Former “Kanjani Eight” Shibuya Subaru posts a series of negative posts… The painful reality faced by Japanese talents who have left the group.

Former Kanjani Eight member Shibuya Subaru left the group in July ’18 and is now a solo singer-songwriter. On August 2 of this year, he updated his X (formerly Twitter) account and sent out a long message with negative words such as “It’s a deeply painful and painful night” (original text in Japanese). Shibuya suddenly let out a cry from his heart, and his followers were in an uproar, asking, “What’s going on? What happened?

Shibuya was the main vocalist of Kanjani Eight. On April 15, 2006, he held a press conference together with the members, confessing that he would like to “study music abroad and pursue my own music more deeply in the future in order to fulfill my life in music under my own responsibility. He announced that he would leave the group and leave Johnny’s office at the end of the same year.

On February 28, 2007, he opened his own official website. In the fall, he made his solo debut on Warner Music Japan’s independent label, World art. Since then, he has continued to release CDs and perform live concerts, but last May’s Shukan Bunshun (Bungeishunju) reported that his contract with Warner had ended in March of the same year. Compared to his time with Johnny’s, he has had relatively few opportunities to sing on TV music programs and has had relatively little media exposure,” says an entertainment writer.

Shibuya held its first pop-up store, “‘Suba base – The Secret base – Vol.1’ POP UP SHOP” at Tower Records Shibuya in Tokyo from August 16 to 31. To commemorate the event, a limited mini-album “ALPACA 5” will be released (pre-sold at the Tower Records Shibuya store during the period).

However, “Unless you are a fan of Shibuya or a Johnny’s fan who follows his information, almost no one knows about his current activities. Even among ex-Janis, he can hardly be called ‘successful'” (entertainment writer).

On the other hand, at 0:59 a.m. on August 2, he posted a long sentence on his X account, “People are creatures that betray and lie to others,” “Don’t underestimate Shibuya Subaru, you haven’t shown your true colors even once in your life,” “I will never trust people again, I will never trust everything in the universe, I have gained true independence, true solitude. I don’t believe in people ever again, I don’t believe in everything in the universe, I got real independence, real loneliness. It was a late-night post,

Subaru, what’s bothering you?　I don’t know how to comment. ……

You are not alone, Subaru.

I will always be on your side, and I will stand by you!

The audience voiced their concern and support.

Since leaving Johnny’s, Shibuya has been pursuing a career in music, but more than four and a half years have passed since his independence, and he has undergone some changes in his mindset. In the September 2023 issue of “BACKSTAGE PASS” magazine (Shinko Music Entertainment), now on sale, he talks about his future activities, saying, “Maybe I’ll do acting, or maybe I won’t do …… (laughs). (Laughs.) “It’s not the same as saying ‘I’ll do anything,’ but I always want to keep an open mind and do whatever I think is good,” he said.

The new coronavirus has been spreading since ’20, and I guess I’ve had time to look at myself. He told us that he had developed a desire to ‘do things without boundaries’ other than music. In an interview in “STAGE navi vol. 82” (Sankei Shinbun Publishing), he also shared his true feelings about his acting career.

During his time at Kanjani Eight, he revealed that he thought he should “strike a good balance. If there was a member who liked acting or wanted to act in a drama, he thought that the group should respect that and never volunteered for it. But now I really want to try and do various things. So by all means (laughs)! We are waiting for you.

Also in the Kanjani Eight group, Ryo Nishikido left the office in September 2007 and became a singer-songwriter. Although his main occupation is singing, this year he appeared in the drama series “Kazoku Dake Dakara Aishita Dake Ita Kazoku” (NHKBS Premium, BS4K, aired from May to July). In the video distribution service Netflix’s original drama “Let’s Get Divorced” (available from June 22), he gave a good performance as the mysterious self-proclaimed artist Kyoji Kano, and was just talked about as “sexy as a dagger.

We can look forward to more acting work from Shibuya in the future.