<figure id="attachment_379578" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-379578" style="width: 557px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c76efa7b"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/06/eaf6ada56abd56dd2e12f09970aa8a05.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-379578" class="wp-caption-text">Fuma Kikuchi (left), Ren Nagase (center), and Kaito Takahashi of KIMPURI, announce that they have signed an agent contract with STARTO, Inc.</figcaption></figure>
<p> The former Johnny&#8217;s&#8217;s office, which changed its name to &#8220;SMILE-UP.(SU)&#8221; on October 17, 2011, in response to the sexual assault scandal involving its founder, Janie Kitagawa, established a new agent company, &#8220;STARTO ENTERTAINMENT(STARTO)&#8221; on the same day. The management of the agency&#8217;s talent will be transferred to STARTO as of April 10, 2012. Some of the talent belonging to STARTO will sign an agent contract with the company.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> In the days of the former Johnny&#8217;s, the talent belonging to the company was thoroughly managed by the agency, both publicly and privately. The announcement of work involving TV stations, movie companies, record companies, and commercial contractors was left to the other side, but the announcement of office-initiated matters was centralized and handled by the former vice president and public relations manager of the former Johnny&#8217;s. In addition, when a scandal broke, the talent was given the opportunity to make an announcement to the media, and the company was notified.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In addition, the PR person was also in charge of handling the aftermath of scandals, which honestly made it easier for the chiefs and frontline managers compared to other offices,&#8221; said a source at a TV station.</span></p>
<p> However, the situation has changed drastically for those who have shifted to agent contracts with STARTO.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> The STARTO company is basically a window to get the job done, so they don&#8217;t manage us as thoroughly as they did in the old Johnny&#8217;s days,&#8221; said a TV station official. In particular, when a private scandal is reported, the talent himself or herself thinks about it, and STARTO Inc. is only a window to announce it. As was the case in the days of the old Johnny&#8217;s, the agency does not bring in a lot of work, so the gap between successful and unsuccessful talents will only widen.</span></p>
<p> Although it has only been about two months since management operations were transferred to STARTO, some of the talent has begun to realize what they need to do in the current situation.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Talent from a popular group approached me."></div>
<p><span class="strongInContent">Some of them have realized that they need people who can help them market themselves and get more work in the future, or who can deal with the media in the event of a scandal, etc., and have begun &#8220;recruiting.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In fact, one person has already been approached by a popular group of celebrities. However, such a role can only be filled by a talented person with some experience at a TV station, record company, or movie company. In order for the talent to pull them out as &#8220;close associates,&#8221; they need to be paid at least an annual salary that is higher than their previous job. I heard that the offer was dropped, perhaps because they couldn&#8217;t come to an agreement on the annual salary. There are probably only a handful of talents who are currently contracted with STARTO as their agents who can afford to pay that much.</span></p>
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<p> Last May, on a major recruiting website, the former Johnny&#8217;s was recruiting for a full-time, general administrative position to assist the manager in supporting the talent&#8217;s activities, and a contract position for a manager to manage the talent&#8217;s schedule, transport the talent to and from the field, and accompany the talent to the field. The salary was &#8220;more than 3.3 million yen per year.</p>
<p> TOBE, an entertainment agency led by Hideaki Takizawa, former vice president of the former Johnny&#8217;s, recently advertised on a major recruitment website. They were recruiting for three positions, including manager, and the annual salary for the first year was &#8220;3.5 to 6 million yen.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> Compared to other offices, it is not a high amount. Perhaps the mindset of the old Johnny&#8217;s&#8217;s days has not gone away, as this office was known for the high turnover of people due to the harsh working conditions. It is only by paying high annual salaries that we can attract talented employees. &#8230;&#8230;&#8221; (entertainment office executive)</span></p>
<p> The key to success in future performance will be to break away from the old mindset and succeed in &#8220;recruitment activities.</p>

<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Talent who have announced agent contracts with STARTO"></div>
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<figure id="attachment_379581" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-379581" style="width: 836px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="564b90d3"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/06/b7fc9f5a880809f546ab72870d86eaaa.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-379581" class="wp-caption-text">Fuma Kikuchi of &#8220;timelesz&#8221; announced that he signed an exclusive agent contract with STARTO in April (&#8217;23).</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_377294" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-377294" style="width: 1887px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d3c472c6"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/06/807d7fe0f5764f340e05aa2e356bc7f5.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-377294" class="wp-caption-text"> King &amp; Prince&#8221; has announced that they have established a new company and signed a group agent contract with STARTO. They were the third group to announce an agent contract, following &#8220;TOKIO&#8221; and &#8220;Arashi&#8221; (February &#8217;23).</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_377296" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-377296" style="width: 2728px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ad9ebff1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/06/7cb4275899ed41758d3ee03893e0f7b9.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-377296" class="wp-caption-text"> Kaito Takahashi on location for &#8220;My Sister&#8217;s Lover&#8221; (from the November 27, &#8217;20 issue).</figcaption></figure>
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 Kazuhiko Nakamura (Kikuchi, Nagase), Yuri Adachi (Takahashi)

 STARTO has been in full swing for about three months now. Some of the talents have signed agent contracts, and recently we have heard that some of them have begun "recruiting" staff. What is the background behind this?

STARTO Agent Contracted Talent Starts “Recruitment Activities” if Scandal is Reported…

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