Most people in the Johnnys fandom have heard about Jin Akanishi’s recent marriage at the beginning of February to Kuroki Meisa and it has been a hot topic since it happened. Why is that? This would seem like just everyday gossip that you would see in the tabloids about celebrities in America, but in the world of Johnnys, and east asian idols, it is a big deal. Some people have asked, “why is it such a big deal”? If you are not knowledgable about Johnnys (and east asian idols) regulations about marriage and dating, it would be confusing. I wanted this Johnnys Talk to be about Johnnys and Marriage because of Jin’s recent marriage and to shine light upon a side of the situation that many foreign fans, like me, would not understand. I will not be talking about Jin’s marriage specifically, but talking about how the marriages of Johnnys (and east asian idols) are different than the marriages american/ western celebrities and how I know Johnnys to get married.
Management
First an foremost, the fundamental difference between western celebrities and Johnnys is management. I mentioned this in my first Johnnys Talk post, but most idols (and celebrities) in east asia are managed by an agency. This agency acts as the mediator between the idol and the people who want the idol for jobs. As I know it, the western celebrities don’t have an agency, but just a manager that acts as a mediator. In east asia, the idol will have a manager but they only manage the day to day activities of the idol, not actually give the idol work. The agency’s job is to assign work to the idols that comes in from outside sources, as well as assign work for the core of what they do, which is being in a singing group. Along with this management by an agency comes strict regulations, which include rules about dating and marriage. This isn’t just Johnnys, but most idol groups. AKB48 and the other “48″ groups also have these types of regulations. If you break these regulations, you can be kicked out of the group or “asked to resign”. Johnnys isn’t too strict about dating in terms of getting kicked out of the agency, but they are asked to keep the dating very private and out of the public eye. If a Johnnys is caught dating, most of the time it will be denied and the agency (on both parties’ part) will release an official statement that they are just friends, regardless if that is true or not. Johnnys will not get kicked out of the agency because of that, but other talent agencies are more strict. The same goes with marriage, but there are more strict regulations about that in Johnnys. Everything has to go through the agency regarding the talent that they manage, from assigning work, to who they are dating, and if they are going to get married. Why are there all of these regulations and why does everything have to go through the agency? Its all about image.
Image
An idol’s (and celebrity’s) image is everything in Japan, and east Asia. What agency the idol joins is also an indicator on what kind of image that idol is supposed to portray. In the case of Johnnys, they are supposed to be good looking, clean cut men that seem obtainable to all women. The key here is “seem obtainable to all women”. How can a Johnnys seem obtainable to all women when he is dating someone or is married? This is my business student side coming out, but what if this image is tarnished by dating someone or getting married? That idol is no longer marketable for the agency. That means less jobs for the idol, which means the agency is keeping someone that will not make them money. So, the idol must abide by these rules and regulations or risk becoming a liability to the agency. It cruel, yes …. but managing idols is still a business.
Its a harsh reality, but not all hope is lost
Now, most western people would say at this point “That is so wrong! They should be able to marry and date whoever they want!”. Its true, but in reality if they want to keep their job, they have to abide by these rules. Even though Johnnys join the agency at a young age, before they debut they mostly know what they are getting into. If they don’t like that, then they can leave the agency. Many Johnnys have done that in the past for various reasons. Some already debuted Johnnys have decide to leave the agency as well, not necessarily for dating and marriage reasons though. Having the image is apart of the job, unfortunately. Other people might say “Oh! Well, they can just change management or quit”. Because Johnnys have been raised to do this from a young age, many of them only have a high school education, though it is becoming more and more of a trend for Johnnys to go to college. Because of that, they don’t have the ability to change jobs freely because being an idols is all they have known. As for management, its VERY difficult to change from Johnnys to other management and still have the same level of activities that they had in the past. If you want to be the best, you have to play by other people’s rules. It comes down to Johnnys, and other idol agencies, being a business. Nothing more, nothing less.
With all of that being said though, not all hope is lost! Johnnys DO date. Its a fact that I do not deny at all. They just do it out of the public eye. Johnnys have gotten married before, but there are certain requirements that must be fulfilled before they can do so (from what I have seen).
What if a Johnnys wants to get Married?
There are a handful of Johnnys that have gotten married in the past. Kimura Takuya from SMAP, Inohara Yoshihiko from V6, and Tatsuya Yamaguchi from Tokio are some of the ones that are recent. I think there are a few others, but these are the most recent ones, besides Jin. With all of these, I see a trend of the Johnnys dating the same woman for a very long time, sometimes even living with the woman. Also, they seem to be the less popular members of the group and they tend to get married in their mid-ish 30′s, meaning that the group’s overall popularity has gone down already. This means that the idol becomes less of a liability to the agency as they grow older. They are no longer getting as many jobs anyway and are already established idols, so they are able to marry at the point of being in their 30′s and being an older group. Another reason is that their fan base has grown up with them and are most likely married themselves. Younger groups are still very marketable because they haven’t hit their peak of popularity yet (for the most part) and their fan base are basically still young and single (meaning not married) so it is more of a liability for the agency for the younger idol to get married.
As for the timing of the marriage, they tell the agency months, sometimes over a year before they intend to marry. This way, the agency knows how to present the marriage. The exception of this was Kimura Takuya, which came as a surprise. His situation was very similar to Jin; his current girlfriend was pregnant and they suddenly got married because of that. The difference between Jin and Kimura Takuya is that Kimura Takuya said that he had been thinking about getting married with his girlfriend for a while, even before finding out about the pregnancy. Despite these circumstances, Kimura Takuya went through the agency before going through with the marriage. Jin did not go through Johnnys and got married before consulting the agency about his marriage.
I hope you all enjoyed this little bit of information about Johnnys! I think that Johnnys and marriage is an interesting topic and if you have any questions about this topic or for the next Johnnys Talk, or if you have any different information, please comment below or send me an email at nihonchique@gmail.com.
