Johnny & Associates facts for kids

Johnny & Associates, Inc.

Headquarters in Minato, Tokyo (2018-present).
Type	Private (kabushiki gaisha)
Industry	Entertainment
Successor	Starto Entertainment
Founded	June 1962; 62 years ago (1962-06)
Founder	Johnny Kitagawa
Headquarters	9-6-35, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo 107-0052 , Japan
Key people	Noriyuki Higashiyama (CEO)
Owner	Julie Keiko Fujishima
Number of employees	130
Subsidiaries	Artbank MCO J Base J Storm Johnnys' Island Johnny's Shuppan Johnny's Entertainment Johnny's Music Company MENT Recording Tsuzuki Studio The New Tokyo Globe Theatre Young Communications Unison

Johnny & Associates, Inc. was a Japanese talent agency formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962, which managed groups of male idols known as Johnny's. While the company had a significant impact on pop culture with male idols and boy bands in Japan since around the 1980s, on the other hands, until 2019 the company was known for its strict policies regarding music distribution abroad and strict control over the talent rights to usage of one's likeness whose careers it managed.

After Kitagawa's death in 2019, his niece, Julie Keiko Fujishima, was made the new president. She stepped down in September 2023, and on October 2, 2023, Johnny & Associates announced that they would be splitting into two entities: Smile-Up, a charity project, and Starto Entertainment, a talent agency managing the acts that had been managed under Johnny & Associates.

History

1962–1989

In 1962, Kitagawa launched his first group, Johnnys. In its early days, Kitagawa's agency rented an office space owned by Watanabe Productions, operating under its management as well. Six years later, Four Leaves, a boy band created by the agency, became successful. Four Leaves left a lasting legacy to the industry because it was produced as a "Group sounds band that does not play instruments", a product of Kitagawa's taste for emphasizing the attributes, personality and physical abilities of a performer. Kitagawa formed a number of other successful acts, such as Masahiko Kondō, whose song "Orokamono" (愚か者, Fool), won the 1987 Japan Record Award, and Hikaru Genji, the first Johnny group with three singles on the Japanese Oricon yearly chart in 1988.

Johnny & Associates played an integral role in the post-war growth of Japanese boy bands and the idol industry. While there were idols since the 1970s who were able to sing and dance at the same time, the agency popularized the idea of performance-oriented idols in the 1980s. Kitagawa himself was credited with pioneering the idol system where trainees (known as Johnny Jr.) are admitted into the agency at a young age to train in singing, dancing, and acting until their debut.

1990–2009

Around the 1990s, Johnny & Associates' marketing strategy changed to include variety show hosting as a specialty in their talents. At the time, the agency focused on marketing the singing and dancing talents of their acts until they would retire around age 25 as they aged out of the industry. Taking note of former Shibugakitai member Hirohide Yakumaru's success as an MC on Hanamaru, Johnny & Associates subsequently trained their more recent groups to have public personas as well.

During the 1990s Johnny & Associates began declining nominations from the Japan Record Awards and the Japan Academy Awards, partly due to a dispute about the musical genre of one of their groups at the 32nd Japan Record Awards. Another reason cited was that the nominations would engender competition among Johnny groups and with other nominees.

In 1997 the agency founded a record label, Johnny's Entertainment. Also, a New Year's Eve countdown concert is held live on Fuji TV from the Tokyo Dome since 1996 known as Johnny's Countdown Live with a different theme each year.

In 2006, Oricon sued journalist Hiro Ugaya when he was quoted in a Cyzo magazine article suggesting that the company manipulated its statistics to benefit certain management companies and labels (specifically, Johnny & Associates). Ugaya condemned the action as a strategic lawsuit against public participation, and it was later dropped by Oricon with no charges filed against the journalist.

In 2007, a temporary Johnny's Jr. group, Hey! Say! 7, broke a record as the youngest male group to ever top Oricon charts, with an average age of 14.8 years. Later that year, Hey! Say! JUMP broke a record as the largest group to debut in Johnny's history, with ten members.

By 2008, Johnny & Associates was known as the "top 3" recording artist companies.

2010–2023

Headquarters in Minato, Tokyo (1998–2018)

On November 19, 2010, Masahiko Kondo received the Best Vocal Performance award at the 52nd Japan Record Awards; Kondo was the first Johnny recipient since Ninja refused to perform live at the 1990 awards.

On September 18, 2011, Kitagawa received Guinness World Record awards for the most number-one singles (232) and the most concerts (8,419 from 1974 to 2010) produced by an individual. His shows have been attended by an estimated 48,234,550 people.

In 2016, SMAP, which had been active for 30 years and was called a nationally popular group, suddenly broke up. The reason was said to be a feud between the female manager Michi Iijima in charge and Mary Yasuko Fujishima, who was an executive at the office, a sister of Johnny Kitagawa. Iijima later established a new company, and the three members who left the office belonged to her company.

In 2018, Johnny & Associates, especially Kitagawa, who had been previously known for strictly controlling access to their acts, established a YouTube channel for their trainee groups, Johnny's Jr. In January 2019, Hideaki Takizawa was named the president of a new subdivision of the company called Johnny's Island, where he would manage and oversee the debut of trainee group Snow Man. After Kitagawa's death on July 9, 2019, his niece, Julie Keiko Fujishima was made the new president of the agency, while Takizawa and Suguru Shirahase became the vice presidents and Kitagawa's older sister, Mary Yasuko Fujishima, became the executive director. However, Mary Yasuko Fujishima died on August 14, 2021.

After that, Johnny & Associates made their discography available on streaming platforms and opened social media accounts. On November 1, 2022, Takizawa resigned from his position as vice president and departed from Johnny & Associates. Yoshihiko Inohara, a former member of V6, replaced Takizawa as vice president.

On 4 September 2023 it was announced that Julie Fujishima would step down as president of the company and Noriyuki Higashiyama would become president.

2023-present: Company rebranding

Logo used beginning October 2023.

On October 2, 2023, Johnny & Associates announced that they would be splitting into two entities: Smile-Up, a charity project, and Starto Entertainment, a talent agency managing existing acts under Johnny & Associates.

Starto Entertainment, which takes the place of the entertainment side of Johnny's, started activities in April 2024, with an all-agency concert series, with Arashi's Jun Matsumoto and Super Eight's Tadayoshi Okura as co-directors. Groups Timelesz, Super Eight and West. performed before their fans soon after their respective name change. Under the name of "We are! Let's get the party STARTO!!", the concert series took place over three days, in Tokyo Dome on April 10 and at Kyocera Dome Osaka on May 29 and 30, with appearances of NEWS, Super Eight, KAT-TUN, Hey! Say! JUMP, Kis-My-Ft2, Timelesz, A.B.C-Z, WEST., King & Prince, SixTones, Snow Man, Naniwa Danshi and Travis Japan.

Charity activities

J-Friends

In 1998, Johnny's groups KinKi Kids, V6 and Tokio, formed a special charity-oriented group called J-Friends, to raise funds for the 1995 Hanshin and Awaji earthquake victims. The group continued with several activities, until their disbandment in 2003.

Marching J

The agency continued its fundraising project, now with Marching J, for the Tōhoku earthquake victims in 2011. Its first event was held on April 1–3. Hey! Say! JUMP, SMAP, Tokio, KinKi Kids, V6, Arashi, Tackey and Tsubasa, NEWS, Kanjani8, KAT-TUN and Johnny's Juniors participated in the fundraiser, which included talk sessions and a cappella performances. The agency planned to hold one fundraiser per month for a year. The next event, a baseball tournament featuring Johnny's Jrs., was held on May 29. Johnny & Associates cancelled or postponed 18 concerts, including shows by Tomohisa Yamashita and Tackey & Tsubasa. Generators, trucks and 2,000 litres (530 US gal) of gasoline which would have been used at the concerts were donated to the relief effort.

Smile-Up Project

Charity activities continued as Johnny's "Smile Up! Project". On May 13, 2020, it was reported that 76 of Johnny's artists from 15 groups, including V6, Arashi, News and others, would be included in the temporary unit "Twenty Twenty", as part of Johnny's charity project with support activity to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This group sang the song "Smile", written by Mr. Children's Kazutoshi Sakurai, which was released as a single in digital form on June 22, and on CD on August 12. Yuya Tegoshi was taken off the grouping, due to reports of his failing to keep orders to stay at home during the emergency situation in April. Later on, it was revealed that his contract had been terminated, and that he had left the company.

