Matsumoto Jun, who was expected to change backstage, will appear on stage for the first time in 13 years… Meanwhile, “Arashi fans were disappointed” why?

It has been announced that Arashi’s Matsumoto Jun will make his first stage appearance in 13 years in the new play “NODA MAP 27th Performance “Sho Triangle”” written and directed by Noda Hideki, which will be performed in Japan from July, followed by another four performances in a London theater from October 31 to November 2. When this schedule was announced, some Arashi fans were upset.

This will be Matsumoto’s first attempt at the stage since “Ah, Wilderness” in 2011. In this production, Matsumoto will be performing with actress Masami Nagasawa and actor Eita Nagayama on stage for the first time, and will perform at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space Playhouse from July 11 to August 25, followed by a tour of Kitakyushu and Osaka before heading to London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre. He plans to perform a total of 80 stages.

Speaking of Matsumoto, he just last year played a major role as the lead actor in NHK’s historical drama “Dou de Ieyasu” (What to do, Ieyasu). Since the drama was filmed over a long period of one year and five months, he may have cut back on his work after that, and his media exposure has been drastically decreasing since the beginning of this year.

When Matsumoto appeared on the March 10 broadcast of “Naruyuki Kaido Tabi” (Fuji TV), he said of his terrestrial TV appearances, “This will probably be the last one this year. Although the group has been inactive since the end of 2008, Matsumoto himself has creative abilities, including directing Arashi concerts. Following his declaration that he would no longer appear on TV, there were some articles reporting that he would “change to a behind-the-scenes position. In reality, however, his comment was probably made because he was preparing for a long-term stage production in the second half of the year.

On April 10, the five members of Arashi also announced that they had established a company. On April 10, they announced on the official website of STARTO ENTERTAINMENT, a new company that will manage the talent on behalf of the former Johnny’s (now SMILE-UP.), that “we want to have more independence than ever before, make decisions more independently than ever before, and act more proactively than ever before” (original text in Japanese). The company reported that it had established the company out of this desire.

According to an article on the news site “FNN Prime Online” distributed on the 11th, the name of the company is exactly what it sounds like: “Arashi Co.

With the birth of “Arashi Inc.” many people are looking forward to the restart of Arashi. In the midst of all this, fans are paying attention to Matsumoto’s stage schedule. The London show’s Chikyuu closing is on November 2, but in Japan time, it will be on November 3. This is the day of the 25th anniversary of Arashi’s debut. Fans have long been asking for an anniversary concert on November 3, the day of their debut, to restart the event. ……

Some fans on social networking sites said,

I’m really looking forward to Jun’s stage performance, but ……… but no movement for Arashi if he’s performing in London on November 2…?
If the London show coincides with Arashi’s debut date, then there won’t be a debut date event.
If there is a concert in London, then there will be no debut date concert!

The “Arashi” concert will be held in Osaka on September 9, but the “Arashi” concert in Osaka will be held on September 10. However, the Osaka concert will be held from September 19 to October 10, leaving a short interval before the London concert (October 31 to November 2).

If Arashi were to hold a concert, there is a good chance that Matsumoto would still be in charge of directing. If he has to prepare for the group’s restart in parallel with the stage, it will be quite a demanding schedule. However, there are many fans who are hoping that ‘something will happen after the stage is over; I hope there will be some movement this year, our 25th anniversary year. It will be interesting to see if the members will respond to such enthusiasm.

Currently, Arashi leader Satoshi Ohno is on a break from performing. Recently, however, “Josei Jishin” caught him going to a driving school, and “Josei Seven” interviewed him directly. He did not ignore the reporters and stopped to answer their questions.

Could such “media exposure” of Ohno be a harbinger of the restart of the group?