Johnny's Jimusho founder Kitagawa to make rare TV appearance

Entertainment Jan. 25, 2013 - 06:19AM JST ( 11 )

TOKYO —

Johnny Kitagawa, 81, the founder and president of Johnny & Associates (Johnnny’s Jimusho) talent agency, is to make a rare TV appearance on a special NHK program.

Kitagawa runs the agency that assembled, produced and managed more than a dozen popular bands, including SMAP, Arashi, Kanjani8, Hey! Say! JUMP, V6, NEWS and KAT-TUN, and is regarded as one of the most powerful figures in Japan’s entertainment industry. Kitagawa’s influence has also spread to theater and television. Johnny’s has held a virtual monopoly on the
creation of boy bands in Japan for more than 40 years.

Sports Nippon reported Thursday that the NHK program is to take the form of an interview that is intended to publicize the stage show “Johnny’s World” which is currently on tour. The program will be titled “Johnny’s World: Top of the J-Pops.”

Kitagawa is a mysterious figure who rarely gives interviews and has never been the subject of a TV show before.

“Johnny’s World: Top of the J-Pops” will be broadcast online via the NHK homepage from Jan 27 at 8:10 a.m.

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11 Comments

3

southsakaiJan. 25, 2013 - 08:00AM JST

Very smart sharp guy. Made TONS of money converting boys into girly men for women's entertainment and eye candy. True niche businessman.
6

plasticmonkeyJan. 25, 2013 - 08:22AM JST

an interview that is intended to publicize the stage show “Johnny’s World”

I didn't know NHK was a commercial broadcaster.
-4

JeffLeeJan. 25, 2013 - 08:35AM JST

Johnny has made many valuable contributions to the world of art and culture.
2

MeguromanJan. 25, 2013 - 08:57AM JST

sexy zone...pffft...
4

zenkanJan. 25, 2013 - 11:14AM JST

It'll be interesting to see what the programme shows. Perhaps there should be another programme to balance the content. Any other production companies fancy interviewing former members of Johnny's Entertainment?
2

Mohamad Taufiq MorshidiJan. 25, 2013 - 04:01PM JST

This man is the one reason why i've stopped watching Japanese TV altogether. His idols have ruined Japanese TV.

Also, he sucks at naming boybands. Kat-Tun? V6? Hey! Say! JUMP? NEWS? What Kind of boyband names are those? Atleast "New Kids on the Block" makes alot of sense.
2

Stephen KnightJan. 26, 2013 - 08:05AM JST

So he's not making a rare television appearance, he's making a rare internet appearance.
0

plasticmonkeyJan. 27, 2013 - 06:45PM JST

Johnny's is simply cultural propaganda.
0

plasticmonkeyJan. 27, 2013 - 07:02PM JST

This is good:

From a JT story in 2009, from Shunkan Bunshun:

the magazine claimed that NHK had incurred the wrath of Johnny’s after it defied a request from the agency not to transmit a live broadcast of the press conference held with Kusanagi after his arrest.

As a result, it seems that the broadcaster wasn’t even invited to the soft-focus conference held with Kusanagi on May 28, prior to his TV comeback.

Interesting that now NHK has been allowed into the inner sanctum. But they've got to make Johnny happy.
0

plasticmonkeyJan. 27, 2013 - 07:07PM JST

an interview that is intended to publicize the stage show “Johnny’s World”

So in essence, taxpayers money is being spent on promoting Johnny's. That really pisses me off.
-1

CrisGerSanJan. 29, 2013 - 03:41PM JST

Very interesting. Look forward to learning more about this interesting man.