Activities continued on the end-of-year period with a new awareness campaign against COVID-19 and the flu, starting on November 24. "Aitsu", the new project, revolves around a series of movies continuing the health measure awareness used from the beginning of the pandemic, like the correct form of washing hands, the continuous use of a mask, among others. The movies were distributed around Japan and were included in the Smile Up! Project's social network accounts.

Even in the middle of the turmoil surrounding the agency, as Smile Up, they posted a new charity event to help out the people affected in the Noto Peninsula earthquake that happened as 2024 rolled in. On January 4, the company announced through its official website that it would set up donation boxes at concert and theater performance venues where its artists would perform, and its XXXXX Pop Up Stores in Shibuya, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka, in order to support the victims. "By conducting this fundraising campaign as part of "Smile Up! Project", we aim to provide continued support. The entire SMILE-UP Group sincerely prays for the earliest possible recovery and reconstruction so that everyone affected by the disaster can return to their normal lives." One day later, they also posted information on the donation of 50 million yen to the Noto Peninsula Earthquake Disaster Relief Fund.

Charity activities as Starto

Starto Entertainment continued the charity projects as part of their 2024 activities, with the single "We are", sung by the special unit "STARTO for you", formed by 75 members of 14 groups. The single was released in digital form on April 10, and as CD on June 12, with sales of the single going to Noto Earthquake relief funds. Additional information is expected to be released at a later date.

As of June 5, 2024, the "Smile-Up Project" is no longer, being reborn under the name "Mindful", for which a new company has been established. General Incorporated Association "Mindful" will take over the charity activities, as well as other social contribution activities, like mental health care, enrollment support for higher education students in the Nursing field, and others.

Company renaming

Headquarters in Minato, Tokyo (2018-present) prior to the renaming. It was SMEJ's Nogizaka Building (2001-2018) and still houses Sony Music Studios Tokyo on the basement levels.

On October 2, Johnny & Associates held a press conference to outline their plans, announcing that they would be renaming the current company to Smile Up–taking a name that they had used in their 2020 charity project–effective October 17. Smile Up will continue to exist under the ownership of Julie K. Fujishima.

Noriyuki Higashiyama, who became the head of Johnny & Associates after the resignation of Julie K. Fujishima, told reporters that performers working under a new, yet-to-be-named management company "will have the freedom to pursue their own career paths without being restricted or entirely dependent on the company."

It was revealed on December 8, 2023, that the new artist management company would be called "Starto Entertainment", a name fusing the word "star" and the hiragana と (to), with the meaning for the latter to be "toward the future". The name of the new company was decided after reviewing 140,156 fan applications. As said previously, Higashiyama was to replace Fujishima in both the new artist management company, as well as in the presidency of the original, but Higashiyama declined the role in the new one. Atsushi Fukuda, president of a consulting company, will be appointed as president of Starto.

Current artists

Recording artists

Actors/Entertainers

Trainees

Trainees under the former company name of Johnny & Associates were known as Johnny's Jr. and have traditionally performed on Johnny's related variety shows and as backup dancers for the agency's groups. However, in recent years select Junior groups have taken on levels of visibility akin to mainstream senior acts, including national commercial sponsorships, solo concerts, national tours, and starring film and television roles.

Notable trainees

• HiHi Jets (ja) - formed 2015
• Bi Shonen (美 少年) - formed 2016
• 7 Men Samurai - formed 2018
• Shonen Ninja (少年忍者) - formed 2018
• SpeciaL (ja) - formed 2018
• Go!Go!Kids (ja)- formed 2022
• Lil Kansai (Lil かんさい) - formed 2019
• Boys be (ja) - formed 2020
• AmBitious (ja)- formed 2021

Former artists

Former recording artists

Project groups

Former actors

• Nobuhiro Aoyama
• Keiichi Miyoshi [ja] (1982–1991)
• Mizuki Sano (1991–2019)
• Kazunari Ninomiya (1996-2023)
• Toma Ikuta (1996-2023)
• Shunsuke Kazama (1997-2023)
• Bunichi Hamanaka [ja] (1999-2023)
• Jun Matsumoto (1996-2024)

Former entertainers

• Tsuyoshi Domoto (1991-2024)

See also

In Spanish: Johnny & Associates para niños

• List of record labels
• Hadaka no Shōnen