en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bish%C5%8Dnen

Authoritative dictionary evidence does not support Du Fu’s "Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup" as the origin of 美少年.

• The Kotobank / 精選版 日本国語大辞典 entry for 美少年 explicitly lists 劉希夷『代悲白頭翁』 as an earlier literary source for the word.
• A primary-text copy of 劉希夷『代悲白頭翁』 contains the line 「伊昔紅顔美少年」, showing the phrase 美少年 in use there.
• Liu Xiyi (劉希夷) is dated by Kotobank/Britannica to 651–680?, which is earlier than Du Fu (712–770). So even within the Tang dynasty, the attested use in Liu Xiyi predates Du Fu.

It looks like the article may be confusing the general word 美少年 with the sake brand Bishōnen: on the same Kotobank page, the separate sake entry says that brand name derives from Du Fu’s poem. That does not make Du Fu’s poem the origin of the general term.

This statement is too late by more than two centuries.

The Kotobank / 精選版 日本国語大辞典 entry for 美少年 gives:

• an initial Japanese example from 『心友記』 (1643): 「大唐四百余州にかくれなき美少年…」
• another example from 『私可多咄』 (1671)

Those dated attestations show the term was already in use in the early Edo period, long before the Meiji era (1868–1912). So the article’s wording that the term itself "arose in the Meiji era" is factually incorrect.

A narrower claim that the word changed function or was reframed in the Meiji period might be arguable, but the article as written says the term arose then, which is contradicted by the historical dictionary record.

The article states a very specific age rule — "only to boys under 18" — but reliable reference works do not support that cutoff.

• In a peer-reviewed article on the concept, Masafumi Monden writes that bishōnen beauty is embodied "not only by adolescent boys but also by young men" and that the term has been used in its literal sense as "any beautiful young man." That directly contradicts a hard under-18 limit.
• The Kotobank dictionary entry for 美少年 defines it as a beautiful boy, but also lists 美青年 and 美男子 among related/synonymous terms; it does not give an under-18 rule. So the article’s categorical age cutoff is stronger than the lexicographic evidence supports.

In short, bishōnen is often boyish in nuance, but the claim that original Japanese usage applies only to males under 18 is too absolute and is contradicted by scholarly descriptions of the term’s literal use.

This sentence is no longer factually correct as written.

According to the company’s own October 2, 2023 announcement:

• Johnny & Associates changed its name to SMILE-UP. effective October 17, 2023.
• SMILE-UP. said it would specialize in compensation and victim relief, not continue as the talent agency described here.
• The same announcement said a new company would be established for talent activities.

STARTO ENTERTAINMENT’s official December 8, 2023 notice then announced that new company and explained that it would handle talent/artist management and support talent activities.

So the present-tense statement that Johnny & Associates is a male talent agency specializing in producing male idols is outdated: the company was renamed, and the talent-management role moved to STARTO ENTERTAINMENT.