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JUNON
Biography
Discography
Publications

JUNON (ジュノン), birth name Ikegame Junon (池亀樹音), is a Japanese singer and dancer under Japanese management company BMSG as a member of BE:FIRST, a boy group selected by SKY-HI at the end of the audition show THE FIRST. He made his debut with the group in November 2021.
Before joining BMSG, Junon was a member of K-pop group VERMUDA.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

JUNON's love for music began when he was a little boy, as he comes from a musical family: both of his parents play instruments, his father was in a band and took him to his gigs often, and his little sister plays guitar and started a career as a singer-songwriter[1]. He cites his biggest musical influences to be Japanese pop-rock band TUBE and Japanese co-ed group AAA, of which SKY-HI is a member[1].

Despite this huge exposure to music, JUNON never learned to play any instruments and never took singing or dancing lessons either. Instead, his childhood dream was to be a football player and he devoted his youth to playing the sport, which he started in his elementary school years and stopped after his high school graduation[2].

After giving up on his football dream, JUNON attended a university. While he dabbled a little on music related activities during his college years, none were successful, so he thought he would just give up on music as well and get a normal job after graduating[1]. However, he realized that his life was his and his alone, so he should go for what he wanted, and signed up for THE FIRST audition as his last shot in the industry[1]. Even so, he already had a job line up and had even attended orientation for the new recruits by the time he passed the third round of the audition[3], and had to turn the offer down in order to participate in the fourth[4].

2018-2019[]

Junon Vermuda

JUNON in VERMUDA, October 2018

In July 2018, Junon auditioned to be a member of the K-pop group VERMUDA.
On September 25, it was announced that he had won and was now a part of the group. [5]. However, the group disbanded in early 2019 and Junon never got to take part in any official activities.
In July 2019, he took part in the stage plays "Owari no Hajimari ni"/"Hajimari no Owari ni". [6][7]

2021[]

Junon February2021

JUNON in THE FIRST, February 2021

Junon March2021

JUNON in THE FIRST, March 2021

Junon Shining One

JUNON promoting Shining One

In 2021, Junon auditioned for SKY-HI's THE FIRST and passed the Quality screening in Tokyo (conducted in-person) with "Yuki no Hana" by Nakashima Mika (vocal performance). He ranked 23rd out of 30. [8]


In THE FIRST Artisism screening, Junon sang Nanairo Holiday by SKY-HI and was placed in Team F (with Kanshuji Tamotsu, Kamimura Leo, Nakagami Asahi, and Kinoshita Hiromu) to perform "Beautiful Now" by w-inds. At the end of the 3rd round, he ranked 11th, successfully continuing on to the training camp.

In the training camp Creativity screening, Junon was placed in Team B with Shunsuke, Ryoki, Ran, and Ryuhei. The song they created in this round is titled "Good Days". Junon ranked 9th after this round.

In the training camp Professional screening, Junon was placed in Team Be Free with Leo, Sota, Manato, Reiko and Rui. They performed Be Free, and Junon ranked 7th after this round.

In the training camp VS. Pro Artist screening, Junon performed To The First together with the remaining 10 THE FIRST members. He was the final contestant (ranked 10th) confirmed as the finalist of THE FIRST.

After a one month break from the training camp, Junon and the other finalists returned to the same location to prepare for the final round. Junon was placed in Team Shining, and performed Shining One with Shota, Sota, Manato, and Ryuhei.

In the Creative NEO screening, he teamed up with Leo and Ryoki to form "Club JRL". The song they created for this round is "Lonely Night", with instrumentals of "Stray Cat" by SKY-HI working as the backing track.

On August 13, Junon was chosen to be the fifth member of BE:FIRST. [9] On August 16, BE:FIRST released its pre-debut single, Shining One. On November 3, BE:FIRST released its debut single, Gifted.
In November, Junon modeled for FIDES×FIRSTORDER [10]

2022-2024[]

Junon Syuman

JUNON for Syuman, March 2022

On March 18, Junon made his debut as a runway model in the SYUMAN. | Animus. AUTUMN/WINTER 2022-23 Runway Collection “Listen to your Eyes” show.
On September 18, 2022 he released New Chapter as a part of BMSG ALLSTARS.

On September 18,2023 he released The Sun from the EAST as part of BMSG EAST.

On April 4, 2024 he and LEO were announced as narrators for NTV's short documentary series My Turning Point ~Mirai ni Idomu Boukenshatachi~ starting in April 5.

On April 24, 2024 he will release his solo song Nova Flame 〜One of the BE:ST-01 JUNON〜 as the fourth track on BE:FIRST's fifth single Masterplan.

On September 18, he released Glitch as a member of BMSG GAIA.
On November 26, he participated in BMSG presents THE GAME CENTER, BMSG's first ever Sports Day event, as part of team Red Pixels.

2025[]

In the spring he will set out on his first word tour with BE:FIRST.

Personal Life[]

JUNON's father was in a band and is a football coach[1].

