it’s a really dark industry that’s is created to give people what they want so the company gets to make as much money as they can.

Anti-Fans Sometimes Try To Kil is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Dark Side Of The K-Pop Industry And Idol GroupsAfbeeldingsresultaat voor dark side of kpop industry


Hinata Nakagawa JAPAN

 I was born and raised in Japan. The person whom I  most respect is my mother. In my childhood, I’ve seen a lot of times that my mother suffered from a typical Japanese society system that women have to be in. So in this article I want to talk about Japanese women’s rights.

First of all , I think Japanese women’s rights are not same as those in other countries. The World Economic Forum published The Global Gender Gap Report in 2017 and Japan ranked at 114 place out of 144 countries.It obviously shows us that women have to be in trying circumstances in Japan. One of the reasons the rights of women are not good in Japan is there are very few  women politicians in the Japanese government. It makes women live under difficult situations, because the Japanese governments doesn’t have good support for women which help to raise children or in work circumstances.

I think we should have more women politicians. The rate of women politicians in Japan is only 1 %.

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In usual life, women are in unhelpful situation. For example in a company, many women are supposed to quit their jobs when they get married or become pregnant. The reason why it happens is most everyone thinks that women have to do chores and stay at home. Furthermore, it means that men can’t stay at home and they should work. So for instance, when a couple has a baby , men can’t have family leave to take care of their child. Moreover, after women give birth to a child ,many women will have to take care of  the baby alone. So it often makes women  as physically and mentally exhausted. In addition, once they quit their jobs because of marriage or pregnancy, it’s really difficult to find a new job. Many companies are not inclined to hire women who have children, because sometimes children have a cold suddenly or can get sick easily. In addition , there are not enough nursery schools in most of cities in Japan. It means mothers have to stay at home and can’t work until they find  a nursery school. The children can’t enter nursery school because of the nursery  school is at capacity are called waiting child. It has become to be really serious problem recently. Many women need the government to change ,but they still have not changed this situation.

downloadIn a very fundamental part of our lives prejudice  between women and men is also a problem. However, I  think these things are too common to say it’s a discrimination, because people say biased things without any hesitation. Even women often don’t care . On the other hand, some experts say if you don’t change these small biases , society may not be healthy forever. Thus, we should care much more about small biases. For instance , many men say women must be good at cooking and this is really important. Sometimes people speak that the value of women is decided by their cooking skills. They think women are supposed to cook for men. In addition, when women are pregnant unexpectedly and unfortunately many men don’t take responsibility and women suffer alone.  Furthermore, when some fathers are helpful  at chores and raising children, people praise them like that’s an incredibly great things. I hope people can say it’s normal that both the father and the mother do housework and take care of their child together . Above all, the important things is trying to treat women and men the same sincerely.images

As you can see , we have a lot of problems about the circumstances of Japanese women’s lives. What we need to do is to become aware of  natural biases that we have without any doubt and try changing our society. Unfortunately, activities about women’s rights are much less than other developed countries, such as Europe or America because most Japanese people are not concerned about women’s rights.  In my opinion, these actives will also make society very diverse and it helps men’s lives to be better,too. No matter if you are a man or woman ,anyone can be whoever you want to be. I hope women and men can be equal in the future and for this goal, we should start changing our awareness about our lives.

Japanese TV Drama

Nami Matsuzawa, Japan














Japanese Soccer Player

Nami Matsuzawa , Japan

Do you know Japanese popular sports ?You may think of figure skating , gymnastics ,  swimming …..One of the famous sports in Japan is soccer! There are 18 soccer teams in J1 League (Japan 1 League) .You may know some team names which  are  Gamba Osaka, , Nagoya Grampus EightSanfrecce HiroshimaUrawa Red Diamonds, FC TOKYO and Kashima Antlers…..

I think that Japanese soccer players are smaller and skinnier than any other  players in the world.Some people may think Japanese soccer players don’t have skills and strong bodies .

But some Japanese  play soccer  abroad.Some Japanese soccer players have the oppotunity for success on foreign teams.They play against taller players .

Today, I will show you  a good Japanese soccer player.


His name is Atsuto Uchida. In 2006 , he became a Japanese professional soccer player as a right back .He played for J1 League  club Kashima Antlers. Uchida began his professional career when he debuted for Kashima at the age of 17 against Sanfrecche Hiroshima.

He is a very fast runner and has never given up his good attitude and is very competitive. So, he has to trust in his  team players and his team mate have to  trust in him , too. There is a nice relationship.

At the end of the 2008 season,  he made 34 appearances and scored once in all competitions. He was named J League Best Eleven for the first time. In addition, he signed a contract extension, keeping him until 2012.This is such a  great thing.

In 2010 ,  his team club continued to win  and he became a Japanese national football team player.His play made the  Japanese people happy. There was  no one who did not to know him at that time.

