The possibility of “music usage NG” due to the “removal of Johnny’s”… A serious situation will arise from the “renaming of the Johnny’s office”.

In the wake of the sexual assault scandal involving the company’s founder, Mr. Kitagawa, Johnny’s is undergoing a full-fledged transformation. In addition to the “removal of Janney” within the company, it is also reported that the company name will be changed and that the new company name will be announced on October 2.

On September 7, the Johnny’s office held a press conference in Tokyo, admitting the sexual assault by Johnny and apologizing to the victims, and on September 13, Sports Nippon reported that Johnny’s had removed a large portrait of Johnny from the entrance of its headquarters in Minato-ku, Tokyo.

It was a painting created by Satoshi Ohno of Arashi for his solo exhibition in ’20, and since then it had been displayed in the lobby on the first floor of the headquarters to welcome people coming to the office. However, due to the impact of the sex assault issue, they must have decided that it was not appropriate to hang Janney’s portrait in the current situation. Also, from September 9 to 28, Johnny’s traditional stage play “DREAM BOYS,” starring Shintaro Morimoto of SixTONES and Shota Watanabe of Snow Man, is being staged at the Imperial Theater. According to an article in SpoNichi, the dressing room called “Mr. Janney’s Room,” which was used by Mr. Janney before his death, has not been set up.

Another “departure from Johnny’s” is the possibility that “Legend of Johnny’s,” a stage production starring the five-member group A.B.C-Z and looking back on the history of Johnny’s, may be on the verge of extinction.

The play has been staged seven times in the past year, but Sankei Sports reported on March 9 that, according to a source, “In light of the content of the work, we have concluded that it cannot be staged in the future. The fact that Shota Totsuka plays the role of Mr. Janney in the play is a natural consequence of the fact that the office has acknowledged the sexual assault as a fact.

In addition, it is highly likely that songs related to the word “Johnny’s,” including Mr. Johnny’s, will no longer be performed in the future.

For example, KinKi Kids’ song “KANZAI BOYA” will not be sung on TV for the time being. This is the unit name that Mr. Janney once gave to the group, and many of the lyrics, such as “I give you this name,” are reminiscent of his tone of voice. Furthermore, Sexy Zone released an album “POP × STEP! (February ’20), which includes a solo song by Katsutoshi Sato, “Show must go on. The title of this song was a motto of Mr. Janney’s, but it is likely to be sealed for a while as well. It is expected that the opportunities for Johnny’s talents to give talks that remind us of Mr. Johnny’s will also decrease.

On September 19, Johnny’s posted a “Report on Future Company Operations” on its official corporate website. On the same day, the company announced that a meeting of the board of directors had been held to “discuss from all angles the major direction of the company’s future operations,” including a change in the company name, which had long been viewed as problematic, and specific measures to compensate for the damage. He declared that he would report on the specifics on October 2.

In response to this, fans are wondering whether groups with “Johnny’s” in their names, such as Kanjani Eight and Johnny’s WEST, will change their names. Johnnys'” in JUMP’s debut song “Ultra Music Power” (2007), and if the name change were to take place, there is a possibility that the relevant part of the song would be cut out.

However, in order to renew the image of the company, it is necessary to “get away from Janney. All eyes will be on the announcement on October 2 to see what kind of decision the Johnny’s office will make.