Johnny Kitagawa
In 2003, Johnny Kitagawa formed Kanjani Eight using the top Kansai Jrs. He decided to have Shibutani sing enka and debut Kanjani Eight with him as lead singer. In August 2004, the group released its first single, Naniwa Iroha Bushi, an enka song infused with rap. The single made it to No. 8 on the Oricon singles chart despite its Kansai-limited release. This was followed by a nationwide release the following month that shot Naniwa to the top of the chart. Shibutani and his fellow members learned about their official debut through the newspapers.