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j.ohnny Kitagawa [Note: This image was publicized already so I think there’s nothing wrong posting this here. :P Don’t get lazy reading this please~]

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“Of course, as no. 1 in the world, I am happy.”

Johnny Kitagawa, 80 (October 23, 1931), is known to be a highly mysterious man. He is the man behind ARASHI, KAT-TUN, NEWS, TACKEY & TSUBASA, KANJANI8, TOKIO, TEGOMASS, HEY! SAY! JUMP, ABC and other JE Juniors. He was born in Los Angeles, Ca. and lived there until his high school. His father, Taido, was a Buddhist priest and was the third director of Koyasan Buddhist Temple in Little Tokyo. (His mother wasn’t mentioned) He travelled in Japan by early 1950 to work at United States Embassy. He was walking at Yoyogi Park when he saw group of boys playing Baseball. He recruited them to form a group and him as their manager. The group was named The Johnnies. The Johnnies is the first all-male pop group in Japan. Kitagawa became more successful because of the four-member boy band known as Four Leaves. Later in 2002, Kitagawa managed many of the top boy bands of Japan right now named, SMAP, Tokio, V6, Arashi, Tackey & Tsubasa, Kanjani8, NEWS, KAT-TUN, KinKi Kids, Hey! Say! JUMP and many more. His performers regularly appeared on television and variety shows. They also act as pitchmen for commercial products and also appear in movies. This expands Kitagawa’s sphere of influence. During 1997, his performers appeared in more than 40 television programs and another 40 commercials. This made Kitagawa one of the richest men in Japan.

Johnny & Associates recruits boys as young as 10 into a talent pool named Johnny’s Juniors. They live in company’s dormitory and attend a company-run school. They train their showmanship in the form of singing, dancing, and acting. He then holds an annual summer festival named as “Johnny’s SUMMARY.”

His performers act as background dancers and even appeared in variety shows to launch them. Kitagawa really pays attention to his performer’s development as complete entertainers. Kitagawa once said in a 1996 interview, ”I’m not very much interested in records. Once you release a record, you have to sell that record. You have to push one song only. You can’t think of anything else. It’s not good for the artist.”

Kitagawa is known to be a strict manager or I should say, leader when it comes to his artists. He, himself, even avoids the public spotlight; He seldom permits his photograph to be taken and doesn’t even make his public appearance with his groups. He only publicized his images for Guinness Book of World Records.

Kitagawa maintains a high degree of control over his artists until it reaches to the point that their images don’t appear on the company’s website. He strictly prohibited his artists the public mentions about their private lives. Their life is only for theirs.  What’s private is private.

On my research, I think one of the reasons why Kitagawa really sued those of his artists who are known to be an under-aged smoker or alcoholic was that he had encountered accusations such as sexual harassment and libel suit. A former member of Four Leaves claimed that Kitagawa uses his position to make unwanted sexual advances with the boys under contract to him. A former member of one of Kitagawa’s band claimed that he had seen Kitagawa forcing a boy to have sex with him in one of the company’s dormitories. He was also accused on permitting his artists to drink alcohol and smoke. All the accusations reached the international newspaper coverage. An accusation is an accusation once it’s not proven. A member of the Parliament, Yoshida Sakaue, held a hearing about these issues. Sakaue wanted to know whether the government officials had properly investigated complaints about Kitagawa. The Officials of the National Police Agency stated that they had investigated Kitagawa’s agency but hadn’t determined any sexual harassment occurred. They also warned Kitagawa’s company about him permitting his minor artists to use alcohol and cigarette smoking. The accusations could not be considered as child abuse because Kitagawa was neither a guardian nor parent to the boys in his company.  The officials said that the parents of Kitagawa’s artists didn’t even stated any complaints against him. Kitagawa denied all the accusations thrown to him. The newspapers who published about him were sued. In particular, Shukan Bunshun, one of those who published series articles about Kitagawa’s accusations did in fact defame Kitagawa. In 2006, KAT-TUN was promoted to major band status and has all their 13 singles, DVD releases, and 5 studio albums reach number one. In 2007, Hey! Say! 7 debuted as a temporary act. Hey! Say! 7 became the youngest boy band to chart a number one single with an average age under 15.



The accusations might become hardship on Kitagawa’s side. I finally know why Kitagawa is so strict when it comes on handling his artists. I do admit it. I find him scary and wishing not to meet him one day. But I don’t want to judge him with his outer appearance because since he is a mysterious man and hates public mentions about his life also, people seldom knows the true side of Johnny Kitagawa. Maybe he is a good person. Maybe there are just haters that want to ruin him. I don’t know because I consider myself an outsider to his company and know nothing about his REAL personality. I only know what is on websites or news. Even bad persons have good attitudes. There is a spot in their heart for good deeds. I now realized why he sued Ryutaro Morimoto from his company and Hey! Say! JUMP. I have no more why’s about Ryutaro Morimoto leaving the entertainment circle. Sometimes, a person needs to be strict to someone who needs lessons about life and his individual life.

I ADMIRE JOHNNY-SAN! Not because of him, there’s no Hey! Say! JUMP, KAT-TUN, ARASHI, Kis-My-Ft2, Yamashita Tomohisa, Ikuta Toma, Sexy Zone, SMAP, KinKi Kids, NYC Boys, NEWS, and many more! Daisukidayo, Johnny-san. Ganbareyo!


PS: I suddenly feel like reading about the man behind Johnny’s Entertainment. These past few days, I kept wondering who is Johnny-san or how does he looks like. Those questions were bugging me these past few days. And now I’ll be on peace. So, I made the summarize or report about Johnny Kitagawa. Maybe there are people who know him already but not really the real him. For example, those who just know his name, his work or etcetera. I hope this might help. This maybe long but, please don’t get tired by just looking how long it is and don’t get tired reading it also. Onegaishimasu~ Arigatou Gozaimasu~ <3