BE:FIRST's JUNON Celebrates His 28th Birthday

On May 23, 2026, JUNON — a member of Japanese boy group BE:FIRST — turned 28, triggering a large-scale fan birthday campaign on X that pushed the hashtag #JUNON_HBD_28th to trending. The campaign followed a well-established J-pop fandom playbook: fans coordinate in advance to post simultaneously at midnight on the birthday, creating a sudden spike in hashtag volume that forces the tag onto trending lists. This time, over 1,600 posts appeared within hours of midnight JST, with messages ranging from hand-drawn fan art to elaborate mosaic artworks assembled from fan-submitted photos.

BE:FIRST is one of Japan's most prominent current boy groups, and JUNON is noted within the fandom for his activities across music, modeling, and acting. Fan posts repeatedly highlighted excitement about his expanding career, with many messages referencing his acting work and expressing anticipation for future projects. The turtle emoji 🐢 functions as JUNON's unofficial fan symbol and appeared in nearly every birthday post, a small but telling sign of how tightly organized the fan community is.

Fan-organized content went beyond simple text posts. One fan account shared a mosaic art piece created from photos submitted by the community and directed it at BE:FIRST's official accounts. Another fan posted a handmade birthday cake — a blue strawberry shortcake described as gluten-free and free of artificial coloring — as a personal tribute.

What to watch next: JUNON's birthday posts often hint at upcoming projects, and fan attention will likely shift to any official announcements from BE:FIRST or their management label BMSG in the days following the celebration. The volume and organization of this campaign also signals that BE:FIRST's international fanbase continues to grow, making future releases and appearances worth tracking for J-pop followers outside Japan.