Tag - johnny-associates

 
 

JOHNNY ASSOCIATES

Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 25, 2016
Love 'em or hate 'em, the end of SMAP marks the end of an era
The Olympics have always been popular in Japan, and this year's games in Rio de Janeiro were no exception. While NHK was broadcasting the games in the early hours of Aug. 14, a breaking news message flashed across the screen: "SMAP to disband Dec. 31."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 12, 2016
SMAP fans collect 370,000 signatures to urge breakup rethink
A group of avid fans of SMAP has collected 373,515 signatures in Japan and abroad to petition the pop group's members to change their mind about breaking up at the end of this year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Sep 10, 2016
SMAP fans celebrate band's 25th anniversary with pleas not to break up
Fans of the now middle-aged boy band SMAP, set to break up at the end of this year, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the release of the group's first single on Friday by begging the band to continue in personal ads in newspapers across the country.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 14, 2016
It's true: SMAP to split up at year's end
After a quarter-century run, the Japanese boy band SMAP has decided to call it quits on Dec. 31, its management agency said in a press release Sunday, shocking die-hard fans in Asia and around the world.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 10, 2016
'Aiba Learns'; 'Good Fortune! Appraisal Team for Anything High Quality Treasure Salon'; Lotte — So
In addition to singing and dancing, the popular male idols managed by Johnny & Associates do a lot of educational TV, including "Aiba Manabu" ("Aiba Learns"; TV Asahi, Sun., 6 p.m.), in which Masaki Aiba, a member of boy band Arashi, learns about some common process. In the past, Aiba and his guests have had hands-on lessons about how to plant rice and how to catch tuna.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 13, 2016
Japanese boy band KAT-TUN plans to take a hiatus from May 1
Boy band KAT-TUN said Saturday they will go on hiatus May 1, allowing three members of the group to focus on their solo careers for the time being.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 19, 2016
SMAP fans relieved but perplexed by apology over rumored breakup
Exceptional TV ratings, the apparent overloading of Twitter's servers and even a comment by the prime minister show the importance that Japan placed on the announcement that SMAP isn't breaking up.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 13, 2016
SMAP may split as boy band bolts from management feud
It looks like it may be splitsville for the princes of Japanese showbiz.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 15, 2015
Arashi tugs at the patriotic heartstrings on 'Japonism'
Arashi "Japonism" (J Storm)
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 26, 2015
Working the politics of an idol marriage
Last week the media obsessed over that story about the 17-year-old girl who was sued by a talent agency for violating the terms of her contract, which stipulated that while she worked for them as a member of an idol singing group she could not be involved in any romantic relationships.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 15, 2014
Kis-My-Journey takes us down a familiar path
It's not the highest of honors, but I'd like to award awkwardly named boy band Kis-My-Ft2 as the best pop act under the Johnny & Associates umbrella.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 10, 2014
Brush up on pop idol feuds before the exam
Last month, Meiji University's law department announced it would offer a social-psychology course on the boy band Arashi. The syllabus includes lectures about the group's individual members; its work in TV dramas and advertising; and the "culture of Johnny's Jimusho," Arashi's powerful production company. At the end of the semester there will be a test, in case you thought this was a joke.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 19, 2013
Arashi "Love"
At the time of writing this review, Arashi's "Love" has been bought more than any other Japanese album this year. Barring a sudden full-length LP from AKB48 or a cash-in compilation from Mr. Children, the group's 12th CD should end 2013 in the same position. There have been a lot of nice developments on the Oricon Charts this year — No. 1 albums from Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Sakanaction and Miwa doubling as legitimate great listens — but with this Johnny's & Associates outfit bound to claim this year's top spot, all those surprises are for nought.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2013
Producers of musicals take shows overseas
As the population shrinks and competition from overseas stiffens, even the most popular local theater troupes are finding it increasingly difficult to attract new fans at home. So now they're taking their shows abroad.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 9, 2012
Music industry takes baby steps toward digital content
Will it be the "carrot and stick" or just "the stick" that revives flagging digital-music sales in Japan?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 12, 2010
How to make a Big Bang in show business
J-pop labels might learn a thing or two from Big Bang, a Korean boy band that gives it up for the fans.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 4, 2009
2009: Cracks in the facade
A year of tragic deaths, amusing scandals and a series of increasingly senile looking attempts by the music industry to cling onto its outdated business model — that was 2009.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 1, 2009
Popularity's dead! Rebellion against brands starts now
Recently I ran into a friend who works at a TV station in Tokyo. The conversation turned to Johnny's Jimusho, the most powerful talent agency in Japan, whose stable of male singers has dominated television for almost two decades. When I asked her if she had run into any of Johnny's stars, she said she probably had, but it was difficult to tell. The young men she saw at work all looked alike.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 10, 2006
SMAP's Kimutaku a different breed of idol
Six years ago this month, the public learned that Japan's most popular male showbiz personality, Takuya Kimura, was set to marry former singing idol Shizuka Kudo, already pregnant with his child at the time.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 15, 1999
Young at heart, but never free of Johnny
On Aug. 30, former idol singer and tell-all autobiographer Hiromi Go staged an unannounced live show from the back of a tractor trailer parked near the Hachiko intersection in Shibuya. The five-minute performance, which featured four other dancers, stopped traffic and clogged up the area as pedestrians rushed to catch a glimpse of Go's hairless, flabless torso.

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree