Julie also supported behind the scenes… “Arashi”‘s 25-year history comes to an end: The true meaning of the “breakup live” by the five key members

The Key Person Who Made the Last Tour Possible

Another national idol group is ending its long history.

Arashi,” which had been inactive as a group since ’21, updated its fan club website on May 6, the last day of GW. The group will hold a concert tour in the spring of 2014, and announced that they will end their activities as a group on May 31 of the same year.

Arashi” was formed in 1999 by Satoshi Ohno (44), Sho Sakurai (43), Masaki Aiba (42), Jun Matsumoto (41), and Kazuya Ninomiya (41), and has appeared four times on “NHK Kohaku Utagassen” as a trio. They have been at the forefront as monster idols for 25 years, and their fan club is said to have had up to 3 million members. Chikako Komai, an entertainment reporter who has been covering “Arashi” for many years, looks at the sudden end of their activities as follows.

Both SMAP and KAT-TUN, who were close friends with the members of Arashi, were unable to announce the breakup themselves, which upset their fans. The members of “SMAP” and “KAT-TUN,” who were close friends of the members of “Arashi,” were upset because they could not announce the dissolution of the group by themselves, which upset the fans. Arashi” is a group that will not proceed unless everyone is in agreement.’ The other members must have been able to persuade Ohno, who pulled the trigger on the hiatus in 2005 by saying, ‘I want to finish my activities as Arashi.

Who was the key person who made the last tour, a long-cherished wish of the fans, come true? A major entertainment industry executive mentioned Sakurai’s name.

Sakurai was the one who went around explaining to the members the purpose of the establishment and the future direction of the group when they launched Arashi Co. Again, there were times when opinions were at odds between Aiba, who was positive about restarting the group, Ono, who wanted to stay out of the public eye, and Matsumoto and Ninomiya, who felt there was no need to force the group to reunite. It was Sakurai who adjusted and brought them all together.

What was most significant was that Ohno, who had previously shown reluctance, became enthusiastic about the idea. He is concerned about whether he needs a large sum of money to continue his hotel and other businesses in Okinawa Prefecture, and how much business this concert will generate.

The last one is in their own hands.

According to this entertainment industry executive, “The members are taking the lead in managing the last tour.

STARTO ENTERTAINMENT is in charge of publicity for the entire tour, but the members, led by Matsumoto, are in charge of stage direction and management. I think they want to create the live performance with their own hands in the end. Keiko Fujishima Julie (58), who has supported “Arashi” for many years, is also providing support behind the scenes. There are reports that Arashi Inc. will disband at the same time as its activities end, but this is hard to imagine. As singers, the members hold neighboring rights to the copyrights of their songs and are entitled to receive secondary royalties and other payments for the use of sound sources. Arashi Inc. was established for the purpose of sorting out those complicated rights relationships. Activities on an individual basis will continue as before. After our activities end, Arashi Inc. will remain.”

The full details of the tour have not been disclosed, but there is no doubt that it will be on an unprecedented scale. An advertising agency official explains.

A major advertising agency is currently working on a business plan for the remaining year. The main sponsor for the breakup live is believed to be NTT DoCoMo, which used Arashi, and there is also a plan for all five members to appear together in commercials. A special program on terrestrial TV is also possible. The main sponsor would be NTV, which has regular programs featuring Sakurai, Aiba, and Ninomiya. The agency side is consulting Sakurai, who is a key player, about the plan.

Mr. Komai’s prediction is as follows.

It is estimated that 800,000 people continued to subscribe to the fan club during the hiatus. Assuming that the ticket price is around 12,000 yen, if all the members go to the last live concert at least once, that alone will generate sales of nearly 10 billion yen. If commemorative CDs, DVDs, distribution, and merchandise are added to that, total sales will probably exceed 50 billion yen.

Everything is for the fans. With this in mind, what kind of storm will the five reunited members unleash in their last year together?

From the May 30, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY