Probably should have made sure to have done this yesterday as I knew I would have plans later to see The Hobbit. But hindsight is 20/20 and all that.
This question comes from Faye:
Johnny's groups are increasing to an unprecedented number. Instead of dropping older groups when they reach a certain age, the organization keeps them and then adds more and more younger groups. Do you think the organization is spreading itself too thinly? Seems as if they can't give enough attention to them all (concerts, DVD and album releases) since there are too many for which to care and promote. Will the organization implode at some point? Do you think there should be an age limit on the groups Johnny's should manage?
I agree that things seem rather crowded when it comes to active Johnny's groups. In fact I wrote a post about the issue earlier this year as well. But since then I have done a bit more thinking about it and have some more ideas about the issue.
From what I can tell Johnny's is willing to keep a group around as long as they want to still be a group and are profitable. While most of the older groups may not sell a lot with their releases for the most part they still bring in revenue from their other work, like commercials, dramas and variety programs and that is where the profit is for them.
An age limit is an interesting idea but since SMAP changed the image of Johnny's from the more limiting prince image to that of a more all around entertainer it more or less opened the door to having group be able to continue on long after they pass the shelf-life of past Johnny's groups. If anything it is more likely for the older groups to follow in the path of Kondo Masahiko and Shounentai and eventually rarely release anything, which will help solve the issue of having so many releases at least.
I think what we are going to see is the less successful groups not release as much or often, much like some of the older groups do like V6, TOKIO and Tackey & Tsubasa. And of course the ones that have lost their number one streak are going to be less of an issue with releases as they can be scheduled whenever with very little worry about who else is releasing.
I am sure Johnny's is just going to expand with the number of groups but hopefully we do not get so many debuts all around the same time like we did with the most recent debuts. And who knows, with some of the members of the older groups hitting forty now perhaps some will want to call it quits for being in an idol group. But in the end it looks like it is most likely going to be a decision left to the groups as Johnny's has crafted their system well to support these aging idols.
Showing posts with label Johnny's in general. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Johnny's in general. Show all posts
14 December 2012
23 November 2012
Q&A Month! (2012): Question 5
The holiday threw me off a bit but I am back and ready to try to get everything back on schedule as I want it to be. And since I keep getting new questions I know the best way to help do that is to get to answering them.
The deadline for questions is of course the end of this month, so if you have something you want me to try to answer make sure you leave it in this post.
This question is the first from kawaii:
i wanna ask about jr life. do you think jr tachi get paid for concert,photo magazine & shokura? or jr tachi must spend fee for dance lesson?? just curious...
When it comes to pay for the Juniors it is a lot of guessing based off of tidbits of information gleaned from various sources. It is considered a fact that they do get paid something for concerts and live performances like that. Though it is said to be a rather small amount, which would make sense business-wise when you are having concerts that use hundreds of Juniors as back dancers.
And I am sure they get the standard pay for things like endorsements and acting as anyone else would in the entertainment industry. Much like with debut Johnny's they get paid a salary but if they have activities like product endorsements or acting they get that pay added on, which is part of how Nakai Masahiro from SMAP earns as much as he does, because he has a lot of work on variety programs and of course his endorsements.
For magazine photo shoots I am unsure about. I do not think I have heard anything either way about that.
I do not think they have to pay for their dance lessons, as it seems like the lessons are more just teaching them the moves for whatever performance they are going to be in, not to become better dancers so much.
Of course this really only relates to the younger Juniors as I believe the older Juniors, like those in the dance umbrella groups and long time Juniors like Sano Mizuki or Kazama Shunsuke get paid on the same salary system as debuted Johnny's. But again that is mostly speculation from going off what little is known about pay in Johnny's.
The deadline for questions is of course the end of this month, so if you have something you want me to try to answer make sure you leave it in this post.
This question is the first from kawaii:
i wanna ask about jr life. do you think jr tachi get paid for concert,photo magazine & shokura? or jr tachi must spend fee for dance lesson?? just curious...
