Some say, “It’s just like a big announcement…” A clear reason why “SMAP-ism” lives on even after the inexcusable breakup drama.

In the previous article, “[The Day a Star of the Heisei Era Was Born] The Unwritten Rules of Johnny’s, ” we discussed how SMAP paved a new path for “middle-aged idols” and rose to become one of the leading groups of the Heisei era on April 15, 1996.

The “SMAP-isms” were beaten down and…

August 13, 2016, 9 p.m.–I was contacted by several entertainment media outlets on my old Twitter page <reported in tomorrow’s sports paper! and confirmed> that SMAP was breaking up. The response was huge. ＜It’s a hoax. ＞＜If it’s a hoax, apologize! ＞The replies were harsh and flooded in.

The mass media had not yet announced the breakup, and it was at that point. I was the only one who sent out a personal tweet. I got the information by contacting people I knew in the entertainment industry.
<I am sorry that I cannot tell the truth to all SMAP fans at this time,> said one reporter, crying in frustration.

The next day, all the sports newspapers carried front-page headlines about SMAP’s breakup. I was astonished at this. The Rio Olympics were underway, and it was the day after a Japanese athlete won a gold medal. The newspaper skipped over that and put the story on the front page of all the newspapers side by side, as instructed by Johnny’s. It was as if they were under the direction of the Omoto Management during the war. It was just like a wartime announcement by the Japanese Imperial Headquarters. And not a single person was informed in advance. I was astonished at the tremendous control of information by the Johnny’s’s empire.

After that, I received many requests for interviews. My critical comments about Johnny’s appeared in the Asahi Shimbun and the New York Times. At the time, I believe that I was the only person in the major media outlets who was outspokenly critical of Johnny’s, along with the journalist Soichiro Matsutani.

＜I recently received a reply to my tweet at the time that said, “I believe that an idol culture that neglects its fans will surely perish. Yes, seven years have passed since then, and Johnny’s has disappeared. This is the curse of SMAP…the so-called “7-year killing.

SMAP is not just an idol. It is a way of life. ＜They do not have to be number one. This is not the same as the postwar period of rapid economic growth, when people aimed to be number one in terms of GNP.

Takuya Kimura is a star, but he is not a big star like Yujiro Ishihara or Hibari Misora. He is one-of-a-kind, just like the rest of us. Just like us.

The members of SMAP are the junior baby boomers born in the 70’s, the last volume zone of our country’s population. In every city in Japan, there will be friends with SMAP-like relationships.

Usually we are separated, but we are connected through social networking sites (not SMAP✕SMAP). Sometimes they come together, join forces, and shine as one of a kind. I would like to call such “SMAP-ism,” the best spirit of the Heisei era, “SMAP-ism. But it was cruelly crushed. ＜The “SMAP-ism” was defeated.

In August, when SMAP’s breakup was announced, His Majesty the Emperor conveyed his “feelings” to the people in his own voice. He expressed his intention to abdicate before his death. However, SMAP did not hold a breakup concert or even a press conference. Their voices are not heard. Is the Johnny’s’s office even more untouchable than the Imperial Family?

The conflict that Kimutaku was facing

Since the truth of the breakup is not told by the individuals themselves, we can only speculate. In January of the previous year, Merry Kitagawa gave an interview in the Shukan Bunshun. It was a series of out-of-the-ordinary statements (Merry was 88 years old at that time). She called manager Michi Iijima on the spot and told him, “If you want to confront me, I will ask you to leave today, even if you take SMAP with you. You should quit. She also told him that the next president would be her daughter, Keiko Julie.

Iijima was then removed from SMAP and left Johnny’s in January 2016. Yes, this was the month of the apology by the members and others in “SMAP✕SMAP,” which was also called a public execution, and was probably due to the fact that SMAP’s foster father, Michi Iijima, was cut off by the office.

By the looks of the apology conference and his position, Takuya Kimura became something of a villain. Other than him, the other four members left Johnny’s. Inevitably, Kimutaku, who had been the most popular person by leaps and bounds, was seen as a traitor who abandoned his friends.

But in his defense, it was Takuya Kimura who most strongly wanted SMAP to survive. But ……. At the time, Kimura was the only one married with a wife and kids. His position was different from the other four.

When SMAP was formed, Shingo Katori was 11 years old. He was just a child. They were abandoned children, and it was Sanchi Iijima who saved them. He would never have been able to abandon them.

I would like to point out one more major characteristic of the SMAP group.

In August 2001, Goro Inagaki was caught red-handed. He was suspected of attempting to start his car in a no-parking zone in Tokyo, ignoring a female police officer who asked him to show her his license. Inagaki refrained from performing for five months.

In April 2009, Kusanagi was also arrested. He was reported for being drunk and naked in a park in Tokyo. He was charged with public indecency. He was released the next day and the charges were dropped, but he was forced to refrain from performing for a little over a month.

Both Inagaki and Kusanagi apologized on “SMAP✕SMAP” when they returned to work. The other four members bowed their heads together. It would be unprecedented for two members of a nationally popular idol group to be caught red-handed. It was a major incident, widely reported, and the group’s very survival was at stake.

This, for example, is a major difference from the following popular group, Arashi. Arashi, as one might expect, has never made any arrests or been involved in any outstanding scandals. They are an honor student group. SMAP, however, is an honorary group.

Yes, the members of SMAP make mistakes and fail. They are not perfect. They are imperfect …… ordinary human beings. Just like us. And so they sincerely apologize. The members bow their heads together for the sake of their fellow members. We accepted it. No, we felt closer to that attitude, and we loved SMAP much more than before.

Even if Johnny’s were to cease to exist…

The only thing I could not accept was the meaningless apology called “public execution” in January 2016.

Think of the SMAP fans. No other idol’s fans have ever suffered so unreasonably.

I wonder if there will be suicides when the day comes for SMAP to break up. Would there be a terrorist attack? I was worried. But …….

The actions taken by the fans were totally unexpected.

One day, when I opened the newspaper, I saw the message that occupied the entire page.

＜To SMAP, who have always given us so much love and courage.

The message, titled “To SMAP, who always gave me so much love and courage,” was a crowdfunding campaign launched by a group of fans, and it was a big hit. The names of 13,000 SMAP fans were featured on eight pages of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper!

And so “Sekai no ichibanai hana (Only One Flower in the World)” soared up the hit charts, topping the charts for the first time in over a decade. This was another statement of the power of the fans.
It was not a hard-line protest or violent terror. It hurt no one, and this is the message being sent by SMAP fans.

How was this possible? It was because in that era of Heisei, …… we all shared and lived the same time on Monday nights from 10:00 pm. We laughed. We cried. That is how we learned. Yes, something really important. Week after week, indeed, for 20 years. ……

SMAP has disbanded and that illustrious group no longer exists in this world.

But there is something truly wonderful that SMAP created. It is …… SMAP’s fans!

I wrote that SMAP is one spirit, and that <the SMAP of spirit> exists – and I wrote that. In that sense, SMAP is still alive today.

Yes, the fans are SMAP! The spirit of SMAP is definitely alive there. I believe that this is the best thing that Japanese idol culture has ever achieved.

Johnny’s may be dead, but SMAP will live forever!