| Morimoto Ryūtaro 森本龍太郞 |
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| Born | April 6, 1995 |
| Origin | Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan |
| Genres | Japanese Pop |
| Occupations | Actor, singer |
| Years active | October 12, 2004 -present |
| Labels | Johnny & Associates |
| Associated acts | Hey! Say! JUMP, Hey! Say! 7 |
Ryutaro Morimoto (森本 龍太郞 Morimoto Ryūtaro, born April 6, 1995 in Kanagawa Prefecture) is a Japanese singer as member of Hey! Say! JUMP. He is under the management of Johnny & Associates. He is the youngest boy in the group.
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On August 12, 2004, when he was 9 years old, Morimoto appeared on the variety show Ya-ya-yah, where his audition for Johnny and Associates was aired along with Ryosuke Yamada. He entered Johnny & Associates as a trainee on October 12 and was later put in Johnny's Jr group JJ Express alongside Daiki Arioka, Yuya Takaki, Yuto Nakajima, and Kei Inoo, all of whom would be future bandmates in Hey! Say! JUMP.
Hey! Say! JUMP debuted on September 21, 2007 and was met with critical success. However, Morimoto's involvement came to an abrupt halt when on June 28, 2011, Japanese entertainment magazine Shunkan Josei published a story revealing that Morimoto smoking underage. Images from the issue shows him smoking at 14 in January 2010 and at 15 in May 2010. Johnny's Entertainment quickly issued a public apology and planned to suspend all of Morimoto's activities indefinitely.
Morimoto also has a younger brother Shintaro Morimoto who belongs to another Johnny's Entertainment group as a Johnny's Jr. called Snow Prince Gasshoudan, created for the movie of the same name.
On June 16, 2009, Morimoto was robbed by a 17-year old fan who had followed him on multiple occasions for a period of six months, leading Morimoto's parents to consult police the past December. Morimoto was ambushed by the fan on the way home from work at the train station, and agreed to talk with him in a nearby restaurant with the intention of asking the fan to stop his behaviour. After being threatened by the suspect that he had a knife, Morimoto tried to contact his parents, leading to his phone being robbed and the suspect fleeing. The suspect was found and arrested at three the next morning by Kanagawa police at the train station after he called Morimoto's back-up phone to arrange another meeting and the call was traced.[1] The issue received widespread press coverage as it is one of the more serious incidents of stalkings of idols known in Japan's recent history, in that it involved a weapon. The suspect is believed to have slight mental issues that are in need of addressing. The stalker also appears to have been quite well known among Hey! Say! JUMP fans as the stalking had been a well known fact. Morimoto's agency has asked fans to please honour the official and unofficial rules set down by the fan clubs as they support their idols.
On June 28, 2011, photos of Morimoto smoking underage were leaked onto the Internet. The following day, in response to the scandal, Johnny's Entertainment issued a statement of apology and planned to suspend Morimoto from all of his activities indefinitely.
For Hey! Say! JUMP-related concert, please see Hey! Say! JUMP.
For Hey! Say! JUMP-related appearances, please see Hey! Say! JUMP.
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