Johnny & Associates

Johnny & Associates , known in Japan as Johnny's Jimusho ( Japaneseジャニーズ事務所janīzu jimusho , English Johnny's office ) and founded in 1963 by Johnny Kitagawa, is an organization that trains and promotes boy groups consisting of Japanese idols . The organization president is Kitagawa's sister Mary. "Johnny's", as the organization is abbreviated, is the undisputed market leader in boy groups and makes more than 3 trillion yen (approx. € 19 million) in profits annually.

history

In California -born half-Japanese Johnny Kitagawa came during his army time to Japan and stayed in the country. In 1963 he founded his company and formed the first boy band, which was simply called the Johnnies .

This was followed by the hugely successful group Four Leaves , which finally split up in 1978. Kitagawa took advantage of the group's years of success to immediately send other groups into the race. The "golden age" of boy groups in Japan was in the 1980s when Tanokin Trio , Ninja , Shibugakitai and Hikaru Genji dominated Japan's musical landscape. Even after these groups ended, some members were able to build on their previous careers and become very successful.

Hikaru Genji were the first to start their careers with 8 consecutive No. 1 hits and in 1988 took the top three spots for the best-selling singles of the year. The group was the first of "Johnny's" bands to not only sing, but also bring roller- skate acrobatics to their shows, an innovation that is said to have inspired Johnny from Alice Cooper .

The 90s were all about the next hugely successful combo: SMAP . Originally Hikaru Genji's roller- skating background dancers, they achieved the next successes for "Johnny's". As the boom in boy bands subsided, SMAP became the prototype for Japan's all-round idols who scored their points not just with singing, but with perfect marketing and maximum media presence. They hosted their own television and radio shows, appeared in advertisements and magazines, played in quiz programs, in doramas and films. Kimura Takuya became an absolute idol of his time and has been voted the Sexiest Man in Japan on a regular basis ever since .

In addition to SMAP, other "Johnny's" groups don't have to hide either: First and foremost, the Kinki Kids , who hold the record for the most number 1 singles in the Guinness Book of Records , but TOKIO or V6 also regularly provide hit singles and sold out Stages.

The new generation, led by Arashi - the first of the "Johnny's" bands to perform outside of Japan - and KAT-TUN , who hold the records for best-selling single and DVD - is also with groups like NEWS , Kanjani8 , Tackey & Tsubasa is represented in the top ten of the Oricon charts with each of their singles .

organization

marketing

The members of "Johnny's" have signed strict contracts that leave most of the rights to themselves and their success to "Johnny's". Members have a fixed income and receive some bonuses. The rights to the publications of the group, to its name and to the names of individual members are often held by the organization.

Johnny's Juniors

Johnny's has regular auditions where boys audition and audition to get accepted to Johnny's. After admission, the boys receive lessons in singing and dancing. The best of the Johnny's Juniors are sometimes assigned to temporary groups, who then mainly appear either as background dancers or singers at television appearances, concerts or musicals by the "Johnny's" bands and thus gain experience and gain awareness.

An important platform for this are, for example, concerts such as the Johnny's Juniors FIRST concert in Tokyo and the Johnny's Juniors Spring 2002 concert from April 2002. Equally important is the regularly broadcast television show Shōnen Club , in which the younger bands perform with the Juniors. Already established formations such as Ya-Ya-Yah or ABC can not only appear as support, but also on their own. In addition to this program, the juniors take part in all sorts of TV specials and TV kits, which mostly have different games or competitions between individual members or the groups of "Johnny's Juniors" as their theme.

Ultimately, a group's notoriety and popularity will determine whether or not they will be allowed to debut. KAT-TUN, for example, had been performing regularly for 5 years before they were officially allowed to publish their own songs in this formation.

Debuted groups

The debuted groups, known as Juniors, already have a lot of fans by the time they release their first single and are often accordingly successful. In order to support them even further, the members of "Johnny's" groups are often photographed for magazines such as Myojo , Potato and Wink-up . Talented members get the chance to play in doramas or to moderate TV programs. For example, one year after their debut, KAT-TUN hosted the TV show Cartoon KAT-TUN , in which they interviewed Japanese celebrities from the show business. Many have their own radio shows and appear in advertisements. Various group events at which the bands present their most successful acts are still very popular with the fans. These include musicals such as Summary with KAT-TUN and NewS or Dream Boys with KAT-TUN and Kanjani 8 . But also the New Year's Eve concert Johnny's Countdown , which has been taking place in the Tokyo Dome for several years and is broadcast on television, is one of them.

Sexual harassment rumors

It was widely rumored in the 1970s that Johnny Kitagawa had sexually molested members of his boy bands. For example, the Japanese magazine Uwasa no Shinsō (噂の真相) ("The Truth of Rumor") published a series of articles on the subject from 1988 to 1989. In 1988 a former band member, Koji Kita, had published a series of diary entries under the name Hikaru Genji e (光 Genji へ) with similar allegations about the harassment. The most recent article was published in 1999 by Shūkan Bunshun magazine (週刊文春). This contained allegations against Johnny Kitagawa in any form of sexual harassment such as child abuse, rape or irresponsible behavior such as the approval to allow underage members to smoke. In 2002 he sued the magazine for character assassination, which led to a lengthy process. After several lawsuits, the court recognized the allegations of sexual harassment, but ordered the magazine to pay 1,200,000 yen to offset other unprovable allegations.