Johnny & Associates

Johnny & Associates, Inc
株式会社ジャニーズ事務所
Public
Industry Music, entertainment
Founded June 1962
Founder Johnny Kitagawa
Headquarters 8-11-20
Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
107-0052
Products Music, entertainment
Services Music, entertainment
Subsidiaries Johnny's Entertainment
J Storm
J-One Records
Website Johnny's net

Johnny & Associates, Inc. (株式会社ジャニーズ事務所 Kabushikigaisha Janīzu Jimusho) is a talent agency formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962. Johnny & Associates trains and promotes groups of male idols, collectively known as "Johnny's" (ジャニーズ Janīzu),[1][2] in Japan. In 1999, the Japanese weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun ran a series of articles alleging that adolescent boy clients of the agency had been sexually abused and coerced into drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco. In response, Johnny's agency sued the magazine's publisher, Bungeishunjū. In 2002, the Tokyo District Court awarded the agency ¥8.8 million in damages from the publisher. Bungeishunjū appealed the decision to the Tokyo High Court. The high court reduced the damages to ¥1.2 million, concluding that the allegations of sexual exploitation were true, but that the reports of drinking and smoking were defamatory.[3]

History

Johnny & Associates, Inc

1962–1989

In 1962, Kitagawa launched his first group called Johnnys.[2] However, it was not until 1968 did he see his first real success with Four Leaves.[2] Since then, Kitagawa has formed many successful acts such as solo artist Masahiko Kondo, whose song "Orokamono" (愚か者 Fool) won the Japan Record Award at the 29th Japan Record Awards in 1987,[4] and Hikaru Genji, which became the first Johnny's group to achieve the rare feat of having three top-selling singles on the Japanese Oricon yearly charts in 1988.[5]

1990–2009

Beginning in the 1990s, Johnny & Associates adopted a policy that they would decline the nominations of awards from organizations such as the Japan Record Awards and the Japan Academy Awards partly due to a dispute with the accurate music genre of one of their groups in the 32nd Japan Record Awards.[6] Another reason was that the nominations would cause competition between Johnny's groups[6] and other nominees.[7]

1991 saw the debut of SMAP and their expansion into many other areas of entertainment such as hosting their own regular television and radio shows, appearing in commercials and acting in dramas and movies.[8] Due to their omnipresence on television, SMAP gained popularity and their 2003 single "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" (世界に一つだけの花, "A Flower Unlike Any Other in the World") sold over 2.57 million copies and became the ninth best-selling single in Japan.[9] In 1997, the agency started its own record label "Johnny's Entertainment".[1]

In 1999, the Japanese weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun ran a series of articles alleging that adolescent boy clients of the agency had been sexually abused and coerced into drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco. In response, Johnny's agency sued the magazine's publisher, Bungeishunjū. In 2002, the Tokyo District Court awarded the agency ¥8.8 million in damages from the publisher. Bungeishunjū appealed the decision to the Tokyo High Court. The high court reduced the damages to ¥1.2 million, concluding that the allegations of sexual exploitation were true, but that the reports of drinking and smoking were defamatory.[3]

In 2006, Oricon sued journalist Hiro Ugaya when he was quoted in a Cyzo magazine article suggesting that Oricon was fiddling its statistics to benefit certain management companies and labels, specifically Johnny and Associates. Ugaya condemned the lawsuit as an example of a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) in Japan.[10] The lawsuit was later dropped by Oricon and no charges could be brought against the journalist.

