The entertainment industry on Wednesday mourned the death of Johnny Kitagawa, the founder of one of Japan's most powerful talent agencies, which shot a long line of boy bands to fame over a period of more than half a century.
"He's like a father to us," said Noriyuki Higashiyama, actor and a member of Shonentai, a boy band born from Kitagawa's talent agency and production company Johnny & Associates Inc.
"He was the No. 1 person in the entertainment world. We will inherit his spirit and act brightly and happily," he said on a TV program the day after the 87-year-old mogul died of a stroke.