( CNN ) -- If Japanese starlet Minami Minegishi 's shaven head and tearful mea culpa looked more like a disgraced samurai trying to retrieve his honor , then it owes much to Japanese pop phenomenon `` AKB48 's '' military structure . Complete with four main divisions of girl performers , the J-pop sensation have their own theater training camps , a sub-corps of as many as 14 sister groups , a rigid order of succession and a strict code of conduct . The bubblegum empire even has foreign territorial ambitions , with a base set to be established in Singapore and sister groups now located in Indonesia , Taiwan and China . But on Friday , Minegishi 's tearful admission that she had broken the group 's `` no romance '' bushido revealed serious cracks in the faÃ§ade of J-pop 's standing army . Shaving her head -- considered a ritual act of contrition in Japan -- Minegishi described her actions as `` thoughtless and immature '' in a four-minute video posted on YouTube that was viewed more than 3 million times . The Japanese weekly tabloid Shukan Bunshun had earlier reported that she spent a night at the flat of Alan Shirahama , a member of the boy band , `` Generations . '' `` If it is possible , I wish from the bottom of my heart to stay in the band , '' she said . `` Everything I did is entirely my fault . I am so sorry . `` I do n't believe just doing this means I can be forgiven for what I did , but the first thing I thought was that I do n't want to quit AKB48 , '' she said before concluding the admission with a deep bow . The apology did little to assuage management , who withdrew Minegishi 's commission , demoting her to `` trainee status , '' according to the band 's blog . Meanwhile , the scandal has been avidly taken up by Japan 's voracious tabloid media . `` It 's perfect . It 's an endless source of fodder to fill magazines and now they have one that went all Britney , '' said an industry source who asked not to be identified . AKB48 comprises four teams of around 20 members who rotate to play at the AKB48 theater in Tokyo 's Akhibara , where the group takes its name . The concept allows one team to perform while the others tour , promote or record . With 88 members in the band , it is registered in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest band in the world . The brainchild of the group 's Yasushi Akimoto , the bands have been a goldmine , grossing 16.28 billion yen ( $ 212 million ) in 2011 in CD and DVD sales alone , according to compiler Oricon . With American Idol style auditions that continually renew the ranks of the teams , the girls aged from14 to 20 either `` graduate '' to become solo artists within Akimoto 's swelling stable of performers , or they simply take early retirement . `` Misbehavior , '' as it 's deemed in the group , merits expulsion or in the case of Minegishi , demotion . The groups are now so popular that tickets for the daily performances are allocated on a lottery system . Akimoto says he wanted to create a concept where the audience could meet their idols , and the groups regularly hold `` handshake events '' where the audience gets to `` high-five '' the performers on the way into the show . While AKB48 may seemed to be pitched at Japanese teens , the audience is usually made up of Japanese salarymen -- a phenomenon not lost on Akimoto who has been criticized for sexualizing young women . Video clips show performers in skimpy miniskirts , passing food from mouth to mouth or taking baths together . `` It 's the same as art versus obscenity , '' Akimoto told CNN . `` It 's up to personal judgment on how we perceive it . '' But with song lyrics that run : `` I want to take off my school uniform , I want to misbehave , You can do whatever you like , I want to experience adult pleasure , '' Akimoto has been accused of feeding the teen schoolgirl fetish . `` They 're not reading their diaries , '' said Akimoto , defending the performers . `` It 's about acting . `` For example , there 's a song called Despised Love . This song is asking why junior high school kids kill themselves ... unless I take up the issues these girls are facing as a songwriter the issues wo n't get addressed . `` There are kids out there who want to take off their school uniforms and misbehave , and I 'm depicting realities in their lives in which they wonder whether it 's okay to think that way . `` I 'm not forcing them . I 'm picturing their private lives partly based on my imagination or newspaper articles or TV news reports . I watch what their generation is doing -- the issues of bullying , suicide , or traps with sugar daddies . '' CNN 's Alex Zolbert contributed to this report .
Shaven-headed star of J-pop sensation AKB48 makes tearful admission on YouTube . Apology does not prevent her demotion within the ranks of wildly popular Japanese girl bands . Producer Yasushi Akimoto denies accusations he is sexualizing young girls . Bands have been a goldmine , grossing 16.28 billion yen ( $ 212 million ) in 2011 .