For those unaware, which I’m sure is quite a few, there are Japanese pop music groups made entirely of girls — some of them having anywhere from solo to upwards of 48 members. One particular collection of them, in the Hello!Project group (governed by Up-Front Agency, and includes Berryz Koubou, C-ute, and Morning Musume, among others) has a particular clause in their contracts that dictates to the effect that no female artist under contract with them may have a boyfriend or demonstrate any evidence of dating, romance, etc.
At one point some years ago, a scandal emerged regarding a potential romance for one artist from the group C-ute (one of my favorite groups), Murakami Megumi — and the artist involved was let go, though it was instead reported that she simply retired to put more focus on her schoolwork (considering they are foremostly minors).
Well, another such scandal has emerged, but it is actually not particularly certain whether or not the person in the video clips is actually the female artist that is accused of having these ties. Either Natsuyaki Miyabi or someone very closely resembling her is seen in pictures and video clips provided by Hello!Online’s unfolding coverage. I personally don’t have particular preference to that artist, so I’m somewhat indifferent as to whether it spells contract termination should the verdict unfurl to reveal she is actually the person in the picture, but generally I would hope not. The Hello!Project groups in general have already had their share of scandals (one recently being semi-resolved in a good way, after having been terminated for smoking, although signing with a different agency).
I’ve taken a few snapshots of my own, using Topaz Moment that I reviewed earlier to extract a few slightly higher quality images from the grainy video if possible. The only one of her was the best possible version I could get, because the camera isn’t very stable and blurs a lot regardless of which frame, plus there is low lighting and they naturally don’t often turn to look at the camera anyway.
Natsuyaki Miyabi ?
Inoo Kei ?
the ablestmage press 
thats not miyabi, she has a very egg shaped face, in these pics ^^ the face of the person is square. plus she said in an interveiw that she doesnt care about boys and all she needs is her friends. she is my idol ^.^
and thats not Inoo Kei either..its all a misunderstanding…
its so unlike them… just sayin…
Not to mention that it was nearly 2 years ago.