It is common for junior high school students to go to Korea… The story behind the birth of many Japanese “K-Pop idols

“I was wondering if there were any promising talents from Korean entertainment agencies…”

In recent years, a number of Japanese K-pop idols have emerged in the K-pop world. Since the girl group TWICE, which includes three Japanese members, made its debut in Japan in 2005, the number of K-pop groups with Japanese members has been increasing.

In the K-pop world, where dance and singing are at a high level, the debut of a Japanese artist means that she or he auditioned for a Korean entertainment agency, became a trainee, went to Korea, and seized one of the few opportunities available to her.

The average trainee period is said to be 3 to 4 years, and the longest 7 to 8 years. For example, many Japanese K-pop idols, such as YUTA of NCT127 and Rei of IVE, came to Korea in their mid-teens and debuted after a long period as trainees. An increasing number of Japanese teenagers are yearning to become such Japanese K-pop idols and are seriously working hard in dance and singing lessons to become trainees.

K-Pop training schools” are increasing mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area and Osaka.

In fact, since around 2005, “K-pop training schools” have been opening one after another in the Tokyo metropolitan area and Osaka, where students can learn the skills necessary to become K-pop idols. In addition to dance and singing lessons, the schools also provide instruction on how to audition and obtain recommendations for private auditions and scouting by Korean entertainment agencies, so it is said that entering these schools is a shortcut to becoming a trainee.

Dance Studio Cielo, located in Meguro, Tokyo, is Japan’s first dance school specializing in K-pop dance and opened in 2011 for those who want to learn K-pop dance, with dancers who have served as back-up dancers for K-pop idols as instructors, In 2009, the school opened a training class for those aiming to make their debut in Korea. Currently, the school has about 200 students ranging in age from 9 to 19. Thirty percent are elementary school students and 40% are junior high school students. Shingo Machida, the representative of the school, explains the reason for opening the training class.

As TWICE’s popularity grew, we were frequently approached by Korean entertainment agencies to see if we had any promising talent. We began to hear from many of our students that they wanted to debut in Korea and wanted to know how to pass the audition, so we decided to open a training class.