Kono Junki

**Kono Junki** (河野 純喜; born January 20, 1998) is a Japanese singer and member of the Japanese boy group JO1.

## Early life

Kono Junki was born on January 20, 1998 in Nara Prefecture, Japan. He has two older brothers.

Before participating in *Produce 101 Japan*, Kono was in his final year as a policy study major at Doshisha University. He had just started looking for a job and turned down an offer from Rakuten to participate in the show.

## Career

### Pre-debut: *Produce 101 Japan*

In 2019, Kono participated in the Japanese version of the reality competition show *Produce 101*, *Produce 101 Japan*. He auditioned as part of the group SIX PACKS. He received an evaluation grade of B and kept the same grade after his re-evaluation. He ended up ranking 9th with 159,057 votes, securing him a spot in the boy band JO1.

### 2020-present: Debut with JO1, *Protostar* to *Stranger*

On March 4, 2020, JO1 debuted with their first EP *Protostar*. The same day, they held their debut stage with the album's title track "Infinity" (無限大).

On December 4, 2020, he was featured on THE FIRST TAKE, where he performed a solo rendition of their debut song. A solo cover of "Voice" followed on December 16.

During their second online concert on February 20, 2021, he announced the release of their third EP *Challenger* for April 28, 2021 and was subsequently revealed to be the center for the album.

## Trivia

* His name is written with the kanji in "river" (河), "field" (野), "pure" (純) and "happiness" (喜).
* His hobbies are muscle training, running, travelling, and shogi.
* His special skills are playing soccer, speaking English, and doing imitations, especially Disney ones.
* His debut pledge for *Produce 101 Japan* was that he'd hold a carbonara party because he loves carbonara and wants everyone to enjoy it with him. He eventually fulfilled his pledge by making carbonara for all members with the help of a professional chef.
* He thinks his charm point is the wrinkles around his eyes.
* His favorite colors are blue, orange, and yellow.
* His favorite food is pasta carbonara.
* The thing he hates the most is mountain pepper.
* He thinks a person's skin is the most attractive.
* His favorite "drink" is curry rice.

## References

1. ↑ JO1 Official Instagram — JO1 Children's Day. #思い出のアルバム #のぞいてみました!
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 JO1 Official Website — Kono Junki's Profile
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 *Produce 101 Japan* Offical Website — Kono Junki's Profile
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 GYAO! Official YouTube —【JO1 HOUSE 第0話】3月4日にデビューしたJO1初のレギュラー番組！果たしてどんな番組になるのか！？│毎週木曜よる9時GYAO!で無料配信中！
5. ↑ JO1 Official Fanclub Resume
6. ↑ JO1 Official Instagram — JO1 「PROTOSTAR」2020.03.04 Debut
7. ↑ JO1 Official Website — JO1 debut single "PROTOSTAR" singer photos and jacket photos published
8. ↑ Oricon — JO1河野純喜、THE FIRST TAKE版「無限大」「Voice」音源配信決定
9. ↑ Oricon — JO1が1周年記念日に新曲ジャケ写公開&今冬ツアー決定 JAMへのメッセージも
10. ↑ Classy — JO1・河野純喜くんの素顔に迫る！「初センターはかなりのプレッシャーでした」
11. ↑ Produce 101 Japan Official YouTube — PRODUCE 101 JAPANㅣ奈良ㅣ【河野 純喜(Kono Junki)】ㅣ国民プロデューサーのみなさまへの公約
12. ↑ JO1 Official YouTube — JO1｜【公約実践 ＃5】河野純喜「カルボナーラパーティーを開く」
13. ↑ *Produce 101 Japan* Official YouTube — PRODUCE 101 JAPANㅣ奈良ㅣ【河野 純喜(Kono Junki)】チャームポイントはえくぼです！ㅣ@自己紹介\_1分PR