2024 Has been a fantastic year, Ae! group (Aぇ! group)!

Not only are they the first to debut under the newly restructured STARTO ENTERTAINMENT (Formerly Johnny & Associates), but their debut music video,《A》BEGINNING, is a YouTube hit! A physical release of the single drops next month, and the group is also gearing up for their first national tour since their debut.  

If that wasn’t enough, leader Ken Kojima has also taken on the role of director/producer for the Kansai juniors’ YouTube channel. Despite his busy schedule, he took a few minutes out of his day to share his thoughts with me on this new role.

What do you feel the biggest challenge is as a producer after being a talent?

Ever since we first started making content for the Junior CHANNEL, I always wanted to focus on doing my best; not just for myself but for and as a member of Ae! group, and also out of respect for the staff who work so hard to put it all together. So I guess now that I’m on that latter side of things as a producer I want to help support that same personal determination in the Kansai Junior talent I’m working with. Trying to always bring out the best in people can be a challenge at times, but it’s incredibly rewarding to see it pay off; something I’m especially familiar with coming off of “Come Visit! Minami Laughing Street.” 

How did you tackle it?

Every single one of the Kansai Juniors has such unique individual personalities and strengths. If I work hard enough for them, and they work hard enough for the viewers, I know it will be successful. This current project is just temporary, but I’d love to end up as one of the main producers going forward if it all works out and I really think this is a step toward that. We all want to work together to be “one family” in everything we do.

The first video just premiered – 16 April at 2000 (JST) – with new videos following every week at the same time/channel. 

More  Ae! group / STARTO ENTERTAINMENT soon so… 

Stay Tuned!