4:26 pm - 02/17/2012
You have to suit your schedule to AKB48's unless you're SMAP or Arashi
Now that Takamina’s mom scandal seems to have lost steam, mainly due to the fact that it was not widely reported by the main media sources. People have started to wonder just how much influence Akimoto Yasushi has over the industry.
According to a source connected to the commercial industry, “AKB48’s popularity is amazing right now. When it comes to AKB, they can even take part in CMs from competing companies. For example, Oshima Yuko can be the spokesperson for company A, but she can also participate in the CM for company B as part of AKB. Take Kimutaku for example, once SMAP got the deal to appear in CMs for SoftBank, he was let go from his Fujitsu CM deal. This is how great AKB’s influence is right now.”
But instead of saying it’s AKB’s power of influence, it might be better to consider it as Akimoto Yasushi’s influence. He even has the power to influence other management agencies.
A source working with management agency said, “Right now, Watanabe Mayu is filming for her drama, even though her schedule is already super packed, her activities in AKB take priority. Her agency, Ogi Production, a super well-known management agency within Japan, has not once complained. At the same time, Maeda Atsuko is co-starring with Yamashita Tomohisa in a drama right now. When filming for a music show conflicted with filming for the drama, Yamapi, the lead, actually was forced to wait for Acchan. Akimoto even said that the only people he’d actually check schedules with are SMAP and Arashi. So basically, people have to go with his schedule, always. That’s how much power he has right now.”
source
