is a Japanese singer and actor. He debuted as a member and vocal leader of the Japanese boy band JO1 in 2020, after placing ninth in the first season of Produce 101 Japan. He was featured in SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]'s single "Outsiders" in 2022 and the Japanese voice dub for Jonathan in Snow White (2025).
Early life and education Junki Kono was born on January 20, 1998, in Nara, Japan. As a child, he played football for his local Heguri Football Club. In 2018, he joined Horyuji Football Club as a midfielder. That same year, their team won the Kansai qualifying round of the 25th National Club Team Football Championships on September 9.
Kono graduated from the Faculty of Policy Studies at Doshisha University. While attending university, he worked part-time as a security staff member at a concert venue, an experience that reinforced his desire to pursue a career as a singer.
Alongside his native Japanese, Kono is learning Korean.
Career 2019–2021: Produce 101 Japan and debut with JO1 After graduation, Kono was job hunting and had received an offer, which he turned down to participate in Produce 101 Japan, a reality competition show that's a spin-off of the South Korean Produce 101 franchise. In September 2019, Kono auditioned for the show as part of the audition group Six Packs. The show ended in December, where he finished in ninth place with 159,057 votes.
After undergoing training in Korea, Kono debuted in the resulting group JO1 on March 4, 2020, through the release of their first single Protostar under Lapone Entertainment. In December, he appeared on The First Take, performing an acoustic version of "Infinity" and "Voice" from Protostar and the group's first studio album, The Star. Both performances were released as digital singles on January 13, 2021.
2022–present: Solo activities and acting debut In April 2022, he had a regular role as a student on NHK-E's , a Korean learning show. In May, Kono co-wrote the song "Touch!" for JO1's second studio album Kizuna, and was featured alongside bandmate Sho Yonashiro on SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]'s single "Outsiders", the ending theme song of the anime Fanfare of Adolescence.
In 2023, Kono co-wrote the song "NEWSmile" for JO1's third studio album Equinox. It was used as the theme song of the morning news show . On August 22, it was announced that Kono and bandmate Keigo Sato were cast as MCs of the two-episode television program Case Study - Forbidden Love Experiment, a part of Fuji TV's program slot .
In 2024, Kono was appointed as a cast member of TBS Television's show , where he appeared every Thursday from April to June. From June to September, Kono played Iida Tomohiro in the drama My Girlfriend's Child, which was broadcast on Kansai TV and Fuji TV. The drama is based on the eponymous manga series by Mamoru Aoi, where Tomohiro is one of the main character's classmates.
In 2025, Kono did the Japanese dub for the role of Jonathan in the film Snow White. and co-wrote the JO1 digital single "Be Brave!" for the live action adaptation of Bad Boys. In the following year, Kono was named Mezamashi TVs monthly entertainment presenter for the month of June 2026. He later hosted Abema's original documentary program Celeb Secret alongside Rino Sashihara. Kono co-wrote the lead track of JO1's upcoming eleventh single, "Ignite", which will serve as the opening theme song for the fourth season of Tokyo Revengers.
Endorsements In March 2026, 's skin care brand Hada to Kokoro appointed Kono as a brand ambassador.
Discography
Singles As lead artist + Title Year Peak chart positionSales Album JPNDLPeaks on the Billboard Japan Download Songs chart: "Infinity" (無限大) (from The First Take), "Voice" (君の声) (from The First Take): "Singing in the Rain": "Infinity" () 202173 rowspan="2" rowspan="3" "Voice" ()79 "Singing in the Rain" 2025 44 JPN: 846
As a featured artist + Title YearPeak chart position Sales Album JPN "Outsiders" 2022 25 JPN: 2,709 V
Guest appearances + Title Year Other artist(s) Album "Princess Problems" 2025 Sakura KiryuDisney's Snow White (Japanese Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) "A Hand Meets a Hand" "Life Still Goes On" 2026 Rihito Ikezaki Deep Blue Hours
Songwriting credits All song credits are adapted from the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers's database, unless otherwise noted. When searching, put "JUNKI" or "KONO JUNKI" under 著作者名 (Author's name) and "LAPONEエンタテインメント" under 出版者名 (Publisher's name). +Key Indicates single Indicates a non-commercial release
+ Title Year Artist(s) Album Lyrics Music Credit With Credit With "Touch!" 2022 JO1 Kizuna Jinli (Fullbloom) colspan=2 "NEWSmile" 2023 Equinox Syoya, Sukai, Sho, Shosei colspan=2 "Love All Star" 2024 JO1, INI, DXTeen Sukai, Hiromu, Koshin, Ken colspan=2 "Lemon Candy" JO1 Hitchhiker Yuki Kokubo, Yhel, Jung Yong-hwa colspan=2 "Singing in the Rain" 2025 Junki colspan=2 "Bon Voyage" JO1Be Classic Masami Kakimuma Ren, Syoya "Be Brave!" Sukai colspan=2 "Slow" 2026 Junki, Sukai Kotomi Fukagawa, Masami Kakinuma colspan=2 "Ignite" JO1 AAO Syoya, Kohei Abe, N1ko colspan=2
Filmography
Television series + Year Title Role Note 2022 Short Program Wataru Matsumura Lead role; anthology series 2024 My Girlfriend's Child Iida Tomohiro
Television shows Year Title Role Note 2019 Produce 101 Japan Contestant Finished 9th 2020 Assistant 2022–2023 Student Cast member 2023 Case Study - Forbidden Love Experiment Host Part of 2024 Himself Cast member Narrator 2025 The Comedy Dual 2025 Narrator 2026 Mezamashi TV Host of the month For June 2026 Celeb Secret Host Documentary program
Japanese dub Year Title Role Voice double 2025 Snow White Jonathan Andrew Burnap
Music videos As lead artist + Title Year Director "Singing in the Rain" 2025 Karin Takeda As featured artist + Title Year Other artist(s) Director "Outsiders" 2022 SawanoHiroyuki[nZk], Sho Yonashiro Takuya Oyama
Hosting Year TitleNotes 2023 KCON 2022 JapanWith New Jeans' Minji and NU'EST's Hwang Min-hyun
Footnotes
References
External links Official website