1. Arashi – ￥17.163 billion/￥17,163,000,000 (approximately $204,321,424)

2. *group name omited to avoid misinterpretation of purpose* ￥9.431 billion/￥9,431,000,000 (approximately $112,273,808)

Info from here and here

I guess this is already old news for many of you already, but it's only recently that I have the time to blog about this issue. Everything I'm about to say is just my personal opinion based on my own beliefs so if it clashes with yours, just ignore me and move on.

I feel rather sad for Edison. Yes, you heard me right. No doubt he IS at fault. But is he the ONLY one at fault? I'm ot surprised about him taking those pictures because I can totally imagine him doing it. For me, I see his fault mainly as being too careless about things and giving people a chance to steal those pictures. But ending his entire showbiz career...It's already a very harsh punishment for him. Of course that can never help to mend things and take back the hurt this incident brought to the parties involved. But it is already a very big lesson to Ed. His name is tainted and this has probably travelled to even USA. It's hard to pick himself up. And it had to happen at a time when he is just about to re-enter the music industry. I don't know if he really meant 100% of what he said in the apology video, but it should be at lest 50% true, right? Some of my friends feel that it was staged and bid to save back some public trust. I don't know about that.

But I'm more angry at the people who published these pictures online and those who spread them around. What's wrong with them? What do they have to gain from this? Does seeing Ed and the other parties go down make them happy? The guy who first uploaded the pictures deserves to be jailed ten times over. He caused so much hurt to the girls and their family. This is something that can't go away that easily and will most probably stick around the girls for a long time. Why are these people so heartless? What they do in their room is their own business. True, being artistes, they ought to take better precautions and be more careful. But they are also humans. It wouldn't be such a big hooha if it was some pictures of ordinary people. But because those pictures were of artistes, it makes the act ten times more immoral. Isn't that double standards? People in the limelight ought to set a good example for the masses. Yeah. That's the price to pay for being one level 'above' ordinary people, right? Yeah right.

The girls. True, they're the major victims and I do sympathise with them. However, they too are at fault. No one forced them to take the pictures. If they had agreed to it, they too must bear the responsibility of the act and bear the risks of doing so.

Note that I'm not agreeing with Edison's actions/omission of actions. I'm just trying to look at it from different grounds.

Well, I was a major Ed fan, but there is no bias here. Since everyone else I know feels that Ed is to shoulder the entire blame, I felt that I should 'speak up' for him to give the other side of the story. Not that I'm disagreeing with the criticisms asbout him.