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SMILE-UP

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For the new agency and company going forward, see STARTO ENTERTAINMENT.

Johnny & Associates logo

Former Logo (1962-2023)

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 victim compensation office and former Japanese talent agency. While active as Johnny & Associates, it was often shortened to Johnny's. The agency was at first a subsidiary of Watanabe Productions, but became independently traded in January 1975.

It was founded in 1962 as a co-ed talent agency, however they were best known for their male talents and idols. They have in-house labels named Storm Labels (effective January 1, 2024 (announced October 17, 2023); Formerly J Storm), and ELOV-Label (effective January 1, 2024 (announced October 17, 2023); Formerly Johnny's Entertainment Record).

In 2023, all active talents and acts were transferred to STARTO ENTERTAINMENT. SMILE-UP is expected to close permanently once all victim compensation procedures have been finalized.

History[]

The agency was founded by Johnny Kitagawa (1931-2019), a Japanese-American who spent many of his teenage years in Los Angeles, United States and became accustomed to its pop culture. When he returned he began coaching a boy's baseball team on a United States military base in Tokyo. He introduced some of the teammates to musical theater, and it was decided that they would start an entertainment business with four of the teammates becoming the company's first group, Johnny's, and Kitagawa would become the manager. Following Johnny's, the agency began focusing on marketing and public relations to entice fans. The agency's second set of talents, Four Leaves, became a popular boy band with teenagers, and the agency suddenly became popular. It began opening up trainee positions for prospective talents, which would later develop into its signature trainee programs and boot camps. The agency also became notable for usually defaulting from current Japanese music trends and instead focusing on Western music trends to remain unique, as well as focusing on marketing and merchandising their talents.

The company became very successful and became publically traded in 1975. At this time, Kitagawa officially hired his older sister Mary Kitagawa (1927- 2021), who had previously served as his secretary and unofficial business advisor and publicist, to serve as the head management of the agency. She eventually became Vice President.

The agency was highly successful and at some points even almost completely monopolized the male idol market. As a result, many of the most famous male idols in their respective eras were signed to Johnny & Associates at some point. In 2023, the name of the agency was changed to SMILE-UP, and by the end of that year was inactive as a talent agency.

Abuse Allegations and Agency Restructure[]

Kitagawa died in 2019 from complications of a brain aneurysm.

Trigger Warning: Rape, Sexual Abuse, Grooming, Pedophilia
There had been rumors of molestation and sexual abuse perpetrated by the agency's founder Kitagawa starting as early as 1964[1], including dropped court cases, but each time the leads disappeared or were rescinded by the victims. There was both a media and internal company investigation that took place in 1999 after public statements by former Four Leaves member Kita Koji and soloist Toyokawa Jo were published, but nothing was proven at that time. However, in early 2023, several former performers and/or affiliates banded together on the internet and began posthumously accusing Kitagawa of rape and sexual abuse, grooming, and other crimes of a sexual nature committed on them as minors. The agency was suddenly the subject of a highly publicized scandal, and April 2023 began a new internal investigation. On August 23, 2023, a British Broadcasting Channel (BBC) documentary, Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop, was also released to the public. The film interviewed several whistleblower victims coming forward with additional allegations of grooming of minors and sexual coercion. It also contained potential evidence that Johnny & Associates had silenced victims, whistleblowers and media outlets attempting to report on the abuse by use of blackmail and/or threat of blacklisting from the media.[2] The documentary spread awareness of the allegations to an international audience, which put immense pressure on the agency. In September 2023, a few weeks following the release of the documentary, Johnny & Associates finally admitted fault.

On October 2, 2023, it was announced that the agency would change its name to SMILE-UP effective October 17. All sites and social media changed their name to FAMILY CLUB.[3]

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.[4]

By the end of 2023, at least 478 individuals had filed for victim compensation.[5] As of October 2025, 1,033 individuals have filed for compensation.[6] However, since these numbers are reported by SMILE-UP themselves, there is a possibility there are many more unreported victims as the numbers cannot be verified.

Final Line-up[]

Groups[]

This lists groups active at the time of the termination of talent agency activity. They are sorted by debut date, although most groups were formed years earlier than when they officially debuted. Almost all groups were not signed when the company was renamed SMILE-UP.

Soloists[]

Former Acts[]

Former Groups[]

Former Soloists[]

This only includes their time as a soloist, for full time under the agency, please see the artists page.

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 (2015-2023)
  • Bi shonen (2016-2023)
  • 7 MEN Samurai (2018-2023)
  • Shonen Ninja (Formerly Chibikko Ninja; Small Child Ninja) (2018-2023)
  • SpeciaL (2018-2023)
  • Go!Go!kids (2022-2023)

Kansai Junior[]

  • Lil Kansai (2019-2023)
  • Ae! group (2019-2023)
  • Boys be (2020-2023)
  • AmBitious (2021-2023)

Former Trainees[]

Junior[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Kenji Ando (May 24, 2023). " Johnny Kitagawa's sexual assault allegations: Reported since the 1960s, when Johnny & Associates was founded. What is the reason behind this being overlooked? ". Huffington Post . 2023/6/3.
  2. ↑ Azhar, Mobeen, director. Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop. BBC, 7 Mar. 2023.
  3. ↑ Johnny’s talent agency announces name change, dismantling, and upcoming new agency formation (in English) - SoraNews24 2023-10-02.
  4. ↑ the japan times - Johnny’s changes name to Starto Entertainment BY PATRICK ST. MICHEL Dec 8, 2023
  5. ↑ https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/10/a2d8e584b142-urgent-johnnys-to-change-name-create-new-firm-to-manage-its-performers.html
  6. ↑ https://www.smile-up.inc/s/su/group/detail/10091?ima=2210

External Links[]

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