| Starto Entertainment Inc. | |
| Native Name: | 株式会社スタートエンターテイメント |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Romanized Name: | Stāto entāteimento |
| Type: | Private K.K. |
| Key People: | Atsushi Fukuda (President)[1] |
| Location: | Minato, Tokyo, Japan[2] |
| Area Served: | Japan |
| Industry: | Entertainment |
| Num Employees: | 185[3] |
| Homepage: | Official Website Corporate Web (in Japanese) |
is a Japanese entertainment company that provides artist management services established on October 17, 2023.[4] The president is Atsushi Fukuda.[5] [6] Many of the groups and artists formerly affiliated with Johnny & Associates belong to this company. It began full operations in April 2024.[7]
After he died in 2019, Johnny & Associates' founder Johnny Kitagawa's sexual abuse was revealed in 2023, on October 2, Julie Keiko Fujishima, Kitagawa's niece and successor, decided to compensate the victims and close the business.[8] The name “Johnny” was erased from the company name because of Fujishima's desire to "erase all traces of Johnny Kitagawa from this world".[9] Johnny & Associates changed its name to Smile-Up and concentrated on compensating the victims.[8] Together with the change of activities of what was now Smile-Up, the establishment of a new company was being sought to ensure the continued activities of the talent belonging to Johnnys & Associates, and Atsushi Fukuda, president of consulting firm Speedy Inc. was chosen to serve as its CEO.[5]
Fukuda previously served as vice-president of Sony Pictures Entertainment and also as president and CEO of Sony Digital Entertainment,[10] and had been involved in corporate management and the talent agency business since founding Speedy Inc in 2017.[11] Fukuda was chosen as a candidate for CEO because Smile-Up was interested in promoting “agent contract,” a free work style, for its talent in the future.[12] Fukuda, said to be well versed in the field of talent agent contracts, is known for having re-launched the career of actress Rena Nonen,[13] who had been in a slump after quitting her agency.[14]
The new company name "Starto Entertainment" was announced on December 8, 2023.[15] The company name was chosen after much discussion from among 140,156 entries from fan club members. The name was chosen, because “... it is derived from ‘Star’ and ‘To,’ as in ‘to head toward the future,’”.[15] On its official website, the company says, “We will accompany the current stars and those who will emerge in the future, following their individual personalities and goals. From here, we will start a new legend. This is what we are trying to express”.[16] Fukuda also announced in his comments, that same day, that the artists can choose between a traditional management contract or a more liberal agent contract.[17] [18]
In establishing Starto Entertainment Inc., 10 million yen in investment capital was invested by management and employees, and neither Smile-Up, its affiliated companies, nor Julie Keiko Fujishima, the founding family member and president of the former Johnny & Associates invested in the company.[19] At a press conference on December 9, 2023, CEO Fukuda announced that the company had found a way to obtain a loan from a financial institution for several hundred million yen in working capital for the time being.[20]
Starto announced that it began full-fledged operations on April 10, 2024.[21] As of April, it had 295 performers under contract in 28 groups, and 185 staff members. Many of the staff had previously worked for Johnny & Associates and were not involved in sexual abuse.[7] Starto also said that it had established internal and external reporting channels for early detection of problems.[21]
It is said that, in the past, talent from the former Johnny & Associates often did not co-star with talents who had left the agency or with competing boy bands.[22] Fukuda mentioned this point as well, explaining that from now on he would make it possible to co-star with anyone, and that while Starto was also looking at overseas activities, nothing would get done if he talked narrowly about co-starring or not in the small world of Minato, Tokyo, where many of Japan's talent agencies have their headquarters.[23] Fukuda said that from now on he will not allow any talent to say “I don't want to co-star with that talent".[24] On July 6, 2024, on the program The Music Day, both King & Prince remaining members, as well as the members that had left (now re-grouped as Number_i), appeared within one hour of each other. Tomohisa Yamashita, who had left the agency in 2020, also appeared in the same program. Starto artists collaborated with non-Starto artists in music duets.[25]
Fukuda stated the circumstances surrounding his appointment at a press conference on December 9, 2023.[26] Initially, he was the most critical of Johnny Kitagawa's problems. Fukuda decried the crimes committed by Johnny Kitagawa, saying that the crimes committed were not at a level that could ever be forgiven in the world.[27]
