Unveiling the Name of the Unknown Third Member Who Continued to Support KinKi Kids

At the end of March this year, Tsuyoshi Domoto of KinKi Kids left the former Johnny’s office (SMILE-UP.). This was a major turning point. Why?　Because I am convinced that the fate of Johnny’s is in the hands of the KinKi Kids.

Last spring, the name Johnny’s finally disappeared from the world after the BBC broadcast in the UK reported the sexual assault of the late Johnny Kitagawa. But the downfall of Johnny’s had already begun long before that.

Yes, the SMAP breakup drama.’ In 2004, after a disastrous appearance on Fuji Television’s “SMAP x SMAP,” which was also called a “public execution,” the national idol group was dissolved. No press conference or breakup concert was held. It was as if the group had been “crushed” by the office.

What happened after that?

16 = SMAP disbanded.
18 = TOKIO suspended their music activities (Tatsuya Yamaguchi left the group.) Tomoya Nagase left the group).
18 years = Tackey & Tsubasa disbanded.
2008: Issei Nishikori and Katsuhide Uekusa leave the group. Shonen-tai (effectively) disbanded.
2008: Arashi suspended.
21 = V6 breaks up.

It is obvious at a glance. Even leaving aside Shonen-tai, the oldest group, since the breakup of SMAP, top groups such as TOKIO, Tackey & Tsubasa, Arashi, and V6 have either broken up or been forced to suspend their activities one after another.

This is the end of the line for the core popular groups of the agency, which can be said to be SMAP followers that debuted from 1994 (= TOKIO) to ’02 (= Tackey & Tsubasa).

This brings us to KinKi Kids, the only group formed in 1992 that has remained alive and well without disbanding or going on hiatus. In other words, since the establishment of SMAP in the 1990s, the KinKi Kids have been the “last bastion” of Johnny’s soul.