Japanese singer to greet fans from inside a box to keep her anonymity 

Japanese singer Ado, famous for going to great lengths to conceal her appearance, has announced that she will be doing a handshake event… from inside a box. This bizarre set-up for a meet-and-greet has attracted surprised and amused reactions from some Japanese social media users whose minds instantly went to a certain creepy abnormality or SCP from the SCP Foundation – the paranormal/horror collaborative writing project. 

Ado is a Japanese singer who debuted in 2020, with her first single Usseewa peaking at number 1 on the major Japanese digital and streaming charts. Anime fans may have heard her in One Piece Film: Red, for which she contributed the theme song New Genesis. The 21-year-old singer is known for going to great lengths to obscure her appearance, her first world tour last year featured a box-like set piece that made the singer look like a shadow in a cage.  

A ticket to the handshake event is one of three lottery prizes that purchasers of her new album Zanmu can enter to win. The event is scheduled to take place in October 2024 over the course of 2 days, giving over 500 fans the chance to shake hands with the mysterious singer. To hide her identity, Ado will be inside an enclosed room with a hole for her hand- through which attendees will be able to shake it. Ado has even released this handy guide that gives an idea of what fans can expect: 

Reactions on Japanese social media have ranged from excited fans to those who find the whole situation a bit creepy and bizarre. A number of X users who are into SCP have commented on the eerie similarity to one of the fictional “files” on the SCP Foundation’s site (for the uninitiated, entries on SCP Foundation are written in the style of classified reports). One user even reposted the handshake event guide alongside text describing SCP-173’s containment procedures: “Item SCP-173 is to be kept in a locked container at all times. When personnel must enter SCP-173’s container, no fewer than 3 may enter at any time and the door is to be relocked behind them.”  

In the age of social media, it is difficult for famous people to stay anonymous and keep their lives private. So far, Ado seems to be managing to hide her appearance quite well and her anonymity even seems to be part of her allure.