ジャニー喜多川

John Hiromu Kitagawa (Japanese name Hiromu Kitagawa (喜多川 擴, Kitagawa Hiromu); October 23, 1931 – July 9, 2019), known professionally as Johnny Kitagawa (ジャニー喜多川, Janī Kitagawa), was an American-born Japanese businessman and talent manager. He was the founder and president of Johnny & Associates, a production agency for numerous popular boy bands in Japan. Kitagawa assembled, produced and managed more than a dozen popular bands, including Tanokin Trio, Hey! Say! JUMP, SMAP, Arashi, Kanjani8, V6, NEWS and KAT-TUN. Kitagawa's influence spread beyond music to the realms of theatre and television. Regarded as one of the most powerful figures in the Japanese entertainment industry, he held a virtual monopoly on the creation of boy bands in Japan for more than 40 years. From 1988 to 2000, Kitagawa was the subject of a number of claims that he had taken advantage of his position to engage in imp...