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The story
A thread on 5ch’s Hello! Project board turned nostalgic for the early days of Hello! Project back in the Showa era. Posters recalled that smoking at concert venues was simply the norm at the time, with ashtrays built right into the seats, while others dug into the backstory of Naoki Yamazaki — founder of parent company Up-Front Group — who rose through the ranks at talent agency Young Japan before climbing from managing director to president of Up-Front Agency, alongside his personal ties to the idol duo Wink. The thread ended up catching fire along two tracks: the smoking culture of the era, and the industry history behind it.
What people said
So we're talking the Alice/Banba Hiroshi era?
back in the "Kyūto" run you could smoke up on the 3rd floor and above, lol
So "Moremi Amore" carried that tradition on, huh
I don't get how they managed to break away from Burning Productions.
Yamazaki doesn't strike me as that high-up a guy.
Yamazaki rose through the ranks at Young Japan and was made managing director of Up-Front Agency.
Young Japan wasn't originally part of the Burning group, it was an outsider —
Burning only cooperated because there was no overlap in talent.
Young Japan succeeded, Yamazaki was made managing director of the newly formed Up-Front Agency, he eventually became president, and because he was so capable, Up-Front grew right along with him.
a live public broadcast from Akasaka's TBS Hall late on Saturday nights.
This is where today's Up-Front got its start.
If Naoki Yamazaki hadn't been so capable, there'd be no Up-Front — and no Chisato Moritaka or Morning Musume either.
Wink was run by a company founded by one of Yamazaki's former subordinates.
After they disbanded, Aida came over to Up-Front.
Oh, is that what Upright Music was?
Their producer was a former member of Jacks, after all.
But they had a falling-out with Dentsu and got frozen out of the TV world.
The Moremi boom blew that whole theory out of the water though.
What are you even talking about?
That was 20 years ago.
Gramps, does time just not move for you?
Dentsu's power has weakened
↑
We are here
That's right.
Upright Music was founded by one of Naoki Yamazaki's former subordinates.
That's why the names are similar.
Time for an update, gramps.
Background and Talking Points
Hello! Project’s parent company, Up-Front Group, traces its roots to Up-Front Agency, where Naoki Yamazaki — who came up through the talent agency Young Japan — served first as managing director and later as president. The thread featured plenty of posts pointing out that Wink’s agency shared the same Young Japan lineage, as well as testimonials capturing the era’s casual attitude toward smoking at concert venues. It’s worth noting these accounts are drawn from fans’ memories and secondhand stories rather than documented, official records. Toward the end, some posts also tied the idea of “management not dependent on TV exposure” to Morning Musume’s more recent struggles, and opinions were divided on just how well those old success factors still apply today.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “What was Hello! Project like back in the Showa era?“
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