Saito Eisuke is a legendary Japanese producer who was the director of a huge music company, Amuse. Among the Japanese artists, he was closely working with such stars as Southern All Stars, Mari Hamada, Mariko Takahashi, Yasuko Agawaand, etc. He was also heavily involved in the expansion of Korean music in Japan. After working in several large music companies, producing for an impressive number of artists, Saito Eisuke became the Deputy General Manager of Fu Shide Investment Co., Ltd. in 2020. 

Back in 2014, Saito Eisuke was the person who agreed to help BTS with their expansion in Japan. In the credits to BTS's first Japanese album, 'Wake Up,' Saito Eisuke is designated as the General Producer. The interviewers can't help but keep asking the legendary producer, who played a significant role in the expansion of K-pop in Japan, about his experience of working with BTS. Besides that, his opinion on the success of spreading the Hallyu wave. 

Recently, an interview about his experience working with BTS was published in the Japanese best-selling book 'Legendary Producers Leading the World". In the interview, he talked about the story of meeting BTS for the first time. One day in 2014, Bang Si-hyuk reached out to him and asked to see BTS when Saito Eisuke happened to be in Seoul. They performed a couple of songs in front of him too. The producer decided to give them a chance in Japan and signed a contract with BigHit. He also shared a story of about 10 different companies turning BTS down because of them not being a group from the Big3 and due to not liking their name, 'Bulletproof Boys.' But in the end, BTS had their first concert in Japan, and it was more successful than they expected it to be! As we know now, they've become the most successful K-pop group in the Japanese market.

Saito Eisuke mentioned Jin when talking about his first impression of BTS. It got lots of attention on social media, with many people liking and retweeting his words about rookie Jin.

'Bang PD asked me to come see BTS. There were exactly 7 people. What was my first impression? I saw Jin and thought he had a popular face suitable for dramas, we call it 'an effective visual.' If you have that in your group, you can 'sell' it to Japan and it turned out to be true.'

Jin was indeed the center of attention ever since BTS debuted. He had lots of fansites at the very first BTS performance and received lots of compliments from the general public. Even back in 2014, the users on Korean forums were discussing the 'new most handsome face.' The same year as BTS made their Japanese debut, Jin went viral in Korea as the 'Car Door Guy.' Since then, Jin has constantly been going viral in multiple countries, including the USA, which helped him build the brand of 'Worldwide Handsome.' 

In Japan, Jin is one of the most popular idols. Many people have heard a popular nickname of Jin, 'King of Japanese songs.' His live vocals always receive a major positive reaction in Japan, and locals even named him the 'King of Live Vocals' back in 2021.

Besides being widely known for his outstanding visuals and constantly winning the 'Who do you think is the Most Handsome K-pop?' polls on Korean forums and social survey platforms, Jin is successful in there as a musician. The music Jin releases usually charts in the Top 10 of the biggest streaming platforms in Japan. And he happened to be the only Korean soloist to get #1 on Japanese iTunes in under 2 hours. Jin has a few entries in the Billboard Hot 100 Japan as well. His latest solo single, 'The Astronaut,' sold over 104k copies in Japan in a single day. Jin topped the Oricon sales chart and was the first foreign artist in the past 11 years to manage to do that. He also received an RIA Japan certification and became the highest-peaking K-pop soloist on the Billboard Hot 100 Japan (#4). Jin became the highest-charting K-pop soloist on the Japan Oricon Single Sales year-end chart in 2022!

Saito Eisuke concluded that his first thoughts when meeting Jin and BTS happened to be prophetic! He gave BTS a chance also because of seeing great ambitions and talent in them.