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July 05, 2025
 

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SMAP

LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Dec 5, 2016
Let's discuss SMAP's 'Kohaku' no-show
NHK announced the lineup for the next edition of its 'Kohaku' music contest, but SMAP was not on the list.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 24, 2016
SMAP set to skip year-end 'Kohaku'
NHK announced the lineup Thursday for the 67th edition of its annual "Kohaku" year-end music contest, but the country's top boy band SMAP was not on the list.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Sep 12, 2016
Pop group SMAP to split up at year's end
Hugely popular boy band SMAP will break up at the end of the year, their management agency has announced.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 14, 2016
It's true: SMAP to split up at year's end
After a quarter-century run, the Japanese boy band SMAP has decided to call it quits on Dec. 31, its management agency said in a press release Sunday, shocking die-hard fans in Asia and around the world.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 8, 2016
'I Absolutely Love You'; 'How Do You Do, I Love You'; Toyota
Love vs. career is the theme of the new drama series "Seisei Suru Hodo Aishite Iru" ("I Absolutely Love You"; TBS, Tues., 10 p.m.), which is based on a popular manga.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 17, 2016
Breaking into and out of Japanese show biz
Eiji Uchida's scabrous new comedy about the struggles of a down-and-out indie film director, "Lowlife Love" ("Gesu no Ai"), confirms what I have known for years: Japanese show business can be brutal to the weak or clueless. They end up used and discarded, like so many human Kleenexes.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Feb 15, 2016
SMAP's 2003 single tops chart
An old CD single by SMAP returned to No. 1 in the charts as fans alarmed by news of the group's apparently imminent breakup launched a campaign to show their support for the group.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 23, 2016
SMAP dodges bullet; Becky isn't so lucky
When media leaked intelligence on Jan. 10 that eternal boy band SMAP might be dissolving, the outpouring of fan emotion overwhelmed anything else that was happening in the show business world. One person who was probably grateful for the distraction was Rebecca Eri Ray Vaughan, the TV personality better...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 19, 2016
SMAP fans relieved but perplexed by apology over rumored breakup
Exceptional TV ratings, the apparent overloading of Twitter's servers and even a comment by the prime minister show the importance that Japan placed on the announcement that SMAP isn't breaking up.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 13, 2016
SMAP may split as boy band bolts from management feud
It looks like it may be splitsville for the princes of Japanese showbiz.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 27, 2015
SMAP Bistro; Documentary 72 Hours; CM of the week: Kincho
On Monday, NHK starts a new morning drama, which means U.S. actress Charlotte Kate Fox, who played the female lead in the previous series, "Massan," will be leaving Japan soon. But before she does she has to do at least one variety show, so she'll be the guest for the regular "SMAP Bistro" segment on...
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Jul 5, 2013
Tweet Beat: ＃音楽の日, #ときレス, #シュール
A live-TV music festival, a bishi videogame boy and some surreal tweets made the top Twitter hashtags in Japan last week.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 10, 2006
SMAP's Kimutaku a different breed of idol
Six years ago this month, the public learned that Japan's most popular male showbiz personality, Takuya Kimura, was set to marry former singing idol Shizuka Kudo, already pregnant with his child at the time.
JAPAN / Media / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 23, 2001
Remembering the year that was
It's the penultimate week of the year, which means regular variety shows get to save a bit of money by looking back at the year's highlights. "Sanma's Karakuri TV" (tonight at 7, TBS), a mix-and-match assembly of out-of-studio comedy skits hosted in-studio by Osaka funnyman Sanma Akashiya, presents an...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 15, 1999
Young at heart, but never free of Johnny
On Aug. 30, former idol singer and tell-all autobiographer Hiromi Go staged an unannounced live show from the back of a tractor trailer parked near the Hachiko intersection in Shibuya. The five-minute performance, which featured four other dancers, stopped traffic and clogged up the area as pedestrians...
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Japan to require flight passengers to keep power banks within sight
The transport ministry has announced new regulations requiring flight passengers to keep power banks within sight to mitigate fire risks while on board planes.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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