<div class="expapp-no-provided-scope expapp-no-provided-scope-start"></div>
<p>In the previous article, <a href="https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/article/371466">&#8220;[The Mystery of Only Two Kohaku Appearances] KinKi Kids Carried the Epic Fate of &#8216;Counter to SMAP</a> &#8216;&#8221;, we discussed why KinKi Kids had to walk as the opposite of SMAP.</p>
<div class="expapp-no-provided-scope expapp-no-provided-scope-end"></div>
<h2>The two have had very few scandals.</h2>
<figure id="attachment_372209" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 726px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-372209"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="617cf652"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/05/19100380cc271b2da45a09920a053b78.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-372209" class="wp-caption-text">Illustration from STARTO ENTERTAINMENT&#8217;s website</figcaption></figure>
<p>Idols from the former Johnny&#8217;s (SMILE-UP.) office have moved to a new company, STARTO ENTERTAINMENT.</p>
<p>Arashi, who has been inactive, has created a separate company, but has signed a management contract with STARTO.</p>
<p>The new company&#8217;s website has a list of artists belonging to the company, but something unusual happened there: only KinKi Kids&#8217; place has no photo. Only KinKi Kids&#8217; portraits are listed, drawn in rough lines and labeled &#8220;KinKi Kids. It was clearly bizarre.</p>
<p>What on earth is going on?</p>
<p>Tsuyoshi Domoto and Natsunako Momota (Momoiro Clover Z) stunned the world this past January by announcing their marriage.</p>
<p>In the 30 years since the formation of KinKi Kids, reports of their love affairs have been rare and scandal-free. The only scoop that appeared in the weekly photo magazine &#8220;FRIDAY&#8221; was of the two jogging together and enjoying morning mac and cheese.</p>
<p>(He is also a solo artist as ENDLICHERI☆ENDLICHERI.) It is no wonder he is so popular. ) The reason for his scandal-free record is probably because he leads a very disciplined private life.</p>
<p>Downtown&#8217;s Hitoshi Matsumoto was accused of sexual assault and suspended his entertainment activities after being bombarded by a Bunshun gun. Tsuyoshi Domoto, who respected Matsumoto, got married without any scandal at all. It is too stark a contrast. Tsuyoshi respected Matsumoto&#8217;s sense of comedy, but (wisely?) did not learn from his backstage antics. He did not learn from Matsumoto&#8217;s backstage antics.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Tsuyoshi's farewell declaration"></div>
<h2>Declaration of farewell in their own way</h2>
<figure id="attachment_372291" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2340px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-372291"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4f17391e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/05/c41e2d7efc8cd580c27d85ac3dab13c4.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-372291" class="wp-caption-text">Tsuyoshi (left) and Koichi eating breakfast McDonald&#8217;s after running, taken in 1994.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Tsuyoshi Domoto of KinKi Kids and Natsunako Momota of Momoiro Clover Z. The marriage of two top idols is a historic accomplishment.</p>
<p>This is the first marriage between two top idols since Takuya Kimura of SMAP and Shizuka Kudo of Onyanko Club.　In November 2000, at the peak of his popularity at the age of 28, Kimura&#8217;s shocking &#8220;shotgun&#8221; marriage took place. However, it also paved the way for other idols junior to him in Johnny&#8217;s to get married.</p>
<p>＜It was once said, &#8220;Idols cannot get married. It was said that it would disappoint the fans and make them lose popularity.</p>
<p>Even Masaharu Fukuyama&#8217;s stock plummeted when he married 46-year-old Kazue Fukiishi!　How frightening.</p>
<p>The marriage of Tsuyoshi Domoto and Natsunako Momota, however, was met with overwhelming celebrations. This is unusual. It was said to be the only bright spot in the Johnny&#8217;s shenanigans since last year.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p>The month after the marriage announcement, Tsuyoshi Domoto declared his independence from SMILE-UP. (the former Johnny&#8217;s office). He said it would be at the end of the fiscal year (March 31).</p>
<p>Starting in April, idols from the former Johnny&#8217;s office were transferred to a new company, STARTO. Tsuyoshi refused to do so, so to speak.</p>
<p>He himself has not spoken out about the series of Johnny&#8217;s issues during this period. He was said to be Janie Kitagawa&#8217;s favorite. What thoughts must have been in his mind?</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p>In a sense, Tsuyoshi&#8217;s marriage and his independence from the agency may have been his declaration of farewell to Johnny&#8217;s and to Kitagawa, as he himself expressed it.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Clear Criticism of the Founders"></div>
<h2>A &#8220;bitter word&#8221; to the late Janie Kitagawa</h2>
<figure id="attachment_372359" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2081px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-372359"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d4d016c5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/05/92f414957854ef1200b480c86d6dc5a4-2.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-372359" class="wp-caption-text">Koichi visited Fukuoka in &#8217;21 for his own stage performance.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Tsuyoshi Domoto went independent, but KinKi Kids did not break up. Koichi accepted the transfer to the new company. He revealed his feelings on the talk show Dareka to Nakai.</p>
