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The story
The thread was sparked by a post noting that Morning Musume。’23’s Hana Kojima said her manager has forbidden her from naming the talent agency she used to belong to. Posters piled on with more examples of transfer members who avoid naming their former agencies — Kasahara (Angerme), Konno (a Morning Musume。 OG), Kawanishi (formerly of Amuse) — and opinions split over whether this is a Hello! Project-specific custom or standard practice across the entertainment industry as a whole. Some defended it (“It’d actually look more unnatural if she didn’t stay quiet about it,” “Might be a copyright or publicity-rights issue”), while others took it as proof that the agency is simply closed off.
What people said
Because it gives her a ready excuse when she needs to turn something down — "Sorry, my agency won't let me talk about that."
If anything, it'd look more unnatural if she didn't say that
It's fine when fans bring it up on their own, but it kills the vibe once the idol herself starts turning it into a bit
Kasahara doesn't say Angerme's name either
Announcer Kitagawa never brings up Morning Musume。 at all either
A little sad, but I guess that's just how it goes
Konno used to casually say Morning Musume。's name back in her TV Tokyo days,
and even appeared alongside other OGs
Riorio probably can't bring it up because you guys keep grumbling about it
The cast and staff there clearly know her former agency and group
Not that I'd know
She's posted on Instagram about hanging out with former coworkers just fine since transferring
Kojima even showed up naturally in a TikTok video posted by an old Stardust colleague
She does say it
She's even written about Lupinranger vs. Patranger on her blog
Has she ever actually said out loud, in her own words, that she was with Amuse?
Not sure what the difference comes down to
Guess it's just this crappy agency being weird about it
Maybe it's different when someone quits an idol group to do something totally unrelated to idol work,
versus switching agencies and going right back to being an idol in another group?
Kawanishi doesn't talk about Amuse either
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
It’s not unusual in the entertainment industry for a talent who has switched agencies to avoid publicly naming their former one, and this is generally attributed to contractual confidentiality obligations along with the publicity and image rights still held by the former agency. The point raised in the thread (reply 43) about a possible “copyright or publicity-rights issue” lines up with this general understanding. That said, the thread’s reactions were split — some treated it as simply standard industry practice, while others saw it as evidence that Hello! Project (UFA) is especially closed off. Worth noting, though: both takes remain speculation within the thread, and there’s no primary sourcing confirming that any one agency in particular enforces this more strictly than others. It’s also been pointed out (reply 30) that posts about meeting up with former colleagues still appear on social media after a transfer, suggesting the restriction may apply only to publicly naming the agency itself, not to private contact with former colleagues.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “[Sad News] Hana Kojima: “My manager has forbidden me from saying the name of the agency I used to belong to” ← UFA’s closed-off culture.”
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