- For the new agency and company going forward, see STARTO ENTERTAINMENT.
SMILE-UP (スマイルアップ), usually stylized as SMILE-UP. and formerly known as Johnny & Associates (ジャニーズ事務所), is a Japanese talent agency formed in 1962. They usually make popular boy bands. After 1985, the agency only accepted males.
They have in-house labels named Storm Labels (effective January 1, 2014 (announced October 17, 2023); Formerly J Storm), and Johnny's Entertainment Record.
On October 2, 2023, it was announced that the agency would change its name to SMILE-UP effective October 17, in wake of Johnny Kitagawa sexually abused performers represented by the company.[1] All sites and social media changed their name to FAMILY CLUB.
On December 8, 2023, SMILE-UP was further divided such that SMILE-UP only handled victim compensation and a new company STARTO ENTERTAINMENT would handle the talent and entertainment business.[2]
Current Acts[]
Current Groups[]
This lists groups by debut date, most groups were usually formed years earlier than when they debuted. Almost all groups were not signed when the company was renamed SMILE-UP.
- TOKIO (1994-present)
- KinKi Kids (1997-present)
- A.B.C-Z (2001-present)
- KAT-TUN (2001-present)
- NEWS (2003-present)
- Kanjani8 (2004-present)
- Hey! Say! JUMP (2007-present)
- Kis-My-Ft2 (2011-present)
- Sexy Zone (2011-present)
- WEST. (2014-present)
- King & Prince (2018-present)
- SixTONES (2020-present)
- Snow Man (2020-present)
- Naniwa Danshi (2021-present)
- Travis Japan (2022-present)
- Ae! Group (2024-present)
Current Soloists[]
- Nakayama Yuma (2014-present)
Former Acts[]
Former Groups[]
- Johnny's (1962-1967)
- Four Leaves (1967-1978)
- Little Gang (1975-1976)
- Three Yankees (1978-1979)
- VIP (1978-1980)
- ANKH (1980-1982)
- Eagles (1982-1984?)
- Shibugakitai (1981-1988)
- The Good-Bye (1983-??)
- Orange Sisters (1983-1985)
- Hikaru Genji (1987-1995)
- Otokogumi (1988-1993)
- Ninja (1990-1997)
- SMAP (1988-2016)
- Tackey & Tsubasa (2002-2018)
- Twenty★Twenty (2020)
- ARASHI (1999-2020)
- Shonentai (1985-2020)
- V6 (1995-2021)
Former Soloists[]
This only includes their time as a soloist, for full time under the agency, please see the artists page.
- Go Hiromi (1973-??)
- Tahara Toshihiko (1978-1991)
- Tanaka Koki (2013)
- Akanishi Jin (2014-??)
- Kondo Masahiko (1979-2021)
- Yamashita Tomohisa (2011-2020)
Johnny's Jr[]
Johnny's Jr is the in-house trainee program, with the main branch Junior being in Tokyo, and Kansai Junior in Osaka.
Current Trainees[]
Junior[]
- HiHi Jets (2015-present)
- Bi shonen (2016-present)
- 7 MEN Samurai (2018-present)
- Shonen Ninja (Formerly Chibikko Ninja; Small Child Ninja) (2018-present)
- SpeciaL (2018-present)
- Go!Go!kids (2022-present)
Kansai Junior[]
- Lil Kansai (2019-present)
- Ae! group (2019-present)
- Boys be (2020-present)
- AmBitious (2021-present)
Former Trainees[]
Junior[]
References[]
- ↑ Johnny’s talent agency announces name change, dismantling, and upcoming new agency formation (in English) - SoraNews24 2023-10-02.
- ↑ the japan times - Johnny’s changes name to Starto Entertainment BY PATRICK ST. MICHEL Dec 8, 2023