When it comes to pay for the Juniors it is a lot of guessing based off of tidbits of information gleaned from various sources. It is considered a fact that they do get paid something for concerts and live performances like that. Though it is said to be a rather small amount, which would make sense business-wise when you are having concerts that use hundreds of Juniors as back dancers.
And I am sure they get the standard pay for things like endorsements and acting as anyone else would in the entertainment industry. Much like with debut Johnny's they get paid a salary but if they have activities like product endorsements or acting they get that pay added on, which is part of how Nakai Masahiro from SMAP earns as much as he does, because he has a lot of work on variety programs and of course his endorsements.
For magazine photo shoots I am unsure about. I do not think I have heard anything either way about that.
I do not think they have to pay for their dance lessons, as it seems like the lessons are more just teaching them the moves for whatever performance they are going to be in, not to become better dancers so much.
Of course this really only relates to the younger Juniors as I believe the older Juniors, like those in the dance umbrella groups and long time Juniors like Sano Mizuki or Kazama Shunsuke get paid on the same salary system as debuted Johnny's. But again that is mostly speculation from going off what little is known about pay in Johnny's.
21 November 2012
Q&A Month! (2012): Question 4
Figured I should get around to answering a few questions now before the month ends as they are beginning to pile up now. That makes me quite happy as I do enjoy answering these.
The deadline for questions is of course the end of this month, so if you have something you want me to try to answer make sure you leave it in this post.
This question comes from an anonymous reader:
What non JE group do you want to listen to but just never have for any reason.
Honestly most of what I want to listen to but have not tend to be older J-pop/rock songs. Like I would love to listen to more of the popular Japanese music of the pre-CD era but of course for those not in Japan it is really hard to find music from that era in a format you can easily listen to.
I am interested in these oldies because I feel like I am missing a part of the greater picture of Japanese popular music by not being very familiar with the artists that many in Japan grew up with or know the songs that are just suspected that you would be familiar with. I think I would come to know and understand J-pop much more and understand their trends, kinda like I can look back and see the trends in music for the U.S. because I am familiar with so much of the music from previous eras just by living in the country.
The deadline for questions is of course the end of this month, so if you have something you want me to try to answer make sure you leave it in this post.
This question comes from an anonymous reader:
What non JE group do you want to listen to but just never have for any reason.
Honestly most of what I want to listen to but have not tend to be older J-pop/rock songs. Like I would love to listen to more of the popular Japanese music of the pre-CD era but of course for those not in Japan it is really hard to find music from that era in a format you can easily listen to.
I am interested in these oldies because I feel like I am missing a part of the greater picture of Japanese popular music by not being very familiar with the artists that many in Japan grew up with or know the songs that are just suspected that you would be familiar with. I think I would come to know and understand J-pop much more and understand their trends, kinda like I can look back and see the trends in music for the U.S. because I am familiar with so much of the music from previous eras just by living in the country.
10 November 2012
The debuted groups of Johnny's (for now)
On the Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ November 5th episode Sexy Zone was on to promote their album. During the talk segment with the hosts they had a board with the debut information of Johnny's from Kondo Masahiko to A.B.C-Z.
Of course the list is missing any group that is no longer active, so no Hikaru Genji, Otokogumi and the like and the solo debuts of Akanishi Jin and Yamashita Tomohisa are also not listed. Yet NYC is on the list, which just makes that group the more frustrating to try to figure out what is actually going on with it.
I do appreciate that they do have some clarifications for a couple of the more non-standard debuts, such as while listing NEWS Nippon as the debut single of NEWS it also has a line underneath saying that Kibou ~Yell~ is the group's major debut. And of course mentioning that Kanjani8's Naniwa Iroha Bushi had a Kansai only release a month prior to the nationwide release that actually marks their debut.
I had to feel bad for A.B.C-Z though as when the hosts got to them their reaction was of bewilderment as they did not know the group. That is understandable though as A.B.C-Z have not really appeared on the major music programs and I feel they probably are not really known outside of the Johnny's fandom. While I am happy for the group that they did debut I cannot help but worry about what their future is going to hold for them as they are hardly getting the same support as most groups that debut do.
