<figure id="attachment_382535" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1007px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-382535"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="e25da402"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/0fd342bb903f9e75234c83cc5609e24d.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-382535" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-weight: 400;">He was a mentor to Snow Man. (August 8, 2014 issue)</span></figcaption></figure>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On July 5, during the TBS variety special &#8220;Kazunari Ninomiya × Let Snow Man Do It Combo SP,&#8221; the members of the popular group Snow Man first mentioned Hideaki Takizawa (42), who was the &#8220;mentor&#8221; 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.).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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, </span><b>&#8220;I never heard from Tackey at all.&#8221;</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When Ninomiya revealed that he was in contact with Takizawa, Daisuke Sakuma (32) said, </span><b>&#8220;We haven&#8217;t been in touch with Takizawa at all. It was unexpected.&#8221; </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">Shota Watanabe (31) shared, </span><b>&#8220;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?&#8221;</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> revealing that there was a possibility that the Snow Man members might follow Takizawa and leave the former Johnny’s as well.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tatsuya Fukazawa (32) admitted, </span><b>&#8220;Honestly, I thought about it a lot. It wasn&#8217;t that I was being contacted, but,&#8221;</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> confessing that Takizawa’s departure made him uncertain. However, Ren Meguro (27) stated, </span><b>&#8220;We received a lot of support from Takizawa-kun. But we were nurtured by this company,&#8221; </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">and Sakuma added, </span><b>&#8220;I like this agency. I want to achieve great things with this agency,&#8221; </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">explaining the reasons behind their decision to stay with the agency.</span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Snow Man is now a signature talent."></div>
<p><b>&#8220;Snow Man has a flagship show, &#8216;Let Snow Man Do It,&#8217; in TBS&#8217;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.</b></p>
<p><b>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&#8221; (TV industry insider).</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">TOBE, which did not acquire Snow Man, has members such as former V6 member Ken Miyake (45), and former King &amp; 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&#8217;s affiliated talents, indicating that the agency is on track.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Tackey's sense of duty and humanity"></div>
<p><b>&#8220;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 &#8216;Tackey &amp; Tsubasa&#8217; was formed.</b></p>
<p><b>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&#8221; (music industry insider).</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the past, &#8220;retired Johnny’s&#8221; 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.</span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Takitsuba descends on Omotesando!"></div>
<figure id="attachment_382534" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1280px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-382534"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="56537f75"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/1fe6e45ce8f23669912b39d49a08a9d2.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-382534" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Takizawa and Tsubasa Imai suddenly appeared on Omotesando after 8 p.m. They both entered a café with a &#8216;Happy Birthday&#8217; sign nearby (August 8, 2014 issue).</span></figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_382536" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1280px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-382536"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4c1cd576"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/2858559f4184369ea191c095f4b706fc.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-382536" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Following Takizawa, Tsubasa Imai&#8217;s presence was also noted (August 8, 2014 issue).</span></figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_383120" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2074px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-383120"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="247fc416"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/47e960e3635831cbedd43c18a7331e1e.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-383120" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-weight: 400;">After a two-night, three-day trip to Okinawa, Tackey</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">(right) and Miyake waited for their pickup car outside the airport. Tackey</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">was holding a lot of Okinawan souvenirs (2023).</span></figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_383121" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1352px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-383121"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="44a78a21"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/8444b40cbd11f1ee876ecdf33b0e7837.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-383121" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-weight: 400;">At Haneda Airport, while heading to the boarding gate, Tackey (left) introduced Miyake to some acquaintances. He continuously took care of and escorted Miyake, showing his respect as a senior (2023).</span></figcaption></figure>


 Keisuke Nishi

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