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Horipro

Japanese talent agency

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
4 min read
Source updated September 11, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Horipro (株式会社ホリプロ, Kabushiki-gaisha Horipuro) is a Japanese talent agency that manages actors, entertainers and musicians, as well as commercial and television productions. It has locations in Nashville and Los Angeles in the United States.

01History

It was founded in 1960 as Hori Productions (ホリプロダクション Hori Purodakushon) and changed to its present name in 1990.

In the 1970s, Hori Productions managed singer Momoe Yamaguchi.

In 1989, Horipro purchased the publishing assets of rock band Kiss. Next, the company moved on to invest in more catalogs. A year later, HoriPro Entertainment Group opened their first U.S. location in Nashville, Tennessee. Over the years, Horipro's songwriters would go on to write hits for country musicians.

In the late 1990s, Horipro planned to create a "virtual idol", an electronic rendition using motion capture methods of Kyoko Date. The virtual idol based on Date charted in Tokyo in 1996, and provided inspiration for the character of Idoru in William Gibson's eponymous novel.

In 2006, Horipro's first Los Angeles location opened. The company's catalog has expanded to include over 13,000 songs in each major genre. HEG's Los Angeles location is in partnership with Horipro Music Academy, a music enrichment school for children. Additionally, HEG Los Angeles began MusicTaste, a boutique artist development label that is placed within the publishing company. MusicTaste's artists include Matt Palmer and Dori Caymmi.

Horipro contracted with MediaHorse, an American music licensing and marketing firm, in 2015 for synchronization licensing in the United States. Horipro sold HoriPro Entertainment Group to Mojo Music & Media in 2019.

Former headquarters in Meguro.
Former headquarters in Meguro.

02Notable talents

Female talents

Male talents

Comedians

Solo

Duo

Musical artists

Athletes

Others

03Former Horipro artists

Watch videos about HoriproExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Horipro”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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