2010–present

On November 19, 2010, Masahiko Kondo was elected as the winner of the award for the "Best Vocal Performance" at the 52nd Japan Record Award, becoming the agency's first winner of awards from the Japan Record Award in 20 years since Ninja, which rejected a live performance for an award in 1990.[11]

On February 28, 2011, it was reported that Johnny's Entertainment had lifted the picture ban on their official website. Johnny’s Company is known to be the most strict company of not allowing any of their Johnny’s celebrity pictures in any sites. But recently, pictures of Johnny’s celebrity has appeared at their own site “Johnny’s net“. From the tab “Artist”, you can choose the Johnny’s artist you want to see and click “Profile” to go to the profile page. Though the pictures are small, they definitely have pictures of the artist from Smap, Arashi, V6 to Hey Say Jump on the pages.[12]

In response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that has devastated much of northern Japan, Johnny's Entertainment has cancelled or postponed 18 of its upcoming concerts including those of Yamashita Tomohisa and Tackey & Tsubasa. Power generators and transporter trucks as well as two thousand litres of gasoline that would have been used at the concerts have instead been donated to the relief effort. Johnny's Entertainment members Takizawa Hideaki, Imai Tsubasa and Nakayama Yuma travelled with the trucks to see the disaster areas first hand. A manager at the company has announced the intention to release a charity single which is expected to involve every act signed with Johnny's Entertainment.[13]

It was announced on the 29th that Johnny’s Company is going to start a new charity project called “Marching J“, a fundraising project for the Touhoku Earthquake victims. The first part of the project will start as an event which will be held from April 1 through April 3. From the company, SMAP, Tokio, Kinki Kids, V6, Arashi, Tackey and Tsubasa, NEWS, Kanjani8, KAT-TUN, Hey! Say! JUMP and some Johnny’s Juniors are going to participate in this first event. The first event will be held at Tokyo, in front of the first Yoyogi gymnasium. The event included talk sessions as well as small a capella performances.[14] Groups will take turns according to their schedule and will have a talk session in front of the fans, also calling out for donations for the earthquake victims. The Johnny’s Company is planning to have an event once each month and is planning to continue this once a month event for a year. The next event is planned to be held on May 29, a baseball tournament event played by Johnny’s Juniors.[15]

On September 18, 2011, it was revealed that Johnny Kitagawa has been presented with two Guinness World Record awards, making him one of the most successful music producers in the world. The first award is for the ‘most No.1 singles produced by an individual’. He has accumulated an astounding 232 chart-topping songs (1974-2010). The second award is for the ‘most concerts produced by an individual’. Between 2000-2010, Johnny produced 8,419 concerts. He has produced shows for many of his groups; the concerts have an estimated attendance of 48,234,550.[16]

Current artists

Johnny & Associates' major bands and artists are subjected to Johnny's Family Club or Johnny's Artist Circle.

Recording artists

Debut Artists Members Leader
1980 Masahiko Kondo Solo - -
1985 Shōnentai 3 Kazukiyo Nishikiori -
1991 SMAP 6 ® 5 Masahiro Nakai -
1994 TOKIO 5 Shigeru Joshima -
1995 V6 6 Masayuki Sakamoto -
1997 KinKi Kids 2 - -
1999 Arashi 5 Satoshi Ohno -
2002 Tackey & Tsubasa 2 - -
2003 NEWS 9 ® 8 ® 7 ® 6 ® 4 Keiichiro Koyama Tegomass is a sub-unit of the group
2004 Kanjani8 8 ® 7 -
2006 KAT-TUN 6 ® 5 ® 4 -
2006 Yamashita Tomohisa Solo - Was originally the leader of NEWS. He left the group to become a solo artist in 2011.
2007 Hey! Say! JUMP 10 ® 9 Yabu Kota -
2011 Kis-My-Ft2 7 Hiromitsu Kitayama -
2011 Sexy Zone 5 Nakajima Kento -
2012 A.B.C-Z 5 - -
2014 Yuma Nakayama Solo - - NYC member but debuted solo single last 2012, and was announce solo this 2014 before the release of his second single.
2014 Johnny's West 7 - -

Actors

Former recording artists

Trainees

Main article: Johnny's Jr.

The trainees of Johnny & Associates are collectively called Johnny's Jrs., and they have yet to debut. Jrs. typically perform both their own songs and the songs of debuted groups on variety shows such as The Shōnen Club as "training" and serve as backup dancers for the agency's debuted groups. Recently, some groups released their works while remaining as trainees and they also sometimes collaborated with non-Johnny's Jr. debuted artists.

