Danica Davidson
October 29, 2024 
Haruna Kojima, who was a member of the massive idol group AKB48 from 2005 to 2017, recently had some drama unfold while she was stumping for her new photo album, Kamoshirenai. She had a launch event at the Shibuya Tsutaya building in Tokyo, and that part seems to have gone just fine. It was afterward, as she was heading toward her car, that things took an unexpected turn.
A man sneaked up on her from behind and seized her, knocking her to the ground. Once this had happened, event staff managed to then seize hold of him and hold him there until police showed up. Thankfully, Kojima was unhurt.
The man, whose name has not been publicly identified — what little information we have says that he appears to be a non-Japanese person in his 40s — was arrested by police when they arrived. After the arrest, the man acknowledged, “There is no mistake that I grabbed her arm.” However, he also said, “I held her, but I had no violent intentions” despite grabbing her and knocking her to the ground.
Police theorize that the man considers himself a fan of Kojima, and that he learned about her event and hid out in the area to try to get at her.
When Kojima took to social media, she chose not to write about the attack, but instead to concentrate on how the event before it went well. She wrote, “Today was the event for my photo book. It was fun seeing so many faces that that I haven’t seen for a long time! I was surprised to see both veteran otaku and new fans cheering for me. Thank you for coming!”
Besides her work as an idol, Kojima is known as a model (check out her Sailor Moon lingerie modeling here) as well as being the founder of the fashion brand, “Her lip to.”
Source: SoraNews24
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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