Kazuya Ninomiya of “Arashi” declares independence from Johnny’s.On October 24, Kazunari Ninomiya (40) of the nationally popular group Arashi announced on a website for his fan club that he had become independent from his agency SMILE-UP (formerly Johnny’s) on the same day.  Ninomiya explained the circumstances of his independence. “After the first press conference at the office, a lot of things started to affect my activities, and to be honest, I became scared and anxious, and I started to think about what I would do.” In the midst of his daily struggles, at his second press conference at Johnny’s, he said, “The Johnny’s office is a place for people who have been in the business for 10 years or more.” “Johnny’s will change its name to SMILE-UP. I heard that a new company will be set up, and the talents in Johnny’s will be given priority to sign an agent contract or a management contract.” He added “I have to make my own decisions about my future, but my work is still going on, and when I calmed down and looked at things from a bird’s eye view, I decided to do it properly.” He decided to become independent. “I will face each job one by one and move on with my life again,” he said. He looked forward to the future.   He is the second big independent following former V6 member Junichi Okada. Okada announced on his official website and said these: “I would like to inform you that I will be leaving Johnny’s s. I will establish my own entertainment agency and continue my activities.” The two members of Arashi after their independence were not in contact with each other.