Could the day of their comeback be near? Former Johnny’s Jr. members are taking lessons with Inohara even though their opportunities to perform have been drastically reduced.
The former Johnny’s s office is going through a transitional period, changing its name to “SMILE-UP. Inc.” as of October 17. The company is in the midst of putting its structure in order, including the establishment of a new agent company, in response to the sexual assault scandal involving its founder, Mr. Janie Kitagawa. While the TV exposure of the talents has been affected, mainly young junior members (former “Johnny’s Jr.”) have been working hard on their dance and acting lessons.
SMILE-UP.” company, which has made a fresh start, will only provide compensation services to the victims and will dismantle and close the business as soon as it is finished dealing with the situation. However, details, including the name of the new company to sign contracts with the talent, have not been announced as of November 20. Under these circumstances, NHK announced the contestants for the 74th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen, a major singing program to be broadcast on New Year’s Eve. All of the former Johnny’s were eliminated.
In addition, in September, several companies announced that they would not renew contracts with former Johnny’s talents, and they continued to suspend the use of them in their commercials. On commercial TV stations, the former Johnny’s talents continue to appear on regular programs and even make guest appearances in some variety shows. However, an entertainment writer says, “As for the juniors who have not yet debuted, I have the impression that their availability is decreasing.
The “The Boys Club” (NHK BS Premium) stopped broadcasting after the October 27 broadcast of “Selection Special: August and September Meisho (Great Scenes from August and September). The title was changed to “New Generation! and the content will be drastically revised. In addition, the variety program “#Naked Boy” (TV Asahi), in which Junior appears as the main character, ended on November 4, perhaps because of the title, and a new program, “Community-based & station-specific map variety Kaku-eki! started on November 18.
Under these circumstances, young talents seem to be training without taking a break even during periods when they have time in their schedule. They are talking about their recent activities on their blogs on the members-only website “FAMILY CLUB web” and in magazine interviews.
For example, Ren’o Nagaoka, a member of AmBitious, a unit within Kansai Junior, reported on his blog dated November 6 that he had a “dance lesson in Tokyo” (original text in Japanese). On the spot, he said, “Make a pair!” and paired up with Rinne Sugata of Junior 7 MEN Samurai. Nagaoka, who is usually based in the Kansai region, had a great opportunity to interact with the Tokyo juniors.