I think it is interesting to see which acts of Johnny's the agency wants to let people know about and how they define their own history with them. As this list of Johnny's groups/acts seems to change every time it is shown so I look forward to seeing who will be on the next list and who will be left off.
I think it is interesting to see which acts of Johnny's the agency wants to let people know about and how they define their own history with them. As this list of Johnny's groups/acts seems to change every time it is shown so I look forward to seeing who will be on the next list and who will be left off.
02 November 2012
Q&A Month! (2012): Question 1
Figured I should kick off this month by answering a question as thankfully people have already been leaving questions. Thank you for everyone who has already and I look forward to seeing more.
If you have a question you want me to try and answer you can leave it in the comments on this post.
The first question is from commenter JJ:
Hi! When Johnny's boys get into trouble (or when Johnny's men like Akasaka-san get into trouble), the general reaction is often to drop them entirely rather than to try to keep them in the organization and try to find them some help. Is that just an American reaction I am having that something more should be done, or is JE just really cruel? Or is it just part of Japanese culture? Thoughts, please.
It is something that is a part of Japanese culture, when it comes to drug usage Japan has a zero tolerance policy on that. And to be honest I am not even sure if there are any organizations in Japan to help with substance abuse, as treatment for such problems seems to be one of the issues that the Japanese media turns a blind eye to.
The reaction is more due to the idea that by doing something illegal it sheds bad light on the whole company and anything less than swift punishment, such as dropping them, will make the company look like it does not take the offense as serious as popular thought thinks it should be.
As an American I do agree that is does seem cruel to just drop someone who probably needs more support not less to help themselves out. But as I mentioned in Japan drug usage is severely frowned upon which is why it is considered a career ender and agencies want nothing to do with the talents caught using drugs.
Being a foreigner and being caught using drugs will expel you from the country and celebrities in the past have been prevented from entering Japan because they have been known to have taken drugs in the past. So the issue of severe punishment for drug use tends to affect pretty much anyone caught.
Of course with issues of drinking there is more lenacy, even with under age drinking, but that is more dependant of how popular a talent is. Uchi Hiroki would have been kicked out if he was caught when he was still a Junior most likely, but since he was a popular member in two debuted groups Johnny's was willing to give him a second chance. I believe Kusano Hironori benefitted from that as it would have looked bad for them to have kicked him out when there was not 100% confirmable proof of him drinking underage unlike Uchi.
Yet there is a massive drinking culture in Japan so the public opinion is more lenient to it. Unfortunately though if someone has a drinking problem there really is nowhere for them to go for help with it from what I can tell.
So in general substance abuse is one of those areas in Japan where they are embarrassingly behind other developed nations in.
If you have a question you want me to try and answer you can leave it in the comments on this post.
The first question is from commenter JJ:
Hi! When Johnny's boys get into trouble (or when Johnny's men like Akasaka-san get into trouble), the general reaction is often to drop them entirely rather than to try to keep them in the organization and try to find them some help. Is that just an American reaction I am having that something more should be done, or is JE just really cruel? Or is it just part of Japanese culture? Thoughts, please.
It is something that is a part of Japanese culture, when it comes to drug usage Japan has a zero tolerance policy on that. And to be honest I am not even sure if there are any organizations in Japan to help with substance abuse, as treatment for such problems seems to be one of the issues that the Japanese media turns a blind eye to.
The reaction is more due to the idea that by doing something illegal it sheds bad light on the whole company and anything less than swift punishment, such as dropping them, will make the company look like it does not take the offense as serious as popular thought thinks it should be.
As an American I do agree that is does seem cruel to just drop someone who probably needs more support not less to help themselves out. But as I mentioned in Japan drug usage is severely frowned upon which is why it is considered a career ender and agencies want nothing to do with the talents caught using drugs.
Being a foreigner and being caught using drugs will expel you from the country and celebrities in the past have been prevented from entering Japan because they have been known to have taken drugs in the past. So the issue of severe punishment for drug use tends to affect pretty much anyone caught.
