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The story
After Bunshun reported that Johnny & Associates has been pressuring various parties not to cooperate in promoting M!LK, reaction spread across the Hello! Project board on 5ch. The thread split between doubts that Johnny’s still has that kind of clout left and claims that its old ties to TV network insiders remain deeply entrenched. The discussion also touched on how no Johnny’s-affiliated talent took part in MAJ, a new music award meant to replace the Japan Record Awards, fueling debate over the industry’s shifting balance of power.
What people said
Right.
Isn't this actually illegal now?
Honestly I see M!LK around more than any Johnny's talent these days.
Sudden flameouts happen all the time though.
Look at Suchmos, for example.
Feels like there's no shortage of replacement boy idols anyway.
Power as in what, popularity?
The cozy arrangement where NHK and commercial network producers land cushy post-retirement jobs at Johnny's isn't going to break that easily.
What is it?
Still don't get it.
Is it some kind of award?
Juice=Juice got nominated this year and was there in person.
I don't really follow Juice=Juice.
Guess I'm more of a Kenshuusei (Hello! Project trainee) otaku.
Something like the Japan Record Awards?
It started out wanting to be Japan's answer to the American Grammys,
but it's packed with the same old-guard organizations — like JAME (Japan Music Entertainment Business Association) — so it's the usual Japanese pattern, basically just another Record Awards.
Ah I see, so it just ends up locked down by agency pressure like always.
So in the end it just created a new power structure.
A lot of artists who bought into that philosophy showed up for the ceremony.
But not a single person from the old ○○○ [agency] took part.
Says it all, doesn't it?
It's the other way around.
Johnny's boycotted award shows and already pulled out of the Record Awards themselves — this is just them thoroughly crushing a rival.
If so, Johnny's reign is over.
Not yet, not that I know of.
But a few years ago nobody could've imagined M!LK blowing up this big either, so there's every chance a new nationally-known group emerges.
Treat them coldly and they just pull the victim card.
Back when M!LK wasn't selling at all and were still an underground idol group, they got a big feature on a variety show hosted by Fukumura Mizuki.
That was unheard-of exposure for M!LK at the time, and M!LK fans flooded X thanking Fukumura Mizuki for it.
Then the following year, in 2025, "Suki Sugite Metsu" (roughly, "Too Much Love, I'm Dead") turned M!LK into a household name.
The talent agencies' media dominance lurking behind the SMAP breakup controversy
https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/25698?page=4
"Recently, TV Asahi formed a joint venture with CyberAgent to launch the internet broadcaster AbemaTV, and its dedicated app has been a huge success with 10 million downloads. The person said to be behind this is Genichi Taniguchi, a K Dash Stage executive with deep ties to both TV Asahi and CyberAgent. TV Asahi's policy is to keep some distance from Johnny's while deepening its reliance on K Dash — and that's the backdrop against which talk of SMAP switching agencies emerged."
What's actually going on hasn't changed one bit.
I see.
So the old-school 'Bar'-affiliated side of Hello! Project (a term for a specific internal Up-Front grouping) has it even worse then.
Right.
They're doing fine for themselves without picking fights, but they're not at the center of power.
Not picking fights is clearly the smart move — you can tell just from the thread title.
Of course.
'Bow to the strong' — that's showbiz for you.
Just play along nicely and keep things running smooth.
Background and key points of debate
Behind this story is the fact that the former Johnny & Associates was restructured into STARTO ENTERTAINMENT following the 2023 sexual abuse scandal, and its traditional balance of power with the TV networks has been shifting ever since. Thread opinion split over whether Johnny’s still has enough clout left to pressure other agencies: some pointed to M!LK’s rising profile as evidence the agency’s influence is fading, while others argued that the old-boy network between the agency and TV network producers can’t be severed so easily. Another point of debate was MAJ (Music Awards Japan), reportedly created to replace the Japan Record Awards and do away with the old culture of backroom favoritism — though some see it as nothing more than a ‘new power structure’ led by a different faction of the industry. Worth noting, though not addressed in the original report, is that Bunshun’s story itself rests on anonymous testimony from industry insiders, and the agency has issued no official confirmation or denial.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “[Bunshun] Johnny & Associates Pressuring Everyone Not to Help Promote M!LK lolololololololololololololol.”
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