He has a little sister, Remi, younger by one and a half years, who is active as a singer-songwriter going by the name of Remifa#[11]. He is also cousins with model and actress Shimamura Miyako[12] and professional football player Shimamura Yushi[13].

His family keeps a male Jack Russel Terrier named Renon.[14]

On April 30, 2020, his pet dog and parakeet died when his house burned down. Later that year, his grandmother also passed away. [15]

In March 2017, Junon graduated from high school.

In March 2021, Junon graduated from university. He had a job lined up, but decided to decline the offer in order to participate in THE FIRST.

  • RYUHEI: he started getting close to BE:FIRST member RYUHEI through gaming
  • RYOKI: he started getting close to BE:FIRST member RYOKI through THE FIRST Creativity Screening and spending long hours in the hot springs during THE FIRST Training Camp, as well as going shopping
  • MANATO: he started getting close to BE:FIRST member MANATO through shopping

  • Junon-kun (じゅのんくん): most common nickname
  • J (ジェイ): used by BMSG artists
  • Juju (ジュジュ): used by international fans
  • Jukkun (じゅっくん): used by edhiii boi

Junon's given name, "樹音", means "wood" (樹) and "sound" (音). Since both of his parents are musicians, they gave him this particular name in the hopes that he would be the sound (音) of the world ("樹" (ju) has a similar pronunciation to 'center', "中心" ('chuu'shin) in Japanese).

Profile[]

  • Birth Name: Ikegame Junon (池亀樹音)
  • Stage Name: JUNON (ジュノン)
  • Nicknames: Junon-kun (じゅのんくん), J (ジェイ)?
  • Birth Date: May 23, 1998 (1998-05-23) (age 26)
  • Birth Place: Tokyo, Japan
  • Blood Type: A
  • Height: 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)?
  • Western Zodiac: Gemini Gemini
  • Eastern Zodiac: Tiger Tiger
  • Emoji: 🐢
  • BMSG Status:
    • 2021-08-13: Joined
    • 2021-08-13: BE:FIRST member
  • BMSG Groups:
  • BMSG Units:

  • Special Skills: soccer, singing, making faces for photoshoots
  • Hobbies: playing games (Overwatch), watching movies (sci-fi and horror), singing
  • Favorite artists: TUBE, keshi, Michael Jackson[16], TWICE [17]
  • Favorite Movies: The Truman Show, Forrest Gump, Yes Man
  • Favorite Food: Grilled meat
  • Favorite Jewelry: jewelry he can build outfits around[18]
  • His "song of destiny": "Kitto Dokokade" by TUBE, the first song that moved him to tears when he heard it live. [19]
  • Healing Moment: sauna[20]
  • Energy Level: Gets more energetic starting at 5 p.m., peaks around 12 a.m. to 2 a.m.
  • 3 horror films he recommends: "The Visit", "Get Out", "Us"
  • A country he wants to go to right now: Europe (the continent) and United States (Las Vegas)
  • Something he would do 800 times: live performing, because it allows him to let himself go and he enjoys it a lot [21]
  • Something he doesn't want to do, even if he's asked 800 times: walking around Shibuya in costume on a weekday [21]
  • Something he would buy if he had 800 yen: fast food [21]
  • Memorable summer songs: Somebody To You by The Vamps (he listened to it on his way to and from school during summer club activities), Natsu wo Dakishimete by TUBE and Dance The Night Away by TWICE [22]
  • Role of Jewelry: it raises his spirits [18]
  • Memorable Christmas Memory: spending Christmas at his English conversation class, but not liking the gift exchange because he never got what he wanted[18]
  • If he could spend Christmas with BE:FIRST: rent a big cottage and relax[18]
  • 2022 was: the most intense year of his life[18]

Discography[]

During the audition JUNON participated in each of below performance screenings:

  • Creativity
    • Team B
    • Song: Good Days
  • Professional Trial Stage - Be Free vs Move On
    • Team Be Free
  • Vs Professional Artist
  • Creativity NEO
    • Group name: Club JRL (JUNON, RYOKI, LEO)
    • Song: Lonely Night
  • Final Screening - Team Shining vs Team One
    • Team Shining

Live Events[]

Other Works[]

  • [2022.12.22] Sukkiri / NTV
  • [2024.07.06] Going! Sports&News / NTV


Featured
Collaborations

  • [2019.05] MEDVECH
  • [2021.11] FIDES×FIRSTORDER
  • [2021.12] NYLON 365 Anniversary (December 2nd, 4th, 12th, 14th, 25th, and 26th)
  • [2022.03.18] SYUMAN. | Animus. AUTUMN/WINTER 2022-23 Runway Collection “Listen to your Eyes”
  • [2022.11] FILA Brand Ambassador (as BE:FIRST)
  • [2022.11] Swarvoski Brand Ambassador (as BE:FIRST)

  • [2019.07.10-15] "Owari no Hajimari ni"/"Hajimari no Owari ni". [23]

