Johnny's Jr. is the name given to the trainee groups of the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates, whose members are admitted at a young age to learn singing, dancing and acting before their debut. The system was popularized by the agency's founder, Johnny Kitagawa, and became a central part of how Japanese boy bands and male idols were developed from the 1980s onward. In 2018 the agency launched a YouTube channel for its trainee groups, which gave the public a wider view of them.
Origins of the system
Johnny & Associates was founded in 1962 by Johnny Kitagawa, who is credited with pioneering the idol system in which trainees are taken into the agency at a young age. These trainees, known as Johnny Jr., spend years learning to sing, dance and act until they debut as members of a group. The approach was part of a broader strategy that emphasized performance-oriented idols, a model that helped shape the post-war growth of Japanese boy bands.
Later developments
In 2018 the agency, which had previously been known for tightly controlling access to its acts, created a YouTube channel for its trainee groups. Trainee groups such as Snow Man were later developed under a dedicated subdivision called Johnny's Island. After Kitagawa's death in 2019 and the company's restructuring in 2023, the training of these young performers continued under the newly formed Starto Entertainment.