In May, TWICE Sana was embroiled in controversy over a post to TWICE’s Instagram account. In that post, she talked about the old Heisei era and celebrated its end with the arrival of a new era.

Despite the innocence of the post, it was interpreted differently by Korean netizens who heavily criticized her for posting it to the group’s official account rather than a personal account, some were also furious the post was never taken down.

JYP never addressed the controversy and after a while, it all calmed down.

Sana has, for the first time ever, opened up about her experience with the controversy to her ONCE at TWICE’s solo concert on May 26.

She said,

“I am the type of person who has a lot of thoughts in my mind and I recently went through a period with many thoughts.

I was looking at the past when I was a trainee. I had no idea what it would feel like to be loved by so many people, but now, I realize how much responsibility comes with being loved.”

She also talked about how people interpret words differently based on their personalities, she says,

“When I say a phrase, even if I didn’t intend it to be interpreted in a certain way, it can still disappoint many people, I didn’t know this much back then.”

Sana also talked about being afraid that ONCE would disappear from her and how she grew more fearful of the future, she added,

“Then, I saw the faces and expressions of ONCE looking back at me, I thought to myself, ‘I need to be stronger and protect ONCE.’ Since I have ONCE and TWICE members, I can become strong. Thank you for always being by my side.”

Sana took a bow to the audience while everyone cheered her on.

Here is the video with her full speech:

tw sana crying/// this is so fucked up. pic.twitter.com/VFjqnhs8iw

— nayeon: no matter gay straight or bi lesbian trans (@sanayeoI) May 26, 2019

What do you think of what she said?

My Personal Thoughts

Personally speaking, I have no problem with what she said as it has nothing to do with me and I believe many ONCE felt that way. However, I said previously that Korea and Japan history is very complicated and they have a tense relationship.

If you look at it as an outsider you might think netizens are overreacting and I personally think they were to a certain extent, but not everybody was being mean, some had valid arguments to point at JYP, not Sana.

I don’t personally know Sana but I doubt she had any hidden agenda with that post, I believe she merely wanted to share her thoughts on the end of an era, it was an important event for all Japanese people.

On the other hand, Sana should’ve considered the history between both countries and how sensitive netizens are. I also personally believe in that, especially after the hell Tzuyu went through, she was even asked to leave the group.

According to netizens, the members of TWICE never posted anything in celebration of Korea’s Independence Day, so from netizens point of view if TWICE Korean members aren’t allowed to post anything about Korea’s political events then why should Japanese members be allowed to do so?

This is not the way I think but the way netizens think.

If JYP policy was to never touch on politics then they should go both ways, the same with Korean and Japanese members. In order not to cause controversy to all the members.

I still believe it shouldn’t be this complicated and people need to calm down but by the end of the day, this is a subject I can’t really say much about since it’s about two countries histories, two countries who to this day have a rocky relationship.

Sana is young and I don’t expect her to know how to behave or to think beyond every action she takes every time, that’s too much to ask for and quite frankly illogical.

Sadly, this is how the Kpop industry works and for those who work in it, they must adhere to those things, if they break those unwritten rules, they can sometimes ruin their careers and this doesn’t go only for political posts but other things as well (dating, avoiding/messing up military service, not being polite to elders, DUIs, drugs, etc.)

It’s sad, unfair and restrictive but this is Kpop and everyone who wants to become an idol should be taught and told about just how rough everything is gonna be. This is what I would love to see companies do.

This is why it irks me that idols debut at such a young age (13, 14, 15); I feel that they need to be older when they debut and more educated and aware of the hell that awaits them. Many dive in and just want to become singers/rappers/dancers and don’t realize that it’s a very risky restrictive industry, and when it hits them, it’s the point of no return.

I just wish they took course and case studies about Kpop controversies just to prepare their mentality.