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.
© Japan Today
13 Comments
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southsakai
Very smart sharp guy. Made TONS of money converting boys into girly men for women's entertainment and eye candy. True niche businessman.
plasticmonkey
I wonder if NHK will ask him about repeated allegations of him having sexually abused some of the boys in his groups. But I doubt it. Any criticism of Johnnies is strictly verboten.
plasticmonkey
I didn't know NHK was a commercial broadcaster.
JeffLee
Johnny has made many valuable contributions to the world of art and culture.
Meguroman
sexy zone...pffft...
zenkan
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?
Mohamad Taufiq Morshidi
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.
Stephen Knight
So he's not making a rare television appearance, he's making a rare internet appearance.
plasticmonkey
I posted the same question earlier and the mod deleted it for being 'offensive/vulgar'. Seems that the media machine in Japan, JT included, is averse to criticizing Johnny's or Johnny. The moderator seems to have been asleep when you posted.
Any man who names a group of underage boys 'Sexy Zone' deserves some scrutiny, particularly by news outlets. Instead, we get endless promotion of Johnny's and AKB masquerading as news stories, special interviews or 'documentaries'.
plasticmonkey
Johnny's is simply cultural propaganda.
plasticmonkey
This is good:
From a JT story in 2009, from Shunkan Bunshun:
Interesting that now NHK has been allowed into the inner sanctum. But they've got to make Johnny happy.
plasticmonkey
So in essence, taxpayers money is being spent on promoting Johnny's. That really pisses me off.
CrisGerSan
Very interesting. Look forward to learning more about this interesting man.