Publications[]

  • [2022.02.18] BARFOUT! vol. 318
  • [2022.11.03] Sports Graphic Number (with SKY-HI)
  • [2023.01.30] ROCKIN'ON JAPAN - March 2023 issue
  • [2023.07.22] SPUR - September 2023 issue

Trivia[]

  • Junon doesn't really have a sweet tooth, but he started loving sweets through the local foods they got to try during the BE:FIRST 1st One Man Tour “BE:1” 2022-2023. [24]
  • In his last year of middle school, Junon was around 178cm. Junon grew the most in height when he was 14, during the summer of his second year in middle school.[25]
  • His childhood dream was to be a football player. He played the sport throughout his school years (from elementary school until graduating from high school). He originally wanted to play baseball, but his parents asked him to try soccer and he loved it. He ended up being a part of three different teams and playing six days a week. He tried joining his middle school's soccer club but he didn't like the strict senior-junior relationship.[2]
    • His favorite football related memory is going to Brazil with his team and scoring a goal against the Palmeiras Junior team in a game.[2]
    • His favorite players are the Brazil national team players, in particular Kaka and Ronaldinho. [2]
    • He became stronger through the sport, both mentally and physically. [2]
  • He can speak some Korean and English
  • JUNON thinks he was able to improve his dancing so much in such a short amount of time due to the fact that he was able to learn from industry professionals such as s**t kingz since the beginning. [1]
  • Junon was the only contestant from THE FIRST to perform a song by a female artist in THE FIRST Quality screening round.
  • Junon's in-ear monitors have black pearls in them because he thought they were cute and since they reflect color, they go with every outfit. He also chose to have the BE:FIRST logo in a big size. His in-ears match with RYUHEI's white pearl in-ears. [26]
  • Since debuting, his hair grew longer and he lost 10kg. [27]
  • Junon thinks BE:FIRST's strength lies in that the members get along well and are close with each other[28]
  • He used to have BBQs with his friends every summer, but he wouldn't cook anything. He would only eat. [22]
  • He loves k-pop girl group TWICE. He started listening to them in 2017, around the time of their Japanese debut, due to a college friend's recommendation. He's gone to all of their concerts in Japan and has seen them live in Korea as well. He loves the catchiness of their music and the friendship between the members. [22] [17]
  • The hardest part of THE FIRST for him was saying goodbye to eliminated members. [29]


Honorary Titles[]

Honorary Titles
Preceded by
First
Oldest member of BE:FIRST
August 13, 2021 – Present
(3 Years, 5 Months, 7 Days)
Succeeded by
Incumbent

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 NHK - Live Yell x Kimi Koe Radio Special Talk. 2024/05/03.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Number - 祝・BE:FIRSTデビュー1周年! 生みの親SKY-HIとメンバーJUNONがサッカーから学んだこと「BMSGサッカー部を作りますか!」
  3. Ano Hi no THE FIRST #12
  4. BMSG Audition 2021 -THE FIRST- #16-1 / VS Professional Artist
  5. https://twitter.com/_ye_ji_ap_sa/status/1044584497402961920?s=20
  6. https://twitter.com/rodony66/status/1151419544008658944
  7. https://twitter.com/yoshi777888/status/1152124331155058688
  8. THE FIRST Audition page
  9. https://youtu.be/30lDQin6VfI
  10. BE:FIRST Twitter
  11. Junon's Twitter
  12. Shimamura Miyako instagram
  13. Shimamura Miyako Instagram
  14. Shimamura Miyako's YouTube Channel
  15. THE FIRST #19
  16. Bandwagon
  17. 17.0 17.1 Modelpress - BE:FIRST・JUNON、TWICEの熱烈ファンだった「大学時代はしょっちゅう渡韓」
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 Harper's Bazaar - BE:FIRST、スワロフスキーのきらめきとともに 2022/11/18
  19. The Television - BE:FIRSTのチームワークの秘訣は?「年齢を感じさせないグループ」<インタビュー> 2021/10/07
  20. Yahoo! Japan 初来日のIVEが「会いたかったです!」BE:FIRST、CRAVITYとそれぞれの色見せた「ネクステ」 2022/08/09
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 Yomiuri - 海外に僕らの音楽を ありがとう言い続けたい…BE:FIRST 視線は世界へ(後編)
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 LACHIC CENTURY SESSION
  23. https://twitter.com/fivecard0604/status/1132992363612102660
  24. BE:FIRST 1st One Man Tour "BE:1" 2022-2023 Vlog Part 5 (You're My "BESTY" #38)
  25. BESTY Q&A 2022.03.05 in BMSG [BESTY] App.
  26. ELLE Japan
  27. Glitter
  28. [Yomiuri -新曲「Bye―Good―Bye」の振り付け練習はみんなで話し合って…BE:FIRST 視線は世界へ(前編)
  29. Dwango - BE:FIRST、“頂点”を叶えるべく集まった7人「自分たちがカルチャーを作る 2021/10
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