Logo

28 Facts About Johnny Kitagawa

1.

John Hiromu Kitagawa, known professionally as Johnny Kitagawa, was a Japanese business magnate, promoter, record producer.

2.

Johnny Kitagawa's influence spread beyond music to the realms of theatre and television.

3.

Johnny Kitagawa founded the idol trainee system, where talents are signed on to the agency and trained until they are ready to debut professionally, which has been adopted by other idol industries.

4.

Johnny Kitagawa rarely permitted his photograph to be taken, and did not make public appearances with his groups.

5.

Johnny Kitagawa held the Guinness World Records for the most No 1 artists, the most No 1 singles, and the most concerts produced by an individual.

6.

John Hiromu Kitagawa was born in 1931 in Los Angeles, California, United States, Johnny Kitagawa returned with his family to Japan in 1933.

7.

Johnny Kitagawa's father Rev Taido Kitagawa was a Buddhist priest and the third head bishop of the Koyasan Buddhist Temple in Little Tokyo from 1924 to 1933.

8.

Johnny Kitagawa taught English to orphans from the Korean War for the United States Army.

9.

Johnny Kitagawa recruited them to form a singing group, acting as their manager.

10.

Johnnys were the first all-male pop group in Japan, and set the pattern that Kitagawa followed with his subsequent acts.

11.

In 1968, Johnny Kitagawa achieved wider success with a four-member boy band known as Four Leaves.

12.

Johnny Kitagawa was able to expand his sphere of influence to television, as his performers regularly appeared on television, with many appearing on their own variety programs.

13.

Johnny Kitagawa held the Guinness World Records for the most No 1 artists, the most No 1 singles, and the most concerts produced by an individual.

14.

Johnny Kitagawa repeatedly employed a standard formula in the development and marketing of his acts.

15.

Johnny Kitagawa's focus was on the development of his groups as complete entertainers.

16.

Once launched, Johnny Kitagawa was known to use his established groups to induce television stations to report on his newer acts, and ensure favorable press coverage for his acts and himself.

17.

Johnny Kitagawa maintained a high degree of control over his acts, to the extent that their images did not appear on the company website.

18.

Johnny Kitagawa rarely permitted his photograph to be taken, and did not make public appearances with his groups.

19.

On July 9,2019, Johnny Kitagawa died at a hospital in Tokyo after suffering a subarachnoid hemorrhage stroke on June 18, at the age of 87.

20.

Johnny Kitagawa's body was cremated, and his ashes were distributed to several people, including Masahiro Nakai.

21.

Johnny Kitagawa filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Japan.

22.

Okamoto estimated that between 100 and 200 boys were invited to Kitagawa's home during his time at Johnny's, and claimed that when Kitagawa told one of his guests to go to bed early, everyone knew "it was your turn".

23.

Johnny Kitagawa added that she was committed to implementing measures addressing the victims' needs.

24.

Johnny Kitagawa believes that there is still some secrecy around the issue.

25.

Johnny Kitagawa received a message from her husband, telling her that he would retire to the mountains where a search party found his body.

26.

Johnny Kitagawa said the lawsuit could be a means of preventing victims from taking legal action in the United States.

27.

Johnny Kitagawa is seeking confirmation that it does not have to pay more than 18 million yen in damages to Ishimaru, the figure proposed by the victims relief committee.

28.

Smile-Up filed a lawsuit against him and refused to provide compensation, arguing that Johnny Kitagawa was not in Japan at the time the man claimed to have been assaulted.