Other releases

Former recording artists

Debut Artists Members Leader Disbanded
1962 Johnny's 4 Hiromi Maie 1967
1967 Four Leaves 5 - 1978
1973 Go Hiromi Solo - left the agency
1975 LITTLE GANG 2 - 1976
1980 Toshihiko Tahara[17] Solo - left the agency
1981 Shibugakitai[fn 1] 3 Hirohide Yakumaru 1988
1983 The Good-Bye[fn 2] ? - already disbanded
1987 Hikaru GENJI 7 Mikio Oosawa 1994 became Hikaru GENJI SUPER 5
1987 Otokogumi[fn 3] 4 - 1993
1990 Ninja[fn 4] ? - already disbanded
2013 Koki Tanaka Solo - fired[18]
2014 Jin Akanishi Solo - left the agency[19]

Temporary / special units

Debut Artists Members Members Listed Reason
1975 Johnnys' Junior Special ? - -
1998 J-FRIENDS 13 Tokio, V6, KinKi Kids charity group
2000 Secret Agent 2 Noriyuki Higashiyama, Ryo Nishikido Theme song for the drama 'Heisei Meoto Jawan'
2000 Shingo Mama Solo Shingo Katori -
2001 Sakuraba Yuichiro Solo Tomoya Nagase Theme song for the drama 'Mukodono!'
2001 MiMyCen 3 Go Morita, Ken Miyake, Junichi Okada for the variety show 'MiMyCen!'
2001 GO Tarimo and Mini Curry Solo Go Morita for the variety show 'Gakkou e Ikou!'
2002 Ya-Ya-yah 5 Kota Yabu, Hikaru Yaotome, Naoya Akama, Shoon Yamashita, Taiyo Ayukawa, Masaki Hoshino Theme song for the anime 'Nintama Rantarō'
2004 Hattori-kun Solo Shingo Katori Theme song for the movie 'Nin x Nin: Ninja Hattori-kun'
2005 Toraji Haiji 2 Tsuyoshi Domoto, Taichi Kokubun Theme song for the movie 'Fantastipo'
2005 Shuuji to Akira 2 Kazuya Kamenashi, Tomohisa Yamashita Theme song for the drama 'Nobuta wo Produce'
2006 GYM 3 Golf, Tomohisa Yamashita, Mike Women Volleyball Supporter
2006 Kisarazu Cats Eye feat. MCU 6 Junichi Okada, Sho Sakurai, Yoshinori Okada[fn 5], Tsukamoto Takashi[fn 6], Ryuta Sato[fn 7] Theme song for the drama 'Kisarazu Cat's Eye: World Series'
2007 Trio the Shakiiin 3 Noriyuki Higashiyama, Go Morita, Kenta Suga[fn 8] Theme song for the drama 'Kuitan'
2007 Hey! Say! 7 5 Ryosuke Yamada, Yuri Chinen, Daiki Arioka, Yuya Takaki, Yuto Nakajima Theme song for the anime Love★Com
2008 MATCHY with QUESTION? 6 Masahiko Kondo, Daijiro Yonemura, Yoshihiro Yodogawa, Kazuyori Fujiie, Akun Igo, Daisuke Ishigaki Theme song for the anime 'Naruto'
2009 The SHIGOTONIN 3 Noriyuki Higashiyama, Masahiro Matsuoka, Tadayoshi Okura Theme song for the drama 'Hissatsu Shigotonin'
2009 NYC boys 7 Ryosuke Yamada, Yuri Chinen, Yuma Nakayama, Kento Nakajima, Fuma Kikuchi, Hokuto Matsumura, Yugo Kochi Women Volleyball Supporter
2009 Ryo-san Solo Shingo Katori Theme song for the drama 'Kochikame'
2009 Snow Prince Gasshoudan 11 Shintarō Morimoto, Shintarō Kishimoto, Reia Nakamura, Kei Kurita, Yūya Ōtsuka, Tatsuya Horinouchi, Aoi Okada, Yūki Haba, Ryō Hashimoto, Mizuki Inoue, Aoi Chino Theme song for the movie 'Snow Prince Kinjirareta Koi no Melody' (Snow Prince Melody of Forbidden Love)
2009 Lands 2 Jin Akanishi, Takeshi Kobayashi[fn 9] Theme song for the movie 'BANDAGE'
2010 Kaibutsu-kun Solo Satoshi Ohno Theme song for the drama 'Kaibutsu-kun'
2011 Ryo-san Solo Shingo Katori Theme song for the movie 'Kochikame'
2011 A.N.JELL 4 Hikaru Yaotome, Taisuke Fujigaya, Yuta Tamamori, Miori Takimoto[fn 10] Theme song for the drama 'Ikemen desu ne'
2012 The MONSTERS 2 Shingo Katori, Tomohisa Yamashita Theme song for the drama 'MONSTERS'
2014 Hottake Band 2 Kazuya Kamenashi, Tamaki Koji Theme song for the drama 'Tokyo Bandwagon'

