Behind the Scenes of Shuto Inomata’s Contract Termination… The Real Name of That Talent Who “Quietly Left” STARTO

His Profile Was Quietly Removed

On October 1, STARTO ENTERTAINMENT (formerly Johnny’s Associates; hereinafter “STARTO”) announced that it had terminated its exclusive contract with Shuto Inomata (25), a former member of “timelesz,” effective September 30.

As previously reported, Inomata was arrested on the 18th of last month on suspicion of assault after allegedly punching a female acquaintance in the face while inside a car parked in the parking lot of a convenience store in Tokyo. Moving forward, “timelesz” will continue its activities with seven members.Amid the uproar among fans, this magazine’s investigation revealed that another talent under the agency had quietly left STARTO. A source at the talent agency disclosed:

“It’s Kotaro Sakimoto (18), a member of the Kansai Juniors unit ‘Boys be.’ There’s been buzz on social media that he, too, may have left the agency at the end of September. As soon as October began, his individual profile page on the official website became inaccessible, and the group’s promotional photos have been replaced with versions that do not include Sakimoto.”

Sakimoto, a native of Hyogo Prefecture, joined the former Johnny’s on December 22, 2019. While active as a member of Kansai Juniors, he was selected to join “Boys be,” which was formed in November 2020.

“There were eyewitness accounts that his mother attended the August 7 performance—which coincided with Sakimoto’s birthday—of the ‘AmBitious Natsutamashii 2026’ concert tour and was ‘sobbing uncontrollably.’ This is because fans have identified the social media account of a man believed to be Sakimoto’s father.He is a businessman and an active marathon runner. Since he had posted photos of his wife and daughter, fans realized that Sakimoto’s parents were attending the concert.

“In fact, his father had posted on social media in early July, saying, ‘My eldest son, give it your all again.’ Combined with his mother’s tears at this concert, some fans were worried that Sakimoto might leave the agency,” (ibid.)

I wonder if he did something wrong…

Until now, there were no advance announcements when juniors left their agencies.Fans used to confirm a junior’s departure only after their name was removed from the official website and other platforms, but in recent years, there have been increasing instances where even juniors not currently in a group would announce their departure themselves on the membership-based “FAMILY CLUB web” blog, or where the junior’s official website would post a notice stating, “I will be leaving the agency on [date].”

However, in this case, despite being a junior in a group, Sakimoto quietly faded out. In response to this,

“Not even being given a grace period before leaving—I think it’s fair to be angry at the agency for this.”

“There wasn’t even a farewell blog post—did they just quietly remove his profile from the official site and call it a day? It’s way too harsh to be treated like this when he left, especially since there weren’t even any leaked photos or anything.”

Negative comments directed at STARTO were scattered across the internet.

In the Kansai Juniors, Sota Tadokoro (16) also left the agency in May. Although he appeared in a YouTube video updated on the 19th of that month, by the evening of the 20th, Tadokoro’s profile had been removed from the Juniors’ official website, and his merchandise was no longer available for purchase on STARTO’s official merchandise site, “Famicla Store.”

“It had been announced that Tadokoro would appear on the music program ‘Star Song Special Season 3 #6’ (streamed on Prime Video and DMM TV), which was scheduled to air on the 28th. However, Tadokoro’s name was removed from the preview on the program’s official website, and the photo of Kansai Junior that had been posted was replaced with a different shot.

The broadcast content was also altered following Tadokoro’s departure. The special live performance by Kansai Juniors was canceled, and the talk segment—which appeared to have been re-edited to exclude Tadokoro—featured noticeably unnatural camera angles. ‘Rumors were rife that he must have done something wrong,’ said a source at a record company.”

Did Sakimoto decide to quietly leave the agency of his own accord? The truth remains unclear, but on October 4, an Instagram account believed to belong to Sakimoto went live.

He posted a photo of himself wearing sunglasses and wrote, “This is Kotaro Sakimoto.I’ve started an Instagram account. I’ve been active as an idol for six years.” “From now on, I hope to share a new side of Sakky (Editor’s note: Sakky, Sakimoto’s nickname) through this account! Please continue to support me!” As soon as he posted this, fans immediately sent messages of support such as “Welcome back” and “Please let us continue to support you.”

We contacted STARTO regarding Sakimoto’s departure and the reasons behind it, but received no response by our deadline.

What kind of activities will Sakimoto pursue from here on out?