On the heels of the previously reported official English subtitles for 11 performance videos and a brand-new English Twitter account, Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associateswill begin accepting subtitle submissions to help accommodate the needs of overseas viewers, starting with the company's flagship YouTube effort, the Johnnys' Jr. Channel.

Opened in March 2018, the Johnnys' Jr. Channel has since amassed over 1.3 billion views from across the globe, showcasing the adventures and exploits of Johnny & Associates' up-and-coming artists known as "Johnnys' Juniors." While the content is always in the boys’ native Japanese, the interest from overseas is palpable; manifesting through the hundreds of subtitle tracks in dozens of languages that had been provided previously by dedicated volunteers through YouTube's Community Translation feature. To global viewers’ dismay, the YouTube translation tool was inexplicably retired by Google around October 2020, but starting today the channel itself will be offering a way to revive it by proxy. 

Interested persons are encouraged to submit via the instructions below!

How to Submit Subtitles to the Johnnys' Jr. Channel

Step One:

Register for a free account at https://amara.org

Step Two:

Select the "Amara Public Workspace" option in the upper left navigation, and follow the instructions to add a video for which you wish to create subtitles OR help someone else finish theirs.

Step Three:

Choose your desired language from the list of options, then use Amara.org's custom software to create your subtitles. 

Step Four:

Once finished, make sure to also translate the video's title and description, then click the "Publish" button.

Step Five:

Send the Amara video URL to the below e-mail address:

[email protected]
*Please be sure to provide the specific URL of the language you have subtitled

Upon receipt, the translation will be reviewed by a dedicated staff person, and once approved the subtitles will be uploaded to the Johnnys' Jr. Channel's YouTube admin account to watch directly from YouTube!

Please note the following when submitting:

・At present, only subtitles for videos currently published to the above-listed channels can be accepted.

・Some videos may be ineligible for volunteer subtitling, at the sole discretion of the approver.

・In the event of multiple submissions for the same video and language, only one will be accepted.

・Submissions without accompanying translations of a video's title and video description may be processed with machine translation for these elements.

・Speaker prompts should be consistent as either the talent in questions’ full surname, or be left “film style” with no speaker prompts, throughout any given video.

・Changes to the service, including but not limited to the method or timeframe of submission acceptance, may be implemented without prior notice.

・All necessary measures will be taken for strict safety management so that the personal information kept will not be obtained unreasonably by a third party.

It is an exciting development and one that is sure to go a long way in bridging new global audiences with the next generation of Johnny's stars!