On 13 June 2010 , he joined  the German club Schalke04 .He was admitted because of his ability .He was not only fast,  but also a good defense player . He is not tall ,176 centimaters. He does not have a big body. Sometimes this characteristic is a weapon.He can run nimbly .This is one of the important skills in soccer.

When he joined Schalke04 , he didn’t  become friends with this team. His team mates could not  believe his skills. In addition , he could not speak German, but he never lost heart.

He thought “I will succeed and get back at everyone someday.”He tried to do extra practices. He became the hardest worker. His efforts affected his team mates. He was always selected as a regular member and became an essential player.

Neymar praised his defense skills. He was the first  Japanese person to win the Champion League Best 4 and sometimes he was selected as best eleven player in a European soccer magazine.




One day ,he injured his leg and he left  Schalke04 in 2017. He was loved so much by Schalke04 supporters. When he left , Schalke04 held a big ceremony for him.

Now he has returned to play for Kashima  Antlers. I think he will play abroad again in the not so distant future. He gives a lot of inspiration to Japanese children soccer players.

I think that he is not only Japanese successful soccer player, but also Keisuke Honda who played Ac milan  , Shinji Kagawa who plays Burussia Dortmund now .




Now , Japanese soccer players are rising. I want everyone to pay attention to Japanese Soccer Players!





by Kohki Nakamura, Japan

The cigarette includes many harmful chemicals. For example, nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, and it includes more than 50 substances that cause cancer. Furthermore, you would lose your facial beauty if you continue to smoke. People around smokers are influenced by cigarettes.


I surveyed about cigarettes. I asked 4 questions to 3 people. The first question is “Do you smoke?” All 3 people said no. The second question is“How many times do you smoke a week?” And the third question is “How many cigarettes do you smoke in a day?” Of course, they said zero. The last question is “Do you think cigarettes are unhealthy?” They said yes. So all 3 people think it is unhealthy to smoke, but there are many people who smoke. I think they have to be concerned about their bodies.


Exercise and Effect

By Yuki Matsuno   Japan

There are many things that makes us better. I think that exercise is one of the best thing for our health. Because it can bring us many good effects. For example it makes feel happy. Then I asked four questions to three people who is EF student, who is native English speaker and who is gym trainer.

Each of they think the best sports for their health is own them. And two people exercise about 5 ～ 10 hours in 1 week but one person do just walking. In addition, all three people say playing sports outside is good. Because it has effects own their body. For example it makes feel happy and healthy good shape, other says build muscle and make mental toughness. In conclusion, doing exercise is good effects for everyone so it is very necessary in our life.

Olympic Games History

Tom Lumiere ,  France

The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, a city of Greece. Competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic, but also combat sports, such as battle and the pankration, horse and chariot racing events. It has been generally written that during the Games, all conflicts with the participating city-states were suspended until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or accord. This idea is a modern illusion because the Greeks never suspended their wars

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The modern Olympic Games (FrenchJeux olympiques) are best international sporting events presenting summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world’s principal sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are adhered every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by developing every four years but two years apart.

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Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games. Baron Pierre de Coubertin (French) founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, principal to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority.

Pierre de Coubertin

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The reason why I choose is that since I was young, I have been

going to every summer Olympic Games: ‘Athens in 2004, Beijing in  2008, London in 2012, Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and I will go to Tokyo in 2020’ .



Healthy Japanese Food

By Haruka Toyoda, Japan

Japanese can live longer than the other nationalities. Actually, we have research.It says the average lifespan for Japanese men is 80.79 years and for Japanese women is 87.05 years.This could be the longest lifespan around the world. Why can we live so long? Because we eat healthy Japanese food which is an intangible cultural heritage.

First, I want to introduce the structure of Japanese healthy food.We always have 4 kinds of foods. It called ‘1 zyuu 3 sai.’ That means soup, rice, one main dish and two small side dishes. To tell the truth, we don’t count rice.This photo is the typical breakfast.There is soup, 1 main dish(fish),2 side dishes(egg and green one) and rice.If you eat this, you can get all nutrients you need.This soup is called miso soup which is made of soy so also this is healthy.

Next, I’ll introduce SUSHI.This is the most famous Japanese food around the world.Our country is surrounded by the sea.So we eat fresh fish.Most of Japanese like this. Actually, real sushi doesn’t have avocado.It’s rare to see sushi with avocado in Japan and I have never seen a California roll in Japan.But I like this kind of sushi.

Finally, I want to tell you about Okinawa where the person who had the longest lifespan lived.Okinawa is located in the western  Japan.It has a  beautiful ocean and delicious food.The most famous food is called  Goya.It tastes bitter but it contains a lot of Vitamin C.The weather is warm through the year.And old people normally work at their own farm and grow vegetables.The secret to living a long time is to be active and eat healthy food.

Let’s eat Healthy Japanese Food!