Johnny & Associates

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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.

History

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,^[3] 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.^[4]

1990–present

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.^[5] Another reason was that the nominations would cause competition between Johnny's groups^[5] and other nominees.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[8] In 1997, the agency started its own record label Johnny's Entertainment.^[1]

Artists

Current

• 1980: Masahiko Kondo
• 1985: Shōnentai
• 1991: SMAP
• 1994: Tokio
• 1995: V6
• 1997: KinKi Kids
• 1999: Arashi
• 2002: Tackey & Tsubasa
• 2003: NEWS
• 2004: Kanjani8
• 2006: KAT-TUN
• 2006: Tegomass
• 2007: Hey! Say! JUMP

Former

• 1962: Johnnys
• 1967: Four Leaves
• 1971: Hiromi Go
• 1975: Johnnys Junior Special
• 1981: Shibugakitai^{[fn 1]}
• 1983: The Good-Bye^{[fn 2]}
• 1987: Hikaru Genji
• 1987: Otokogumi^{[fn 3]}
• 1990: Ninja^{[fn 4]}

Temporary

• 1998: J-Friends (Tokio, KinKi Kids, V6)
• 2000: Secret Agent (Noriyuki Higashiyama, Ryo Nishikido)
• 2005: Toraji-Haiji (Tsuyoshi Domoto, Taichi Kokubun)
• 2005: Shūji to Akira (Kazuya Kamenashi, Tomohisa Yamashita)
• 2006: Kitty GYM (Hiromitsu Kitayama, Kei Inoo, Shota Totsuka, Hikaru Yaotome, Golf, Tomohisa Yamashita, Mike)
• 2007: Trio the Shakiin (Noriyuki Higashiyama, Go Morita, Kenta Suga)^{[fn 5]}
• 2007: Hey! Say! 7 (Ryosuke Yamada, Yuto Nakajima, Yuri Chinen, Daiki Arioka, Yuya Takaki)^[9]
• 2008: Matchy with Question? (Masahiko Kondo, Daijiro Yonemura, Yoshihiro Yodogawa, Kazuyori Fujiie, Akun Igo, Daisuke Ishigaki)
• 2009: The Shigotonin (Noriyuki Higashiyama, Masahiro Matsuoka, Tadayoshi Okura)
• 2009: NYC boys (Ryosuke Yamada, Yūri Chinen, Yuma Nakayama, Kento Nakajima, Fuma Kikuchi, Hokuto Matsumura, Yugo Kochi)

Special

The special group consists of members from disbanded groups.

• J-Stars (Ex-Otokogumi member Kenichi Okamoto, ex-Hikaru Genji members Koji Uchiumi and Atsuhiro Sato)

Trainees

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.

See also

• List of record labels
• Hadaka no Shounen
• List of when Johnny's joined the Johnny's-Jimusho

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

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Johnny & Associates, Inc.". JaME World. 2009-06-03. http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-7011-johnny-associates-inc-.html. Retrieved 2009-11-24. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "J-Pop's dream factory". The Guardian. 2005-08-21. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2005/aug/21/popandrock3. Retrieved 2009-09-04. 
3. ^ (Japanese) "List of Winners from 1959–2007". Japan Record Award. http://www.jacompa.or.jp/rekishi/s1959.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
4. ^ (Japanese) "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". Oricon. 2009-12-18. http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/71742/full/. Retrieved 2009-12-18. 
5. ^ ^{a b} (Japanese) "キムタクが日本アカデミー賞辞退". Nikkan Sports. 2006-12-20. http://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/cinema/p-et-tp1-20061220-132636.html. Retrieved 2009-09-04. 
6. ^ "Kimutaku Declines Academy Nomination". Japan Zone. 2006-12-20. http://www.japan-zone.com/news/2006/12/20/kimutaku_declines_academy_nomination.shtml. Retrieved 2009-12-17. 
7. ^ "Johnny's Jimusho". Japan Zone. http://www.japan-zone.com/modern/johnnys.shtml. Retrieved 2009-12-16. 
8. ^ (Japanese) "「およげ！たいやきくん」がギネス認定、再評価の気運高まる". Oricon. 2008-02-20. http://contents.oricon.co.jp/news/music/52143/full/. Retrieved 2009-12-17. 
9. ^ "Hey! Say! 7 to sing new "Lovely Complex" themes". Tokyograph. 2007-06-16. http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-1228. Retrieved 2009-12-28. 

External links

• (Japanese) Official Japanese website
• (Chinese) (Korean) Official Asia website

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