Of course with issues of drinking there is more lenacy, even with under age drinking, but that is more dependant of how popular a talent is. Uchi Hiroki would have been kicked out if he was caught when he was still a Junior most likely, but since he was a popular member in two debuted groups Johnny's was willing to give him a second chance. I believe Kusano Hironori benefitted from that as it would have looked bad for them to have kicked him out when there was not 100% confirmable proof of him drinking underage unlike Uchi.
Yet there is a massive drinking culture in Japan so the public opinion is more lenient to it. Unfortunately though if someone has a drinking problem there really is nowhere for them to go for help with it from what I can tell.
So in general substance abuse is one of those areas in Japan where they are embarrassingly behind other developed nations in.
03 October 2012
NTV's popular people
NTV will be having a three and half hour special program on October 6th that will feature many of their popular people connected to their shows. Of course there are plenty of Johnny's that will be included in this.
So far the Johnny's known to be involved are: Yamaguchi Tatsuya (TOKIO), Aiba Masaki (Arashi), Koyama Keiichiro (NEWS), Kato Shigeaki (NEWS), Nakamaru Yuichi (KAT-TUN), Kamenashi Kazuya (KAT-TUN), Takaki Yuya (Hey! Say! JUMP), Yamada Ryosuke (Hey! Say! JUMP/NYC), Chinen Yuri (Hey! Say! JUMP/NYC), Kouchi Yuugo (Bakaleya6), Kyomoto Taiga (Bakaleya6), Matsumura Hokuto (Bakaleya6) and Lewis Jesse (Bakaleya6).
The site says that there will be more guests than what is listed on their site but these are the Johnny's listed on Johnny's net to be on the program
NTV OHP (Japanese)
This seems like it will be a pretty exciting program with how packed it will be with popular guests. And I am happy to see members of TOKIO, NEWS, HSJ and Bakaleya6 there as there will be presence of most of my favorite groups there. Of course for some of the Johnny's there I think they are more there because of the NTV late night dramas this year, especially the Bakaleya6 members. But for having a hit drama they deserve the extra promotion they are getting from it.
I really hope I can find this to watch when it airs, or soon after. I am really curious what they have planned for it and hope it just will not be a clip show.
So far the Johnny's known to be involved are: Yamaguchi Tatsuya (TOKIO), Aiba Masaki (Arashi), Koyama Keiichiro (NEWS), Kato Shigeaki (NEWS), Nakamaru Yuichi (KAT-TUN), Kamenashi Kazuya (KAT-TUN), Takaki Yuya (Hey! Say! JUMP), Yamada Ryosuke (Hey! Say! JUMP/NYC), Chinen Yuri (Hey! Say! JUMP/NYC), Kouchi Yuugo (Bakaleya6), Kyomoto Taiga (Bakaleya6), Matsumura Hokuto (Bakaleya6) and Lewis Jesse (Bakaleya6).
The site says that there will be more guests than what is listed on their site but these are the Johnny's listed on Johnny's net to be on the program
NTV OHP (Japanese)
This seems like it will be a pretty exciting program with how packed it will be with popular guests. And I am happy to see members of TOKIO, NEWS, HSJ and Bakaleya6 there as there will be presence of most of my favorite groups there. Of course for some of the Johnny's there I think they are more there because of the NTV late night dramas this year, especially the Bakaleya6 members. But for having a hit drama they deserve the extra promotion they are getting from it.
I really hope I can find this to watch when it airs, or soon after. I am really curious what they have planned for it and hope it just will not be a clip show.
26 April 2011
Because it's not Johnny's if it isn't recycled.
I was searching through clips of the Johnny's groups of the 80s and 90s when I found this clip and noticed something familiar about this group, Shibugakitai, and the more recent group NYC.
I had always thought of NYC as a retro group, or at least a group that was paying homage to the groups of those decades. Their B-sides have a sound that is similar to the Johnny's groups of the 80s and 90s, which makes sense with their first single being a cover of a Hikaru Genji song. But it's a sound that has stuck with them since that single.
