Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the life and motivations of the Kitagawa Johnny, the recently deceased pop impresario beginning with his teenage years in the post-war Nisei community of Los Angeles to his eventual status as founder of the most successful idol-producing agency in pop music history.

Paper long abstract:

The death of Kitagawa, Johnny, the long-time president of Johnny's & Associates (J&A), in July 2019, led to an outpouring of media commentary on the achievements of the enigmatic boss of perhaps the most successful boy band idol-producing agency in pop music history. This paper explores Kitagawa's life beginning with his early years as a wartime evacuee in Wakayama and teenage years in the post-war Nisei community of Los Angeles. In July 1950, in what was already a multicultural city with a vibrant entertainment culture, Kitagawa met and acted as a guide for the touring teenage star Hibari Misora, a pivotal moment in his early life. This paper examines the impact of this experience on his subsequent decision to return to Japan during the 1950s and his involvement a decade later in the country's nascent pop music industry. Focus is placed on the ways in which Kitagawa drew on the hybrid jazz-musical approach to ensemble stage dancing that was triggered by the release of West Side Story in 1961 and which was further popularized by the energetic dance troupes appearing on mid-1960s American TV shows such as Shindig and Hulabaloo. Additional influences on his approach to marketing and managing his boy band agency, are also examined, most notably that of Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, the creators and managers of the of the iconic faux Beatles idol group, The Monkees. Through an exploration of his early experiences, this paper attempts to give insight into how this complex and controversial returnee to Japan, after numerous setbacks and considerable personal scandal, reshaped a major segment of the Japanese entertainment business and arguably much of the East Asian music business now dominated by multi million-selling K-Pop artists.