Johnny & Associates

Johnny & Associates, Inc
Native name
 株式会社ジャニーズ事務所
Public
Industry Music, entertainment
Founded June 1962 (1962-06)
Founder Johnny Kitagawa
Headquarters 8-11-20
Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo 107-0052, Japan
Products Music, entertainment
Services Music, entertainment
Subsidiaries Johnny's Entertainment
J Storm
J-One Records
Website www.johnnys-net.jp

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, Johnny's agency was involved in a lawsuit against Bungeishunjū, the publisher of Shukan Bunshun, which published articles alleging sexual abuse and coercion to use drugs (alcohol and tobacco) had occurred at the agency. A lower court initially ruled in favor of the agency, awarding ¥8.8 million in damages, but this was lowered upon appeal, with the higher court concluding that sexual abuse had taken place but 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] In 1968, his group Four Leaves became successful.[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 were 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]

In response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Johnny & Associates 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 started a fundraising project called Marching J for the Tohoku earthquake victims. The first fundraising event was held from April 1 through April 3. SMAP, Tokio, Kinki Kids, V6, Arashi, Tackey and Tsubasa, NEWS, Kanjani8, KAT-TUN, Hey! Say! JUMP and some Johnny’s Juniors participated in the event, which included talk sessions and small a capella performances.[12] Johnny’s Company planned to have an event once a month for a year. The next event was held on May 29, a baseball tournament event played by Johnny’s Juniors.[13]

On September 18, 2011, Johnny Kitagawa was presented with two Guinness World Record awards, for the ‘most No.1 singles produced by an individual’ and ‘most concerts produced by an individual’. From 1974-2010 he produced 232 chart-topping songs and 8,419 concerts. He has produced shows for many of his groups; the concerts have an estimated attendance of 48,234,550.[14]

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 ® 3 -
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 Kota Yabu -
2011 Kis-My-Ft2 7 Hiromitsu Kitayama -
2011 Sexy Zone 5 Kento Nakajima -
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 Johnnys 4 Hiromi Maie 1967
1967 Four Leaves 5 - 1978
1973 Go Hiromi Solo - left the agency
1975 Little Gang 2 - 1976
1980 Toshihiko Tahara[15] 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[16]
2014 Jin Akanishi Solo - left the agency[17]

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 Iko!
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 Shūji 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 Lovely Complex
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 Gasshodan 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
2015 Sensations 9 Hey! Say! Jump Theme song for the movie Ansatsu Kyoshitsu

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 2 "Johnny & Associates, Inc.". JaME World. 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
  2. 1 2 3 Campion, Chris (2005-08-21). "J-Pop's dream factory". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  3. 1 2 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. 1 2 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. ↑ "Asia Pacific Arts: Johnny's Entertainment fundraiser "Marching J" attracts 389,000". Asiapacificarts.usc.edu. Retrieved 2015-06-07.
  13. ↑ "Johnny’s Company "Marching J" Project". Tokyofever. Retrieved 2011-04-07.
  14. ↑ "Johnny Kitagawa has been presented with two Guinness World Records". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
  15. ↑ Toshihiko Tahara - Aisyu Date (1980)
  16. ↑ Archived October 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  17. ↑ Archived March 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ↑ "Jo Toyokawa and Ippei Hikaru" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2010-06-09.

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