Finding this video also points towards NYC being styled after these older groups with the similarities of a teenage trio color coded with the three base colors. Shibugakitai wasn't the first to use this scheme either and I wouldn't be surprised that if searching through Shounentai videos I found them in those three colors.
It makes me wish I knew more about past Johnny's groups as I feel like I can appreciate NYC more because of this connection to groups of the past. They're not the only group that has such a connection either as Kis-My-Ft2 was created to be like Hikaru Genji, from the use of roller skates to having an older and younger set of members.
So I think it's rather unfortunate that there seems to be so little information about these older groups in English seeing as Johnny's has proven that while they keep trying to find ways their groups can be the first in something they are also always looking back to find what worked in the past so to try to see if it can also work in the present.
I had always thought of NYC as a retro group, or at least a group that was paying homage to the groups of those decades. Their B-sides have a sound that is similar to the Johnny's groups of the 80s and 90s, which makes sense with their first single being a cover of a Hikaru Genji song. But it's a sound that has stuck with them since that single.
Finding this video also points towards NYC being styled after these older groups with the similarities of a teenage trio color coded with the three base colors. Shibugakitai wasn't the first to use this scheme either and I wouldn't be surprised that if searching through Shounentai videos I found them in those three colors.
It makes me wish I knew more about past Johnny's groups as I feel like I can appreciate NYC more because of this connection to groups of the past. They're not the only group that has such a connection either as Kis-My-Ft2 was created to be like Hikaru Genji, from the use of roller skates to having an older and younger set of members.
So I think it's rather unfortunate that there seems to be so little information about these older groups in English seeing as Johnny's has proven that while they keep trying to find ways their groups can be the first in something they are also always looking back to find what worked in the past so to try to see if it can also work in the present.
27 December 2009
21st poll results
Still sick but I'm feeling pretty bad for doing so little for this blog for this month. I'm not sure if January will be much better with finals coming up that month, but I will try to update more.
Since I want to move on to the next poll topic, here's the results for that last poll: Which group(s) do you want to see more of in 2010?
Hey! Say! JUMP 119
NEWS 87
KAT-TUN 54
Juniors 52
Arashi 43
Tackey & Tsubasa / Kanjani8 28
Tokio 21
SMAP / Kinki Kids / V6 / Kansai Jrs. 19
I can't say I'm surprised by the winner of this poll. I think the HSJ fandom is quite united in the desire to see more of the group this upcoming year than we did in 2009, which actually wouldn't take that much to do. But at least things already seem to be on track to do just that with the group reportedly doing the theme song for Yamada's upcoming drama.
I am a bit surprised to see KAT-TUN so high. I guess because even though they did a lot at the beginning of the year they didn't do much for the second half, expect for Jin who is getting near impossible to escape with all the BANDAGE promotion.
But now onto the next end of year/new year question. Which Junior group(s) do you want to see more of? Like the last poll you can vote for more than one group.
Since I want to move on to the next poll topic, here's the results for that last poll: Which group(s) do you want to see more of in 2010?
Hey! Say! JUMP 119
NEWS 87
KAT-TUN 54
Juniors 52
Arashi 43
Tackey & Tsubasa / Kanjani8 28
Tokio 21
SMAP / Kinki Kids / V6 / Kansai Jrs. 19
I can't say I'm surprised by the winner of this poll. I think the HSJ fandom is quite united in the desire to see more of the group this upcoming year than we did in 2009, which actually wouldn't take that much to do. But at least things already seem to be on track to do just that with the group reportedly doing the theme song for Yamada's upcoming drama.
I am a bit surprised to see KAT-TUN so high. I guess because even though they did a lot at the beginning of the year they didn't do much for the second half, expect for Jin who is getting near impossible to escape with all the BANDAGE promotion.
But now onto the next end of year/new year question. Which Junior group(s) do you want to see more of? Like the last poll you can vote for more than one group.
