by Rachel Ogbu

Minami Minegishi, 20, of Japanese all-girl group AKB48 has appeared in a video crying after shaving her head in repentance for being caught leaving her boyfriend’s house breaking her band’s strict no dating rule .

Minegishi who is one of the original members of world’s largest girl pop group with 48 members (Guinness Book of World Records) was forced to make an apology on-screen after had been photographed by a tabloid newspaper leaving the apartment of her boyfriend, Alan Shirahama, a dancer in a boy band.

Head shaving is a traditional form of showing regret and publicly seeking forgiveness in Japan.

According to reports, the video of her apologising which appeared on the group’s website and was later posted on YouTube has been seen by more than six million people.

During the four-minute-long video, with tears streaming down her cheeks, she says: “I don’t believe just doing this means I can be forgiven for what I did, but the first thing I thought was that I don’t want to quit AKB48.

“It was impossible for me to think of leaving AKB48, which has supportive fans and fellow members I have spent most of my youth with. I know this is too optimistic, but I still want to be Minami Minegishi of AKB48.

“It was all my fault. I sincerely apologise for it.

“I leave further decisions to Mr Akimoto [producer] and staff members. I don’t know how to deal with this matter yet, but all I can do now is expressing my feelings here. Thank you very much.”

Every year, fans vote to determine the most popular members out of a 237 member pool.

The members of AKB48 and their affiliated troupes are then rotated in and out according to their popularity.

In exchange for being part of the popular band, the members must not date men so they do not break the fantasies of male fans who buy their records.