【Full Story】Will the Wedding Rush Continue in the Second Half of 2026? The Three Former Johnny’s Idols Said to Be Next to Tie the Knot

Kazuya Kamenashi, WEST.’s Daiki Shigeoka & Takahiro Hamada announce happy news

Following Tadayoshi Ohkura (41) and Koichi Domoto (47) last year, marriages among talents affiliated with the former Johnny & Associates (now STARTO ENTERTAINMENT) have continued one after another this year as well.

In April, former “Hey! Say! JUMP” member Yuto Nakajima (33) announced that he had married actress Yuko Araki (32). Then, in June, former “KAT-TUN” member Kazuya Kamenashi (40) and freelance announcer and actress Minami Tanaka (39) jointly announced that they were expecting their first child. In August, “WEST.” members Daiki Shigeoka (34) and Takahiro Hamada (37) both announced that they had tied the knot.

“While Nakajima and Kamenashi’s relationships had been reported previously, Shigeoka and Hamada were completely unexpected. With this, four of WEST.’s seven members are now married, sending fans into a panic.” (Entertainment reporter for a sports newspaper)

Behind this series of marriages is the transition to the new system under STARTO.

“During the former Johnny’s era, there were rumors of unwritten rules such as don’t get married until your 40s and only one member of a group can get married. However, following the sexual abuse scandal involving the late Johnny Kitagawa, the agency was dismantled. STARTO was launched at a distance from the founding family. With an outside executive brought in as president and the company making a fresh start, talents have become more likely to have their wishes respected when it comes to relationships.” (Same source)

There is no longer any pressure preventing them from getting married, and there are reportedly three former Johnny’s talents who are expected to tie the knot in the second half of this year. The executive of a major talent agency named Jesse (30) of “SixTONES,” whose relationship with actress Haruka Ayase (41) was reported in 2024, as the frontrunner.

“The two have continued their relationship even after the reports. I had heard that they had planned to get married around the time Ayase turned 40, but it seems they postponed it for the sake of their fans. This year marks the sixth anniversary of ‘SixTONES’s’ CD debut. The group places great importance on the number six, which is part of its name, and they have stadium concerts scheduled around the country from September through November. Apparently, they decided they could not get married ahead of such an important milestone.

Conversely, once the tour is over, there will be no obstacles to marriage for Jesse. They may tie the knot sometime after the tour, or in the new year after the annual year-end countdown concert.”

That idol who changed his mind

Ryuhei Maruyama (42) of “SUPER EIGHT,” whose serious relationship with a girlfriend 19 years his junior was reported by “FRIDAY” in 2023, is also being tipped as a potential groom.

“On a variety show he appeared on in 2022, Maruyama said, ‘As long as I’m doing this job, I’ve given up on getting married.’ However, after the former Johnny’s agency was dismantled, his feelings seem to have started changing as well. Within the same group, following Tadayoshi Ohkura mentioned earlier, Shingo Murakami (42) also married a woman in her 20s last year. Maruyama is scheduled to star in the semi-autobiographical stage production ‘water’ from September through November, so it seems likely that he will announce his marriage at the end of the year, after completing this milestone production.” (Key commercial network music program producer)

Attention is also turning to Kento Nakajima (32), who left Sexy Zone (now timelesz) in 2024.

“In 2024, ‘Josei Seven’ reported that Nakajima had traveled to the Vatican with former ‘E-girls’ member Reina Washio (32). In the past, he explicitly stated in magazine interviews that he wants to get married and that if he were to take someone important to him on a trip, it would be ‘Vatican City,’ so people thought marriage was just around the corner. However, he has become extremely busy with his solo singing career and acting work, so it seems to have been pushed back a little. Starting this August, Nakajima is holding his first-ever Asia tour. Apparently, he is putting a tremendous amount of effort into it, so he will probably get married after the tour ends.

Ren Nagase (27) of ‘King & Prince’ was also photographed spending the night with Minami Hamabe (25), but with the group currently operating as a two-member unit, getting married now would carry too much risk. Koji Mukai (32) of ‘Snow Man’ has also been the subject of reports about a romantic relationship with a talent, but with a five-dome tour scheduled from October, I don’t expect him to tie the knot anytime soon.” (The aforementioned entertainment agency executive)

The wave of marriages looks likely to continue from the end of the year into the beginning of the new year.

From the September 11 & 18, 2026, combined issue of “FRIDAY”