13 November 2009
Johnny's Fan Appreciation Day
Well Johnny's has announced to the fan club members of their various fan clubs that they will be having a Fan Appreciation Day on December 13th. They will be holding a baseball game, with the Johnny's boys being the players of this game, at the Tokyo Dome and are of course letting all fan club members apply to watch the game. They haven't announced any of the participants yet and balloting ends on Monday November 16th.
They're being pretty strict with the application process as well. As a fan club member can bring only one other person with them, but only if they are a member of a fan club as well or if a Hey! Say! JUMP underage fan club member needs a guardian to come with them. If they are taking some one the information for that person must be submitted in the ballot. Also they cannot then turn around and have that other fan club member submit an application with them bringing them as their guest.
So there's little doubt that they are trying to make sure those applying will be the ones attending and not have tickets sold off to be resold for a profit. I would also think this is why they are asking not to let any of the press find out about it yet so it's kept a bit on the down low to try to avoid people finding ways around the restrictions. Though somehow I have the feeling that if they're being so strict with application they may actually make sure to check for proof of membership or the like at the venue when seating for the event.
Honestly I'm glad they're being this strict. Yes it does seem rather unfair for non-fan club members, but considering that this is for all the fans of any of the groups, with some fan clubs having more than 500,000 members while the Tokyo Dome sits 70,000 max, I'm pretty sure that they will easily fill all those seats with the fan club members themselves. Also there are always people that just use their membership to get tickets to turn around and sell off, and this system seems to be trying to deter that, so those that ballot are the ones that really do want to see the event.
Also I have decided to try my luck and balloted myself for the event. I figured I should try as I got the You & J membership in hopes of balloting for a NEWS concert with it, but I'm not sure if that will actually happen now as I only have until about the end of February here in Japan and they haven't announced a group concert yet. So I figure I might as well use it for something, and I really feel this event is more than worth while to do so.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that you have to pay for the ticket as well. It's only 3500Yen each, with then a 500Yen charge added on for handling and the like, but considering how much a concert ticket tends to cost I don't think it's a bad price. Also they have a schedule up for when to expect things to happen, like the balloting announcement (Nov. 20th), the payment deadline and when they will send out the tickets. So by the end of this upcoming week I will either be lost in joy or slightly depressed.
They're being pretty strict with the application process as well. As a fan club member can bring only one other person with them, but only if they are a member of a fan club as well or if a Hey! Say! JUMP underage fan club member needs a guardian to come with them. If they are taking some one the information for that person must be submitted in the ballot. Also they cannot then turn around and have that other fan club member submit an application with them bringing them as their guest.
So there's little doubt that they are trying to make sure those applying will be the ones attending and not have tickets sold off to be resold for a profit. I would also think this is why they are asking not to let any of the press find out about it yet so it's kept a bit on the down low to try to avoid people finding ways around the restrictions. Though somehow I have the feeling that if they're being so strict with application they may actually make sure to check for proof of membership or the like at the venue when seating for the event.
Honestly I'm glad they're being this strict. Yes it does seem rather unfair for non-fan club members, but considering that this is for all the fans of any of the groups, with some fan clubs having more than 500,000 members while the Tokyo Dome sits 70,000 max, I'm pretty sure that they will easily fill all those seats with the fan club members themselves. Also there are always people that just use their membership to get tickets to turn around and sell off, and this system seems to be trying to deter that, so those that ballot are the ones that really do want to see the event.
Also I have decided to try my luck and balloted myself for the event. I figured I should try as I got the You & J membership in hopes of balloting for a NEWS concert with it, but I'm not sure if that will actually happen now as I only have until about the end of February here in Japan and they haven't announced a group concert yet. So I figure I might as well use it for something, and I really feel this event is more than worth while to do so.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that you have to pay for the ticket as well. It's only 3500Yen each, with then a 500Yen charge added on for handling and the like, but considering how much a concert ticket tends to cost I don't think it's a bad price. Also they have a schedule up for when to expect things to happen, like the balloting announcement (Nov. 20th), the payment deadline and when they will send out the tickets. So by the end of this upcoming week I will either be lost in joy or slightly depressed.
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