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May 03, 2024
 

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SMAP

Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 19, 2017
Three former SMAP singers to leave talent agency in September
Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Shingo Katori, three former members of the ultrapopular boy band SMAP, will leave their management company, Johnny & Associates, in September, the agency said.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Dec 30, 2016
The top entertainment stories of 2016
The Japan Times newsroom selected these culture stories as the most important of 2016.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 30, 2016
Fans send message to SMAP in newspaper ad before group's breakup
Thousands of fans of SMAP, one of Japan's most popular pop groups that is set to break up as the year ends, placed a newspaper advertisement on Friday pledging to keep rooting for their idols.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 27, 2016
SMAP makes final appearance on signature variety show before breakup
SMAP made its final appearance as a group Monday ahead of its planned breakup Saturday, on the final episode of the pop act's signature variety show.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 25, 2016
Love 'em or hate 'em, the end of SMAP marks the end of an era
The Olympics have always been popular in Japan, and this year's games in Rio de Janeiro were no exception. While NHK was broadcasting the games in the early hours of Aug. 14, a breaking news message flashed across the screen: "SMAP to disband Dec. 31."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 24, 2016
SMAP shuns NHK 'Kohaku' request, opts for signature variety show for band's final appearance
SMAP turns down a request to appear on NHK's famous year-end music program, opting instead for their signature variety show to be their final appearance before breaking up.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 18, 2016
Japan's pop music scene saw a power struggle in 2016
Media, both domestic and overseas, spent a lot of time focused on the streaming services arriving in Japan in 2016. Months of "Can these platforms thrive in CD-loving Japan?" speculation reached a climax in September, when global market leader Spotify finally debuted here. There was a big press conference, launch parties and one final flurry of articles pondering if this could be the sea change so many thirst for in the country's music industry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 12, 2016
SMAP fans collect 370,000 signatures to urge breakup rethink
A group of avid fans of SMAP has collected 373,515 signatures in Japan and abroad to petition the pop group's members to change their mind about breaking up at the end of this year.
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.
Japan Times
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.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Sep 21, 2016
SMAP to tempt fans with greatest hits album days before split
Boy band phenomenon SMAP will release a greatest hits album on Dec. 21, just 10 days before the now-aging outfit disbands, the group's record company said Wednesday.
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
Sep 10, 2016
SMAP fans celebrate band's 25th anniversary with pleas not to break up
Fans of the now middle-aged boy band SMAP, set to break up at the end of this year, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the release of the group's first single on Friday by begging the band to continue in personal ads in newspapers across the country.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 20, 2016
Kimura apologizes for SMAP breakup
A core member of the five-man pop group SMAP has offered an apology for the band's decision to break up on Dec. 31 after more than a quarter of a century together.
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.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 24, 2016
2003 SMAP single tops chart after massive purchases by fans fearing group's breakup
A single CD that the Japanese pop group SMAP released in 2003 ranked No. 1 on a Japanese hit chart Friday after fans alarmed by news of the group's possible breakup launched a campaign to buy it to express their support for the band, the music information provider Oricon Inc. said Saturday.
Japan Times
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 known by her nickname, Becky. Since the beginning of the year, Becky's storied charms had been sullied by her alleged affair with married pop singer Enon Kawatani of the group Gesu no Kiwami Otome, a scandal the press gleefully pursued.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

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