First of all, I apologize for the embarrassment that I caused to myself and to all the fans of EON. No one should have to take care of a situation like this in my place.

But, it was too hard to not need to hide for a moment… so that I could process what happened and get ready to open up about the past that I tried to ignore. All of us from EON wished to present our personal stories to you slowly in a much happier moment, but I must break that tradition to explain the history behind those photos.

To clarify for those who don’t know, being a gravure idol has nothing to do with being an AV actress or anything similar. Being a gravure idol in Japan is like working in a way similar to a model, posing for photographs, but in revealing, suggestive clothes. I personally do not condemn anyone that chooses that type of career, but the problem is that, in my case… it wasn’t really a choice.

I come from a humble family, where I had a lot of love and support for my idol career dreams, even though we didn’t have the resources necessary even for everyday life sometimes. During one of those crises, me, my younger sister, and my parents, who were already working double shifts, were in the toughest financial situation we had ever been.

So, at 16 years old, I tried my best to look for jobs that would accept me, but all of them would say I was too young to work. I started getting desperate, because I didn’t just need to find a job, I needed to earn enough money to help my parents deal with our debts. When I almost didn’t have any other good chance left, I saw an announcement for teenage model scouting, and knew I had to try. Me and my sister loved to pretend we were models when playing, so it couldn’t be too hard right? It really wasn’t too hard, in fact the scouting process was quite simple and easygoing, even if I was very nervous about it. So me and my family were extremely happy when we found out that I was selected, and would be able to receive my first paycheck after my first photoshoot.

And that was when things started going downhill… this is the part where I’d rather not get in too many details. Ever since the first photoshoot, they told me to wear clothes that made me feel very uncomfortable, and it only got worse in the following shoots. I wanted to complain about it so much, but I was afraid that it would cost me the well paying job that was letting me help my family. So I tried my best to stay as quiet as I could about it, trying to make excuses to my parents about why they couldn’t see the photos and such… my only request to the “modelling agency” staff was whether they could publish the photos under a different name, one that wasn’t my real one. And that’s how I became, for almost 2 years, Sakura Hideki, a growingly famous gravure idol.

I am angry that I cannot even say that I regret the decision, because it’s what allowed me to save my family from bankruptcy, and later allowed me to take part in some J-pop projects, because they were interested in my portfolio, and that’s how I could have my first experiences as a trainee/idol. So maybe I shouldn’t wish it hadn’t happened, but I still can’t fully accept it…

So there it is everyone, that’s my story. Please be more considerate about the possibility of these types of backgrounds and others when talking about anyone on the media. But for the ones who supported me during this tough last week, I want to thank all of you. The AURORA staff, my relatives and friends, including all the other 8 members of EON, especially Lia, who helped me write this letter... and of course, thanks to all the fans who tried to take care of this situation that I couldn’t control by myself, and who sent me so many loving messages that made this short hiatus easier to handle. You played an important part in making me feel a bit more comfortable appearing in the media again, so except to see me again in the rest of the eon / antea promotions until the end of the year. Again, thank you all so much for attention.

With love,

Yuha <3"

A indústria musical coreana vêm se tornado mundialmente conhecida graças à sua variedade de talentos, sonoridades e visuais, mas também graças à diversas polêmicas relacionadas às vidas pessoais dos idols com quem os consumidores formam uma conexão tão profunda e/ou desconsideram que esses idols também são humanos, que podem ter histórias complicadas não-contadas e são afetados por comentários de qualquer tipo. Esperamos que esse pronunciamento de Yuha incentive outros idols a se abrirem suas histórias caso necessário, e que também façam usuários online terem noção de como podem prejudicar a saúde mental daqueles que falam ou fazem algo sobre. Desejamos melhoras à Yuha, e que ela consiga superar esses acontecimentos passados, que não definem o que ela é: uma talentosa e essencial parte de EON, um dos grupos mais promissores do k-pop atual.