He may be 82 years old now, but he's still up and about. An entertainment industry insider comments: "He's still so full of energy. He's really young. He still watches the Junior kids perform on stage, and his theatrical producing ability is still irreplaceable. And the thing that he's concerned about the most right now is the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. We still don't know what he has in mind for it, but we're sure that he's all pumped up for the event. People have been talking about who will succeed him for the longest time, but the guessing games seem to have died down as of late due to this new goal that they have.".
There have already been numerous reports made about a couple of Johnny's executives struggling for control within the company, and it seems that these reports have momentarily taken a backseat thanks to this enthusiasm that Johnny himself has been showing. But the main reason why it's said that "Johnny's will cease to exist without Johnny-san himself" is because of his excellent eye for talent.
All Johnny's talents need to go through the process of becoming Juniors and build up experience through theater plays and concerts until they make their CD debut, and Johnny himself selects those Juniors.
A certain industry insider reveals: "No one in Johnny's immediately makes his full-blown debut after passing the auditions. They all get accepted with the premise that they need to undergo a development process, which naturally means that children in their pre-teens to early teens are the ones who take these auditions. But it's not easy choosing boys in their early teens as people's faces develop and change through the years. It's the same with all these former child stars who were once popular but aren't having as much luck as adults. But people have been saying that only Johnny-san has the ability to foresee how these boys will look like when they become adults. And this is a talent that no other top brass within the company possesses.".
This is also why it's said that "in the case of an unfortunate event, the agency will have no other choice but to keep on doing their business with the current crop of talents that they have, since they won't have the ability to discover new talents through auditions anymore".
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