<figure id="attachment_394761" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-394761" style="width: 2427px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7de2d412"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/d782ade9e435f698e48e06fd57a540bd.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-394761" class="wp-caption-text">At STARTO, Yoshihiko Inohara is involved in the training of junior staff. However, no notable newcomers have been nurtured. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<p> It has been almost a year since the launch of STARTO ENTERTAINMENT, the new agency to which many of the former Johnny&#8217;s talents transferred. There were concerns about whether the &#8220;sexual assault&#8221; of the late Mr. Janney Kitagawa would affect their work, but it seems that these fears were unfounded.</p>
<p> The &#8220;Snow Man,&#8221; &#8220;SixTONES,&#8221; &#8220;SUPER EIGHT,&#8221; and &#8220;Travis Japan&#8221; groups were already popular when they were under the old agency, but their popularity has increased even more since the transfer.</p>
<p> In addition, on October 3, TV Tokyo announced its policy of resuming the use of new talent from the same agency. The group as well as solo talents appear to be doing well themselves.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<h2> Giving up the enormous revenues of their fan clubs.</h2>
<p> On the other hand, there are industry insiders who are feeling a bit uneasy.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The fan club business, which brings in a large amount of money every year, is very important. However, &#8220;STARTO&#8221; did not take over the fan club, and as announced on October 2 of this year, it became a separate company, &#8220;FAMILY CLUB Co. FAMILY CLUB, Inc.&#8221; and is no longer related to &#8220;STARTO,&#8221; Inc.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Junior members are different, but as for most talents, the annual membership fee is 4,000 yen. Some places wrote that there are 13 million members, but I think the actual number is a little less because the membership numbers of those who have resigned their memberships are still missing. Still, even if the number is halved, the annual revenue was close to 30 billion yen, so if that amount is not coming in, it must be painful.</span></p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p> But that is the old Johnny&#8217;s talent. Their popularity is unwavering, and their live shows are always packed. Their merchandise also sells like hotcakes. Even without the fan club&#8217;s income, &#8220;STARTO&#8217;s&#8221; earnings must be substantial,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> &#8220;I can&#8217;t say that&#8217;s the case,&#8221; said a reporter in charge of entertainment at a sports newspaper.</span></p>
<p> A reporter in charge of entertainment at a sports newspaper said, &#8220;It is not so.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The &quot;exit drama&quot; in a situation where newcomers are not being trained."></div>
<p><span class="strongInContent">As you can see from the stage set, their concerts are extremely expensive to produce. Each concert is almost always in the red, at best. We make up for that by selling merchandise. The overall revenue is not that much.</span></p>
<p> Another source of concern is the lack of new talent.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I don&#8217;t see any new talent being developed,&#8221; he said. It is fine as long as the existing groups are active, but all idols will stall at some point. We have to discover and nurture new talent more and more. Acting agencies may not have to worry so much about this, but agencies with many idols will taper off if they don&#8217;t do so.</span></p>
<p> However, this is not to say that &#8220;STARTO&#8221; does not discover and nurture new talent at all.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<h2> Some of them left the company following &#8220;Bishonen&#8217;s&#8221; Kanazashi.</h2>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> At the concert, there were boys around 8 or 9 years old dancing in the background of the older members. There were quite a few of them. The audition program of &#8220;timelesz&#8221; was talked about the other day, and it seems that they are holding regular auditions as well. The new company clearly separates management and operation, and the operation is being led by Mr. Yoshihiko Inohara, who has been appointed CMO of the company. He is also in charge of training new employees, but I think it takes time to bring them up from the ranks of amateurs.</span></p>
<p> (A reporter for a sports paper mentioned above) Perhaps as a &#8220;stopgap measure,&#8221; a &#8220;reorganization of the old Johnny&#8217;s Jr.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> On October 11, it was announced that &#8220;Bishonen&#8221; Issei Kanazashi would leave STARTO on November 1. However, it seems that there are other members who will also be leaving the company. In fact, I heard that there is a member who is not in the picture of the group that will appear in an idol magazine to be released this month. It is a very popular member of the group and it is &#8230;&#8230;&#8221; (a reporter for a women&#8217;s magazine).</span></p>
<p> We sent a letter of inquiry to &#8220;STARTO&#8221; regarding the impact of the fan club becoming a separate company on the management of the company, as well as the departure and reorganization of the junior members, but we did not receive an answer by the deadline.</p>
<p> The independence of a popular talent is a major blow to the agency. The &#8220;spell&#8221; of Johnny&#8217;s seemed to have been lifted, but the future of the new company seems to be more difficult than expected.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>


 Kazuhiko NAKAMURA

 STARTO announced that "Bishonen" Issei Kanazashi will leave the company on November 1. Although there has been a tailwind here, with TV Tokyo lifting its ban on the appearance of former Johnny's talents, there is a surprising source of anxiety. ......

TV TOKYO ban,” a separate fan club, and the departure of a popular TV personality… STARTO’s “causes for concern.

Access Ranking