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Starto Entertainment
Starto Entertainment Inc. (Japanese: 株式会社スタートエンターテイメント, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Stāto entāteimento) is a Japanese entertainment company that provides artist management services established on October 17, 2023. The president is Katsuaki Suzuki. Many of the groups and artists formerly affiliated with Johnny & Associates belong to this company. It began full operations in April 2024.
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. The name “Johnny” was erased from the company name because of Fujishima's desire to "erase all traces of Johnny Kitagawa from this world". Johnny & Associates changed its name to Smile-Up and concentrated on compensating the victims. 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 celebrities belonging to Johnnys & Associates, and Atsushi Fukuda, president of consulting firm Speedy Inc. was chosen to serve as its CEO.
Fukuda previously served as vice president of Sony Pictures in the United States and also as president and CEO of Sony Digital Entertainment, and had been involved in corporate management and the talent agency business since founding Speedy Inc. in 2017. Fukuda was chosen as a candidate for CEO because Smile-Up was interested in promoting "agent contract," a free work style, for its celebrities in the future. Fukuda, said to be well versed in the field of celebrities agent contracts, is known for having re-launched the career of actress Rena Nonen, who had been in a slump after quitting her agency.
The new company name "Starto Entertainment" was announced on December 8, 2023. 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,’”. 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”. 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.
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. 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.
Starto announced that it began full-fledged operations on April 10, 2024. 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. Starto also said that it had established internal and external reporting channels for early detection of problems.
It is said that, in the past, celebrities from the former Johnny & Associates often did not co-star with celebrities who had left the agency or with competing boy bands. 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. Fukuda said that from now on he will not allow any celebrity to say “I don't want to co-star with that celebrity". 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.
Fukuda stated the circumstances surrounding his appointment at a press conference on December 9, 2023. 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.
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Starto Entertainment
Starto Entertainment Inc. (Japanese: 株式会社スタートエンターテイメント, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Stāto entāteimento) is a Japanese entertainment company that provides artist management services established on October 17, 2023. The president is Katsuaki Suzuki. Many of the groups and artists formerly affiliated with Johnny & Associates belong to this company. It began full operations in April 2024.
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. The name “Johnny” was erased from the company name because of Fujishima's desire to "erase all traces of Johnny Kitagawa from this world". Johnny & Associates changed its name to Smile-Up and concentrated on compensating the victims. 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 celebrities belonging to Johnnys & Associates, and Atsushi Fukuda, president of consulting firm Speedy Inc. was chosen to serve as its CEO.
Fukuda previously served as vice president of Sony Pictures in the United States and also as president and CEO of Sony Digital Entertainment, and had been involved in corporate management and the talent agency business since founding Speedy Inc. in 2017. Fukuda was chosen as a candidate for CEO because Smile-Up was interested in promoting "agent contract," a free work style, for its celebrities in the future. Fukuda, said to be well versed in the field of celebrities agent contracts, is known for having re-launched the career of actress Rena Nonen, who had been in a slump after quitting her agency.
The new company name "Starto Entertainment" was announced on December 8, 2023. 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,’”. 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”. 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.
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. 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.
Starto announced that it began full-fledged operations on April 10, 2024. 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. Starto also said that it had established internal and external reporting channels for early detection of problems.
It is said that, in the past, celebrities from the former Johnny & Associates often did not co-star with celebrities who had left the agency or with competing boy bands. 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. Fukuda said that from now on he will not allow any celebrity to say “I don't want to co-star with that celebrity". 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.
Fukuda stated the circumstances surrounding his appointment at a press conference on December 9, 2023. 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.