Former artists

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Members: Toshikazu Fukawa, Masahiro Motoki, Hirohide Yakumaru
  2. ↑ Members: Yoshio Nomura, Yashisa Soga, Hachirou Kaga, Kouichi Etō
  3. ↑ Members: Shōji Narita, Kazuya Takahashi, Kenichi Okamoto, Koyo Maeda
  4. ↑ Members: Susumu Yanagisawa, Naoto Endō, Shinya Masaki, Nobuhide Tagaki
  5. ↑ A non-Johnny's artist
  6. ↑ A non-Johnny's artist
  7. ↑ A non-Johnny's artist
  8. ↑ A non-Johnny's artist
  9. ↑ A non-Johnny's artist
  10. ↑ A non-Johnny's artist

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Johnny & Associates, Inc.". JaME World. 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Campion, Chris (2005-08-21). "J-Pop's dream factory". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Fukue, Natsuko, "So, you wanna be a Johnny?", Japan Times, 14 April 2009, p. 3.
  4. ↑ "List of Winners from 1959–2007" (in Japanese). Japan Record Award. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  5. ↑ "嵐、史上初の"CD、DVD4 冠"達成～シングルTOP3独占は光GENJI以来21年ぶり" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2009-12-18. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 キムタクが日本アカデミー賞辞退 (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  7. ↑ "Kimutaku Declines Academy Nomination". Japan Zone. 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2009-12-17.
  8. ↑ "Johnny's Jimusho". Japan Zone. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
  9. ↑ 「およげ！たいやきくん」がギネス認定、再評価の気運高まる (in Japanese). Oricon. 2008-02-20. Retrieved 2009-12-17.
  10. ↑ Libel suit attacks free speech: defendant The Japan Times Online
  11. ↑ レコ大20年ぶりジャニーズ 転機となるか. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese) (Oricon). 2010-11-20. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  12. ↑ "Johnny’s Company allows pictures of their celebrities at their official site "Johnny’s net"". Tokyofever. Retrieved 2011-03-05.
  13. ↑ "Johnny's Entertainment plans charity CD". Tokyograph. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
  14. ↑ "Johnny's Entertainment fundraiser "Marching J" attracts 389,000". Asia Pacific Arts. 04/05/2011. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ↑ "Johnny’s Company "Marching J" Project". Tokyofever. Retrieved 2011-04-07.
  16. ↑ "Johnny Kitagawa has been presented with two Guinness World Records". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
  17. ↑ Toshihiko Tahara - Aisyu Date (1980)
  18. ↑ http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/entertainment/news/20131009-OHT1T00143.htm
  19. ↑ http://woman.infoseek.co.jp/news/entertainment/sponichin_20140303_0018
  20. ↑ "Jo Toyokawa and Ippei Hikaru" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2010-06-09.

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