Kono Junki

## Produce 101 Japan

**Kono Junki** (河野 純喜; born January 20, 1998) is a Japanese singer and member of the Japanese boy group JO1. He rose to prominence after participating in the reality competition show *Produce 101 Japan*, where he ranked 9th.

## Early life

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

Before participating in *Produce 101 Japan*, Kono was in his final year of university and had just started looking for a job. He majored in policy study.

## 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.

He also participated at the group's first pre-debut fanmeeting on January 31, 2020 at Pacifico Yokohama. The group also held another fanmeeting at Osaka Orix Theater from February 18 to February 20, 2020.

### 2020-present: Debut with JO1, *Protostar*, *Stargazer*, and *The Star*

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

The group returned with their second single album *Stargazer* on August 26, 2020. As part of his promotions with JO1, he performed at the 31st Mynavi Tokyo Girls Collection 2020 Autumn/Winter 2020, the largest fashion event in Japan. The group was also scheduled to perform at KCON 2020 JAPAN's main event *KCON 2020 JAPAN x M COUNTDOWN* on April 4, 2020 at Makuhari Messe. Since the event was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak, they instead attended KCON:TACT 2020 SUMMER for a Meet&Greet, making them the first Japanese boy group to ever participate in the convention. They also performed at KCON:TACT Season 2 from October 16 to October 25, 2020.

On November 25, 2020, the group released their first full-length album *The Star*. They are also scheduled to hold their first solo online concert, *Starlight*, on December 19, 2020.

## Trivia

* His name is written with the kanji for "river" ("河"; *ko*), "field" ("野"; *no*), "innocence" ("純"; *jun*) and "rejoice" ("喜"; *ki*).
* His hobbies are muscle training, running, travelling, and shogi.
* His special skills are playing soccer, speaking English, and doing imitations, especially Disney ones.
* He said that if he got into the Top 11 on *Produce 101 Japan*, he'd hold a carbonara party because he loves carbonara and wants everyone to enjoy it with him.
* 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.

## Notes

1. ↑ Written in Katakana (ジュンキ), it is his childhood nickname, which he revealed for JO1's Children's Day posts on social media.

## 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 YouTube — 1st Fanmeeting at Pacifico Yokohama (removed, now only available through the official fanclub)
7. ↑ JO1 Official Website — JO1 1ST FANMEETING Details decided! Pre-registration for JO1 Official Fan Club has started!
8. ↑ JO1 1ST FANMEETING @ Osaka Venue Lottery Bonus: Invite "Meet & Greet"
9. ↑ JO1 Official Instagram — JO1 「PROTOSTAR」2020.03.04 Debut
10. ↑ JO1 Official Website — JO1 debut single "PROTOSTAR" singer photos and jacket photos published
11. ↑ JO1 Official Instagram — JO1 2ND SINGLE 『STARGAZER』 2020.08.26 Release
12. ↑ JO1 Official Website — The second single "STARGAZER" will be released on August 26! (20/08/06：forTUNE music Third reception update)
13. ↑ Girlswalker Official Website — 2020 Autumn/Winter 2020 Artists
14. ↑ JO1 Official Website — "KCON 2020 JAPAN x M COUNTDOWN" 4/4 (Sat) appearance decision
15. ↑ JO1 Official Website — JO1 "KCON: TACT 2020 SUMMER" Meet&Greet appearance decision
16. ↑ Oricon — JO1、『KCON』初出演 日本人ボーイズグループで初の快挙 豆原一成「これからも出続けられるように」
17. ↑ JO1 Official Website — Information on "KCON: TACT season2" appearance decision
18. ↑ JO1 Official Website — 1ST ALBUM "The STAR" to be released on November 25!
19. ↑ JO1 Official Website — JO1's first online solo live "STARLIGHT" will be held!
20. ↑ *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