Johnny’s is now in full-scale production of junior talents…controversial among fans who want to see the talents themselves in action.

KAT-TUN’s Kazuya Kamenashi will release his second solo single “Cross” on August 18. The song was composed by guitarist Torayasu Hotei and the lyrics were written by Kamenashi himself, and fans on SNS are going crazy over the release. Before this information was released, a junior member of Johnny’s office made a curious comment about Kamenashi.

It has been four years since Kamenashi released a solo single since his debut song “Rain” in May ’19. This new single, “Cross,” was chosen as the theme song for Nippon TV’s professional baseball broadcast “DRAMATIC BASEBALL 2023” (image song) and the sports and news program “Going! Sports & News” (Nittele), a sports and news program in which Kamenashi appears as a newscaster,

Congratulations on the release of your solo single, Kame-chan!　I’m really happy.
I’ve been really waiting for your solo single. I’m going to pre-order a lot.
I can’t wait until August!

I can’t wait until August! On the other hand, there was talk among fans that Kamenashi might produce a junior member.

It all started with the June 18 broadcast of the radio program “Matsuoka Masahiro no Sairi Saiki Tip Zokan” (NACK5), an “extra” edition of the program in which TOKIO’s Masahiro Matsuoka serves as the personality, and Emioki Kawasaki, a member of the Johnny’s Jr. group Shonen Ninja, was assigned as the assistant.

Kamenashi also has a regular “KAT-TUN Kamenashi Kazuya’s HANG OUT” on the station, so his comments were introduced on-air. When asked about his contact with Kamenashi, Kawasaki replied that he had heard that Kamenashi might be involved with Johnny’s Jr. in the future, and revealed that he had spoken to a member of Ninja once and that it was recently.

Kamenashi had provided the lyrics to the original song “Hey, More” by the Jr. unit Bishonen in ’19. Also, in May of this year, Kamenashi was a member of Kansai Jr. group’s concert “A!!!!!! group’s concert “A.C.S. and Surprises National Tour 2023” at Kanagawa Prefectural Hall in May of this year. Kamenashi and the A! group had not had much contact with each other, so fans were wondering, “Why did Kamenashi go to the A group’s concert? What is the connection between Kamenashi and A! (idol magazine writer).

In recent years, there have been many cases in Johnny’s where the talent has taken on the role of producer or director. The president of Johnny’s Island Inc., an affiliate of Johnny’s Office, 20th Century’s Inohara Yoshihiko, is making efforts to nurture Jr. and young talents in parallel with his own entertainment activities.

In addition, Tadayoshi Okura and Yutaka Yokoyama of Kanjani Eight have been taking care of Kansai Jr. since around ’18. They are involved in the composition and direction of concerts and stage productions. Also, Koichi Domoto of KinKi Kids helped direct the ’19-20 Hey! Say! JUMP concert “Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2019-2020 PARADE”. JUMP’s concert “Hey! Since 2007, he has also been involved in directing “DREAM BOYS,” a stage production in which his junior actors perform.

Kamenashi has gained a variety of experience, and it was thought that he might eventually become involved with junior members in this way. In the midst of all this, a surprising fact was quickly discovered.

On July 16 and 17, “ALL Johnnys’ Jr. 2023 Wasshoi CAMP! in Dome,” a concert that brought together Jr. from East and West, was held at Kyocera Dome Osaka. During the end roll after the main concert, it was announced that Kamenashi was in charge of the direction and composition of the concert. The fans in the audience were stunned, saying, “What? I heard that the fans in the audience were thrilled.

Kawazaki’s words triggered negative comments such as, “I’d rather see Kame-chan on the stage than behind the scenes,” and “Don’t make Kame-chan do the behind-the-scenes work of nurturing Jr. Jr. concerts will be held at Tokyo Dome on August 19 and 20, but after that, I hope that he will focus on his individual activities, including the release of his solo single.