Junichi Okada, Kazunari Ninomiya, Toma Ikuta… “NG of major distributors” behind the independence of leading actors of the former Johnny’s.

Actor Toma Ikuta (39) left his SMILE-UP. (formerly Johnny’s) office on November 20. On his fan site, he wrote: “Starting tomorrow, Toma Ikuta will be a freelance actor. On November 21, he updated his Instagram to report the opening of his official website and official X (formerly Twitter). It seems that they are all set to work independently.

In the former Johnny’s, Kazuya Ninomiya of Arashi (40) announced his sudden independence on October 24. All three had been leading actors representing the former Johnny’s, and they also had something in common, which is said to be one of the reasons for their decision to go independent.

Ikuta’s wife is actress Nana Seino (29), Okada’s wife is actress Aoi Miyazaki (37), and Ninomiya’s wife is a former successful freelance announcer. And all three have children; Ikuta is 1 year old, Okada is 5, and Ninomiya is 2 and 1.

They have decided to part ways with the name ‘Johnny’s’ not only for their own future activities, but also for their children’s positions at school, their children’s future entrance exams, and, as for Ikuta and Okada, their wives’ future jobs.

And this similarity seems to be another reason why the three decided to become independent. Ikuta starred in “Yudo” released in February of this year, Okada in “Towards the End” released in May, and Ninomiya in “Analog” released in October.