Produce 101 Japan (season 1)

''Produce 101 Japan'' () is a 2019 Japanese reality competition show, co-produced by Yoshimoto Kogyo and CJ E&M. It is a spin-off of the South Korean ''Produce 101'' franchise. The show follows 101 contestants with the intention of producing a permanent eleven-member boy group.

It premiered on September 25, 2019, on TBS. The first episode was rerun on the streaming platform GyaO! the following day, which also broadcast the remainder of the show every Thursday at 21:00 JST ( GMT+9). The finale was aired on December 11, 2019, on TBS at 19:00 JST (GMT+9).

The final top eleven contestants debuted as the permanent boy group JO1.

Concept and production

On April 11, 2019, it was announced that Lapone Entertainment, a management company co-founded by Yoshimoto Kogyo, CJ E&M, and MCIP Holdings, would produce a Japanese version of the South Korean idol survival show ''Produce 101'' with the intention of debuting an internationally active, eleven-member boy group in 2020. The final group's members, name, and concept would be selected by the viewers, referred to as . The show had a budget of several billion yen and was one of the largest Japanese television productions.

Applications for the show were accepted from April 11 to May 31, 2019. All male Japanese residents aged 16 to 30 years old who were not tied to any talent agency at the time of application and had completed compulsory education were eligible to apply, regardless of previous experience or nationality. Successful applicants were called back for a first round of auditions, which were held on June 15 across seven cities in Japan: Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Okinawa. During the second screening, which took place from July 13 to July 15, the final 101 contestants were selected. In total, 6,000 people auditioned for the show.

In August, the chosen constestants were sent to a training camp in Paju, South Korea. Several episodes were shot there as well before the production returned to Japan.

In light of the Mnet vote manipulation investigation, the production committee stated in November 2019 that they were not affiliated with the Korean production team and had a separate voting system, with votes analyzed by a group of third-party lawyers. Following the departure of South Korean contestants Kim Hee-cheon, Kim Youn-dong, and Jeong Young-hoon, the production committee issued a statement explaining that the contestants were eligible for the show, as they were living in Japan at the time, and that their mandatory military service was not a reason why they left. In addition, they issued an official warning to viewers not to spread malicious rumors about the contestants on social media.

Promotion and broadcast

On September 1, 2019, all 101 trainees were revealed at a press conference held at Osaki Bright Core Hall in Tokyo. Two days later, the music video for the show's theme song "Tsukame (It's Coming)" (Japanese: , ) was released, with Ren Kawashiri serving as the center. The same day, profiles for all contestants were published on the official website.

The series premiered on September 25, 2019, on TBS, and a day later on GyaO!, where all twelve episodes were subsequently aired for free. The final episode was once again broadcast by TBS on December 11, 2019. Prior to the show's airing, two contestants had dropped out, leaving 99 trainees to compete on the show. Contestant Kenya Hata later dropped out of the series before the show was broadcast.

Cast

The show was presented by Hideyuki Yabe and Takashi Okumura of the comedy duo Ninety-nine, who had previously hosted the ''Asayan'' talent competition series in 1999.

;Vocal trainers
*Hidenori Sugai
*Sayaka Yasukura

;Dance trainers
*A-non
*Warner

;Rap trainer
*Cypress Ueno
* Bose

Contestants

Color key

Rankings

The top 11 contestants, which determined the members of the final group, were chosen through popularity online voting at ''Produce 101 Japan GyaO!'' homepage and audience's live voting. The results were shown at the end of each episode.

For the first and second voting period, viewers were allowed to select 11 trainees per vote. During the third round, the system changed to 2 trainees per vote and added votes from ''Softbank Line Friend''. For the final round, the system changed to one trainee per vote and added live online votes.

First voting period

The first voting period took place between September 26 at 12 am and October 18 at 5:00 am (JST). The total number of votes accumulated was 33,847,705.

Second voting period

The second voting period took place between October 24 at 11:30 pm and November 8 at 5:00 am (JST). The total number of votes accumulated was 18,945,494.

Third voting period

The third voting period will take place between November 14 at 11:30 pm and November 29 at 5:00 am (JST). The total number of votes accumulated was 8,356,702.

Result

The finale online voting period took place between December 5 at 11:00 pm and December 11 at 5:00 am (JST) and The finale was held on December 11 at 7:00 pm (JST), and open online voting period was broadcast live. The total number of votes accumulated was 3,242,751. Ninety-nine announced the unit boy group name, JO1.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Reception

Ratings on TBS

Aftermath

* JO1 released their debut single "Protostar" on March 4, 2020.

