Johnny’s has a talented PR person stepping down, and Ryoko Yonekura has a powerful manager…the departure of a staff member who will affect the lives of the talents.

The headwind for Johnny’s is unstoppable.

The sports papers reported that the production of dramas to be broadcast next year in which Johnny’s talents will appear has been halted, and following the advertising industry, TV stations are also being forced to respond. ……” (director of a key station)

Another problem was the fact that former vice president Suguru Shirahase, who had long served as the company’s public relations manager, did not attend the press conference held by the Johnny’s s office on September 7.

He is a name many viewers may be hearing for the first time, but he has served as a negotiator with the mass media and has contributed greatly to the company’s growth.”

He joined the company in ’75, when Hiromi Go (67) was making her breakthrough but the Johnny’s office was not yet a major player.’ When he established the Advertising Department in the 1980s, he became the right-hand man of the late Mary Kitagawa,” said a producer at a key station.

He focused on promoting the talents of the company’s members by, for example, jacking the covers of TV and idol magazines when CDs were released or movies in which he played the lead roles were released.

In exchange for no pay, Johnny’s decides who will appear on the cover of the magazine. There were times when “A.B.C-Z” and pre-debut Jr.

However, during the Obon and New Year’s merger issues, when publishers get into the swing of things, they remember to please by putting out their mainstays such as “SMAP” and “Arashi. The same goes for television. The media has been controlled by giving “candy” to programs that do not feature male groups that could be rivals to Johnny’s, by giving them priority in casting their signature groups.

Many industry insiders believe that the departure of the shrewd Mr. Shirahase is accelerating Johnny’s’s predicament.

A senior entertainment industry executive said, “A talented staff member has left Yonekura Ryoko (48) as well.

Mr. A, who had been in charge since the days of Oscar Promotion and joined Yonekura’s private agency, left this summer for personal reasons.

Mr. A is a skilled manager who became chief manager in his 20s. Yonekura came to be known as the queen of viewer ratings largely because of his skillful selection of works. He persuaded her to realize a sequel to “Doctor X” (TV Asahi), for which she was very particular, and she has a high degree of trust from outside staff.

We hear that the trouble is not with Yonekura herself but with her personal sponsor, but no one can manage Yonekura better than he can. If any of the films in which Yonekura appears in the future fail, there is a possibility that his stock will drop dramatically.

Mr. B, the manager who contributed to Masami Nagasawa’s (36) breakthrough, was also a strong manager.

Mr. B is also in charge of the sisters Mone Kamihiraishi (25) and Moka (23). Although Mr. B had a reputation for selling out his talent, he was a one-man man and often got into trouble with the media. As a result, they were at odds with the office and decided to become independent.

Currently, they are taking on the management of independent talents such as Mirei Kiritani (33) and Go Atsushi Maeda (23). It is said that the reason why they were not interrupted by their former agencies after they became independent was because they had Mr. B, who is a strong man, by their side,” said a director of a production company.

In order to survive in the entertainment industry, where one can only survive on the backs of the horses, it is essential to have a capable staff.

From the October 13-20, 2023 issue of “FRIDAY