At the time of the October 2 press conference, Noriyuki Higashiyama was to be president of the new company,[28] about a week later, Higashiyama, Julie Keiko Fujishima, and Yoshihiko Inohara had an opportunity to meet with Fukuda to talk to him about an agent contract. Fukuda said he was impressed by Higashiyama's big decision to retire from show business and focus on compensation work for victims at Johnny's, after initially saying he wanted to continue acting until he was 90.[29] As he listened to what the three of them had to say, he came to realize that there was a culture within Johnny & Associates like a “lineage of admiring cool senior,”[26] and that this culture had generated so much content that it now influences Korean popular music, etc. and that it would be a shame to see this disappear in the face of this criticism.[26] Fukuda also said that he thought it would be a loss of Japan if their singing, dancing, and acting content were to fall apart, even though it is a treasure of Japan.[30]
Afterward, Higashiyama then decided against becoming president of the new company,[31] and Yoshihiko Inohara asked Fukuda to become president.[26] Fukuda initially declined, saying that it was too much of a burden, but he accepted, partly to protect their culture and partly because he wanted to reform the old traditions that persisted in the Japanese entertainment industry.[32] Fukuda said that since taking over as CEO, he plans to meet with all of talents, including Takuya Kimura, the star talent of Starto, to deepen mutual understanding.[33]
On April 10, the concert We Are! Let's get the party Starto! was held at Tokyo Dome, featuring 13 groups from Starto, a total of 72 artists. The event was directed by Jun Matsumoto (Arashi) and Tadayoshi Okura (Super Eight).[34] This performance was also held on May 29 and 30 at Kyocera Dome Osaka. A portion of the performance on May 29 was streamed live on YouTube, and the performance on May 30 was streamed for a fee.[35]
In response to the 2024 Noto earthquake that occurred on January 1, the charity song “We are” was released by Starto artists of 14 groups, 75 people in total.[36] The song was released for digital download on April 10 and on CD on July 24, with all proceeds donated to support earthquake relief efforts.[36]
On April 29, the formation of KAMIGATA BOYZ, a collaboration group of four groups from the Kansai region, Super Eight, West, Naniwa Danshi, and Ae! Group, was announced.[37] Their debut single Musekinin de Eejanaika Love was released digitally on May 3, and a video of the song was released on YouTube the same day.[38]
On May 15, Ae! Group made their CD debut as the first group since the full launch of Starto.[39] [40]
Jun Matsumoto, member of Arashi, announced his departure from Starto for solo pursuits starting May 30th. He will continue his agent contract as Arashi.[41]
Those who made their CD debut as a group are commonly referred to as "debut group".[42] There are also individual actors and entertainers. Those who belong to Starto but have not yet debuted or started acting are trainees and are commonly referred to as “junior".[43] Although 4U is a group with a long history of activity, it has not made its CD debut.[44] New trainee recruitment began on May 25, 2024.[45]
Starto continued with the charity projects as part of their 2024 activities. The single "We are", sung by the special unit "STARTO for you", formed by 75 members of 14 groups, was released in digital form on April 10, and as CD on June 12, with proceeds of the sales of the single going to Noto Earthquake relief funds.[56] [57]
As of June 5, 2024, the "Smile-Up Project", which was the name of the last Johnny & Associates project, which served during the COVID pandemic, and was used during the first activities with Starto, is no longer, being reborn under the name "Mindful", for which a new company has been established. General Incorporated Association "Mindful" will take over the charity activities, as well as other social contribution activities, like mental health care (which includes the support for sexual assault victims), enrollment support for higher education students in the Nursing field, and others.[58] [59]
| Year | Title | Schedule | Place | Performing group | Stage director | Note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | We Are | Let's get the party Starto | [60] | 10 April | Tokyo Dome | Super Eight, KAT-TUN, Hey! Say! JUMP, Kis-My-Ft2, timelesz, A.B.C-Z, WEST., King & Prince, SixTones, Snow Man, Naniwa Danshi, Travis Japan, Ae! Group | [61] | NEWS performed only in Osaka.[62] Shori Sato (timelesz) appeared only in the video due to his appearance in the musical Shock,[63] Ren Nagase (King & Prince) missed concert in Osaka due to an ear injury.[64] |
| 29-30 May | Kyocera Dome Osaka | NEWS, Super Eight, KAT-TUN, Hey! Say! JUMP, Kis-My-Ft2, timelesz, A.B.C-Z, WEST., King & Prince, SixTones, Snow Man, Naniwa Danshi, Travis Japan, Ae! Group |