was a Japanese music variety show that airs on

NHK BS Premium , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

. The show premiered on NHK BS 2 on April 9, 2000, and ended on October 27, 2023. Worldwide, it airs on

NHK World Premium NHK World Premium is a TV news and entertainment broadcasting service offered by NHK World-Japan, the international arm of Japan's public broadcaster NHK. The service is aimed towards Japanese Diaspora and the overseas market, similar to worldwi ...

and

TV Japan TV Japan (テレビジャパン) was a 24-hour Japanese-language television channel geared towards the Japanese diaspora in the United States and Canada. It was the North American carrier of the NHK World Premium service. The channel was owne ...

(US) as Pop Music Club It features the juniors of

Johnny & Associates was a Japanese talent agency formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962, which managed groups of male idols known as The company had a significant impact on pop culture with male idols and boy bands in Japan since the 1980s. Until 2019, the company w ...

. In addition to singing songs and participating in discussions, there is a segment that brings out the personality of the performers, such as quizzes. On October 12, 2023, NHK announced that it would end broadcasting the Shounen Club program after 23 years on air in response to cases of sexual harassment committed by the agency's founder,

Johnny Kitagawa John Hiromu Kitagawa (Japanese name ; October 23, 1931 – July 9, 2019), known professionally as , was a Japanese business magnate, promoter, record producer. He was best known as the founder of Johnny & Associates, a talent agency for numerous ...

. Instead, On November 15, a new program was announced entitled "New Gene!" which features the next generation of idols, artists and performers who dream of becoming future stars. Scheduled to be broadcast on January 19, 2024 on NHK BS Premium 4K and January 26 on NHK BS Premium.

Cast

* Keiichiro Koyama (

NEWS News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

) (April 9, 2006 – March 24, 2011) *

Yuichi Nakamaru , is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, television personality and radio host under Starto Entertainment. He joined the talent agency Johnny & Associates in 1998 and then officially debuted as part of KAT-TUN in 2006, group to which he belong ...

(

KAT-TUN was a Japanese boy band under Starto Entertainment. Their formation under Johnny & Associates was in 2001. The group's name was originally an acronym based on the first letter of each member's family name: Kazuya Kamenashi, Jin Akanishi, Junnos ...

) (April 9, 2006 – March 24, 2011) *

Hey! Say! JUMP Hey! Say! JUMP (HSJ or JUMP) is an nine-member Japanese boy band under the Japanese talent agency Smile-Up (formerly known as Johnny & Associates). The group is split into two sub-groups: Hey! Say! BEST and Hey! Say! 7. In Japan they sold more ...

(April 8, 2011 – March 26, 2014) * Fumito Kawai (

A.B.C-Z is a five-member Japanese boy band under Starto Entertainment. The group's former name was A.B.C., which stands for Acrobat Boys Club. It was changed to A.B.C-Z after Ryosuke Hashimoto was moved to the group from J.J.Express in 2008. Due to the ...

) (April 2, 2014 – March 30, 2018) * Akito Kiriyama (

Johnny's WEST West. (stylized as WEST.), formerly known as (stylized Johnny's WEST), is a boy band consisting of seven members formed under the Starto Entertainment talent agency. The members are Daiki Shigeoka, Junta Nakama, Takahiro Hamada, Akito Kiriyama ...

) (April 2, 2014 – March 30, 2018)

Regular appearance

* Snow Man *

SixTones is a Japanese idol boy band formed by Smile-Up (formerly known as Johnny & Associates) in 2015. The group was previously a sub-unit of Johnny & Associates' pre-debut trainee group Johnny's Jr. SixTones made their official debut on January 22, ...

Naniwa Danshi is a Japanese boy band formed by Starto Entertainment. It consists of seven members who primarily come from the Kansai region. The group's official debut announcement was made through their label Storm Labels. Their debut single, "Ubu Love", was ...

Travis Japan Travis Japan is a Japanese boy band managed by Starto Entertainment formerly known as Johnny & Associates. Their name is a tribute to the American choreographer Travis Payne, who assisted in their 2012 group formation during the production of s ...

Johnny's Jr. was a Japanese talent agency formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962, which managed groups of male Japanese idol, idols known as The company had a significant impact on pop culture with male idols and boy bands in Japan since the 1980s. Until 2019, ...

* Kansai Johnny's Jr.

Shounen Club Premium

was a Japanese music variety show hosted by

and broadcast on NHK BS Premium. The hour-long show premiered on April 23, 2006. This program ends on October 20, 2023, as "Shounen Club" stops broadcasting. On November 24, a new program entitled "Premise" aired with

King & Prince King & Prince is a two-member Japanese idol group under Starto Entertainment (formerly of Johnny & Associates) that debuted in 2018. Their debut was announced at a press conference on 17 January 2018 along with the establishment of Johnny & Ass ...

appointed as hosts.

MC

Taichi Kokubun is a Japanese keyboardist and actor. He plays keyboard for Tokio, a musical group of Starto Entertainment formerly known as Johnny & Associates. Early life Taichi Kokubun was born in Higashikurume, Tokyo. Career As an artist Before de ...

(April 2006 – March 2014) *

(April 2014 – March 2016) *

(April 2016 – March 2019) *

Kis-My-Ft2 is a six-member Japanese boy band under Starto Entertainment. They are known for their performances on roller skates. The group is named after one letter of each member's initials and after "the anecdote that tap dancer Gregory Hines kissed t ...

(April 2019 – March 2023)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Website
Johnny & Associates NHK original programming