Behind the Scenes of the Overwhelming Success of the Late Blooming Group “Snow Man

Here we go!　Sheesh!”

Posing for the press from the stage is the Japanese group Snow Man. The film, which opened in theaters on March 25, was a blockbuster hit, drawing 237,000 spectators on its first day alone and grossing 330 million yen at the box office.

It has been two years since his CD debut in January 2008. It took “Arashi” only two years to reach 600,000 fan club members, which took 10 years after their debut, and they are now the fifth most popular group in the Johnny’s Office.

The group’s world-class high-level dancing and ability to adapt to variety shows are its main attractions.” He is also loved by the staff as well as the performers for his politeness and natural charm, which he learned from Hideaki Takizawa, 40, vice president of the company, who is his immediate senior on set. I believe that the group’s many years of earnest efforts have borne fruit both in the public eye and behind the scenes.

Although they are a super-selling group that is said to be able to sell 800,000 copies of a single song when it is released, many of the members are actually “late bloomers” who are just before their thirties. For eight years, they have suffered bitterly.

When they were Jr. members, they gained fans mainly through stage performances such as Takizawa Kabuki. Their peers who debuted earlier, “Hey! Say! JUMP” and junior “Sexy They have been called ‘craftsmen’ and treated as humble veterans in the shadow of Zone,” says a TV station official.

However, shortly before his death, Mr. Kitagawa Janney decided to debut them together with Takizawa.

One year before their debut, a new member suddenly joined the group. They are Raoul (18), who excels at dancing and stands an eye-catching 190 cm tall, Ren Meguro (25), who is sexy and has a face closer to the Korean style, and Koji Mukai (27), a Kansai native who has good talk skills and can also MC.
The new members give a glamorous impression, and by changing the number of members from even to odd to create a center position, the age range of the fans has expanded and the group has established itself as a dance group,” said an entertainment professional.

Meanwhile, through their debut, the office challenged a new way of marketing the group.

The Johnny’s office, which had thoroughly distanced itself from digital businesses such as social networking and video-sharing sites, was now trying a new way to market the group. Snow Man’s solo A YouTube channel has been set up. We started releasing some of the music videos before the new songs were released. They also show their dance and singing rehearsals, adopting K-POP techniques to increase the opportunities for people to experience their songs and dances. We have switched to a war strategy. Speaking of Johnny’s, they have made great use of the power of television by having their debut star in a drama and sing the theme song at the same time as their debut, and by having their debut song be the theme song for “World Cup Volleyball”. However, their debut can be said to be a new age way of marketing that does not rely on TV,” said the entertainment desk of a sports newspaper.

The nine of them were also competent enough to adapt to this new challenge.

They had been selling acrobatics and high quality dancing, but they switched to a single style of dancing that looked good on video. However, they were able to do so because of their ability to be called “craftsmen. All the members have the belief that they will never say ‘I can’t do it,’ and they are highly regarded by program hosts such as Osamu Shitara (48), who says, ‘No matter what I say, they pick it up.

The group now has its own TV show, six regular TV shows and six commercials, and a play starring the group is scheduled to open in April. Their rapid progress continues.

From the April 15, 2022 issue of FRIDAY