<p>If both of them leave the office, they will not be able to use the name KinKi Kids due to rights issues. Tsuyoshi told him, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;That&#8217;s fine,</span> &#8221; and he thought, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;That&#8217;s strong</span>.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p>He <span class="strongInContent">also said, &#8220;At my age, when I started directing junior members and such, I began to think that I had to lead them</span>.</p>
<p>To make the boys who sing and dance on stage shine&#8211;that was Janie Kitagawa&#8217;s &#8220;dream. Takizawa Hideaki has succeeded him. ＜He created the Takizawa Kabuki stage, and eventually retired from show business to serve as vice president of Johnny&#8217;s. However, after the death of Janie Kitagawa, he left the office.</p>
<p>What was left was Koichi Domoto.</p>
<p>He starred in the musical series &#8220;SHOCK&#8221; from &#8217;00 and continued as the chairman for a long time. He is well-liked by his younger colleagues. He has earned a brilliant reputation as a theater artist.<br>
Yes, Koichi Domoto is the last one to inherit the &#8220;dream&#8221; of the late Janie Kitagawa.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p>Last October, Koichi responded to a press conference before a stage performance.</p>
<p>Asked about Janie Kitagawa, he said that he used to think that he should not create an embarrassing work in his honor, but that he had abandoned that thought. He said, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;I strongly feel that I have to express myself as myself by making that engraved thing a cross with a cross with a cross on it.&#8221;</span></p>
<p>He clearly rejected Janey.</p>
<p>He <span class="strongInContent">also</span> said, &#8220;Above all, the victims <span class="strongInContent">must be saved,&#8221; and &#8220;First of all, I hope that the victims will be rescued as soon as possible</span>.&#8221;</p>
<p>Later on Instagram, he criticized slander against the victims on social networking sites as <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;absolutely unacceptable</span>,&#8221; and stated, <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;I hope there are no such people who support me, but if there are people who are making offensive comments to the other party with the intention of protecting me or something like that, I really don&#8217;t want that kind of thing</span>. I <span class="strongInContent">don&#8217;t want that,&#8221;</span> he stated.</p>
<p>This is in sharp contrast to Noriyuki Higashiyama, who, when asked by a BBC journalist to <span class="strongInContent">call on his fans to stop slandering him</span>, refused, <span class="strongInContent">saying, &#8220;There is also freedom of speech</span>.</p>
<p>No, Koichi Domoto is the only one of the former Johnny&#8217;s idols who has publicly called for relief for the victims and asked fans to stop slandering them.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="The &quot;only thing&quot; that Koichi tries to protect"></div>
<h2>What are the boys&#8217; last moments?</h2>
<figure id="attachment_372362" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2868px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-372362"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="90173c24"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/05/1707e1b19a05b09aa16c67a4cdbf372d-2.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-372362" class="wp-caption-text">KinKi Kids is the group that best embodied the spirit of Janie Kitagawa</figcaption></figure>
<p>Tsuyoshi Domoto is no longer in the office. Arashi, too, has created a separate company. However, the huge membership fees of the inactive Arashi fan club continue to enrich the former Johnny&#8217;s office (SMILE-UP.), which is highly criticized. The same goes for other groups.</p>
<p>However, as of April 30, only KinKi Kids dissolved its fan club. I sense a strong will there. The only page in the profile section of the new company&#8217;s website is &#8230;&#8230;, along with the notation &lt;KinKiKids&gt; in an odd portrait.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p>The last one to inherit the &#8220;dream&#8221; of the now deceased Janie Kitagawa.</p>
<p>Koichi Domoto, what on earth are you thinking?</p>
<p>Johnny&#8217;s is no more. There is no Tsuyoshi in the new office. The fan club has disbanded, and there is not even a profile picture.</p>
<p>Yes, the only thing you are trying to protect is the name &#8230;&#8230;KinKi Kids.</p>
<p>And so it was Janie Kitagawa who gave them that name.</p>
<p>The &lt;Guinness-level brilliant producer&gt; and &lt;worst sex offender in the history of mankind&gt; that you once declared as an honor, that you would eventually mark with a cross and carry as a cross.</p>
<p>To deny the &#8220;evil&#8221; of Janie Kitagawa and to affirm her &#8220;dream&#8221;. Only you &#8230;&#8230; seem to be trying to walk that road, which is extremely difficult, now.</p>
<p>When Koichi Domoto leaves the office and the name KinKi Kids disappears, I think the soul of Johnny&#8217;s will disappear completely.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p>At that time, I am sure I will hear a nostalgic tune.</p>
<p>With the phrase &#8220;Stay with me&#8221;.</p>
<p>Yes, it will be the moment when those &#8220;boys of glass&#8221; who sang &#8230;&#8230; with shining eyes in high spirits 27 years ago will be shattered.</p>


 Akio Nakamori

 Shuichi Masuda, Toshikatsu Tanaka, Kazuhiko Nakamura

 Now that Tsuyoshi has left the group and the fan club has disbanded, what exactly is it that Koichi is left to carry on his shoulders?

The Future of KinKi Kids: Johnny Kitagawa’s Soul Shatters with Glass no Shounen

Access Ranking