* Some trainees formed/joined with groups:
** Yugo Miyajima (12th), Shunya Osawa (13th), Tomoaki Ando (14th), Jun Uehara (20th), Jeong Young-hoon (21st), Kim Yoon-dong (22nd), and Kim Hee-cheon (35th) formed a boy group called Orbit under agency Dream Passport. They released their debut album ''00'' on November 11.
** Kosuke Honda (15th), Fumiya Sano (23rd), Shuta Urano (34th), Katsunari Nakagawa (63rd) signed with Yoshimoto Kogyo and formed a boy group called OWV. They released the music video for their first single "Uba Uba" on August 31.
** Raira Sato (16th), Minato Inoue (18th), Koshin Komatsu (24th), Hikaru Kitagawa (38th) joined a boys group called Bugvel and will release their first song "Warning" under agency Dream Passport.
** Migakida Kanta (27th), Kento Kitaoka (48th) and Takeru Gutierez (71st) joined a group called BXW under agency Churros. Reito Kitagawa (26th) and Hiroto Ikumi (36th) who also had joined the group subsequently left due to difference in the direction of activities. The group released their debut song "Takai Yume ni" on October 22, 2020.
** Tatsutoshi Miyazato (28th), Sho Fukuchi (30th), Taiga Nakamoto (32nd), Tsubasa Takizawa (37th), Kyo Yamada (45th), Ryono Kusachi (51st), Toi Nakabayashi (55th), Hyuga Nakatani (57th), Fumiya Kumazawa (97th) signed with Showtitle, a subsidiary company of Yoshimoto Kogyo. The nine ex-trainees formed a performance unit called Enjin that will also incorporate singing, dancing, and stage play. The group had their major debut in December under label Nonagon Records, from Universal Sigma. Their debut stage titled ''Nonagon―Hajimari no Oto'' was held in Tokyo on December 4.
** Masanami Aoki (29th), Akihito Furuya (44th), Koki Nishio (53rd), Takehiro Okada (54th), and Akira Takano (67th) formed a unit named NVRLND.
** Kaito Okano (33rd), Yu Ando (47th), Rikuto Omizu (64th), Hikari Inayoshi (74h), and Tatsuki Yuki (80th) formed a "KJ-Hop" group called Boom Trigger under World Entertainment. They released their debut single "Shaking/Party Must Go On" on August 13.
* Some trainees signed with agencies:
** Masahiko Imanishi (17th) signed with agency Dream Passport and adapted a stage name Hico. He then released his 1st digital single "Strawberry" (feat.TOMO) on December 25.
** Ryuji Sato (25th), Hiroto Ikumi (36th), and Keiya Taguchi (65th) signed with RBW Japan and joined their trainee program RBW JBOYZ. Ryuji Sato then leave the company on December 28.
** Kengo Hata (86th) signed with Ito Company. He then starred in a stage play "Egu Onna" on November 13-15th.
** Satoshi Yamada (85th) signed with YKA Entertainment.
** Sato Ryuji (25th) signed with Churros Agency. He then released his 1st digital single "PLAYGROUND" (feat. BXW) on 8 September 2022.
* Some trainees debuted as actors:
** Naoki Ozawa (29th) starred in a stage play K.B.S Project ''Super Youth Chorus Comedy "SING!"-2020''.
* Some trainees released their single:
** Lee Min-Hyuk (42th) released his 1st digital single "Pray" on August 1 under a stage name Hyuk.
** Masaki Ageda (49th) released his 1st digital single "u" on October 26.
** Hayato Isohata (70th) released his 1st digital single "Endless Hope" on December 25.
* Some trainees participated in other survival shows:
** Ryo Mitsui (41st), Ryuta Hayashi (43rd), Gen Suzuki (82nd) joined . Mitsui and Hayashi won the competition and will debut in the boys group NIK.
** Hiroto Ikumi (36th) and Keiya Taguchi (65th) joined Produce Camp 2021. Keiya ranked 78th and Hiroto ranked 15th.
** Hiroto Ikumi (36th) participated in Boys Planet. He ranked 21st
** Koshin Komatsu (24th) and Hikari Inayoshi (74th) will participate on Chuang Asia: Season 2

Franchise

Notes

References

External links

*

{{Produce 101

Produce 101 (Japanese TV series)
2019 Japanese television seasons