Why Hideaki Takizawa Didn’t Recruit His ‘Favorite Disciple’ Snow Man

On July 5, during the TBS variety special “Kazunari Ninomiya × Let Snow Man Do It Combo SP,” the members of the popular group Snow Man first mentioned Hideaki Takizawa (42), who was the “mentor” of the group and served as the president of the talent agency TOBE, regarding his departure from the former Johnny’s Entertainment (now SMILE-UP.).

In the program, the eight members of Snow Man, excluding Raul (21), welcomed guest Kazunari Ninomiya (41) of Arashi and engaged in candid talk at an izakaya. Reflecting on his departure from the former Johnny’s in October of the previous year, Ninomiya jokingly touched on the topic of Takizawa, saying, “I never heard from Tackey at all.”

When Ninomiya revealed that he was in contact with Takizawa, Daisuke Sakuma (32) said, “We haven’t been in touch with Takizawa at all. It was unexpected.” Shota Watanabe (31) shared, “Takizawa-kun remains a mentor to us. When he left, naturally, at first, we all thought that if Takizawa-kun is leaving, are we going to leave too?” revealing that there was a possibility that the Snow Man members might follow Takizawa and leave the former Johnny’s as well.

Tatsuya Fukazawa (32) admitted, “Honestly, I thought about it a lot. It wasn’t that I was being contacted, but,” confessing that Takizawa’s departure made him uncertain. However, Ren Meguro (27) stated, “We received a lot of support from Takizawa-kun. But we were nurtured by this company,” and Sakuma added, “I like this agency. I want to achieve great things with this agency,” explaining the reasons behind their decision to stay with the agency.

“Snow Man has a flagship show, ‘Let Snow Man Do It,’ in TBS’s prime time, and members like Meguro, Sakuma, and Watanabe receive constant offers from various TV networks for solo activities. They have become the agency’s new flagship, replacing the hiatusing Arashi.

For Takizawa, who had decided to establish a new agency, Snow Man was surely highly desired. However, Takizawa ultimately did not approach them, and the members decided to stay on their own volition. If they had moved, Snow Man would likely not be as active as they are now, and it might have had a significant impact on the revenue of STARTO, the company that took over management from the former Johnny’s” (TV industry insider).

TOBE, which did not acquire Snow Man, has members such as former V6 member Ken Miyake (45), and former King & Prince members Sho Hirano (27), Yuta Jinguji (26), and Yuta Kishi (28), who have formed the group Number_i, as well as trainees. In March, they held a four-day live performance at Tokyo Dome featuring all the group’s affiliated talents, indicating that the agency is on track.

While it’s true that they managed without Snow Man, a certain insider speculates that Takizawa, given his inherent nature, may have considered various circumstances and, setting aside personal interests, chose not to approach them.

“Originally, Takizawa, who displayed extraordinary talent and had outstanding fan popularity since his Junior days, was heavily pushed by the late Johnny Kitagawa for a solo debut. However, he strongly desired to debut as a duo with his close friend, so ‘Tackey & Tsubasa’ was formed.

Given his nature, his sense of loyalty and affection for Johnny’s Entertainment, which nurtured him, likely took precedence, preventing him from making a business-like decision to recruit Snow Man. This decision ended up saving both his former agency and his disciples. Nowadays, especially STARTO, the company that took over management, might be extremely grateful to Takizawa” (music industry insider).

In the past, “retired Johnny’s” talents were never allowed to appear together with those from their former agency. However, since the establishment of STARTO, those barriers are being removed. It seems that a figure like Takizawa may soon play a significant role in revitalizing Japanese entertainment.

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