[Full Text Published] Extremely Rare! Goro Inagaki’s “6-Hour Bar-Hopping Night While Slightly Tipsy”—Enjoying Yakitori and a High-End Club…

Hopping from one high-end restaurant to another

Even in his fifties, the star’s presence was as strong as ever—.

Around 5:30 p.m. in late May, Goro Inagaki (52) appeared in Ginza sporting wavy hair, sunglasses, and shorts.Dressed in a cool summer outfit, he was just emerging from a building housing a luxury watch store. Although he wore a hat and sunglasses to hide his eyes, he couldn’t completely conceal his star power.Just like the FRIDAY reporter, passersby who noticed Inagaki couldn’t help but do a double-take. Paying no mind to the commotion around them, Inagaki and the male acquaintance beside him hopped into a taxi and headed to a popular yakitori restaurant just a few minutes’ drive away.This restaurant is an ultra-luxury establishment with an average check of 15,000 yen per person. With over 300 varieties of wine and private rooms available, it’s the perfect spot for Inagaki, a wine lover and celebrity.

“He’s one of the entertainment industry’s most avid wine enthusiasts—so much so that he’s been awarded ‘Honorary Membership’ by the Japan Sommelier Association and the title of ‘Chevalier du Vin’ by the wine-producing region of Bordeaux, France. In 2019, he produced an Italian restaurant specializing in wine, and I hear he can really hold his liquor,” said an executive at an entertainment agency.

About an hour and a half after entering the upscale yakitori restaurant, just when it seemed that Inagaki and his male companion—having thoroughly enjoyed the delicious food—were about to head home, they instead headed to a nearby high-end club.Just past 1:00 a.m.—more than four hours after entering the club—Inagaki appeared alongside several beautiful women who appeared to be employees. Perhaps he’d had a particularly good time drinking, because even after leaving the club, he kept looking up at the sky and staggering with a wobbly gait.It was a moment that offered a glimpse of his astonishing vitality—going on a six-hour bar crawl even after turning 50—and an extremely rare “slightly tipsy” side of him that was unimaginable given his suave persona from his “SMAP” days.

This year marks 10 years since SMAP disbanded in 2016. Entertainment reporter Chikako Komai offers the following insight into Inagaki’s current activities:

“Since the group disbanded, he has been focusing on stage performances—appearing once or twice a year—while also working hard as an actor and narrator.In particular, his performances in the stage play *No. 9—Immortal Melody—*, in which he has starred since 2015, and *Harry Potter and the Cursed Child*, in which he will reprise his role at the end of the year, are exceptional. I feel that as he has gained age and experience, his acting has taken on greater depth, and his ability to draw in the audience has been further refined.With the June 27 release of the film *BANA-ANA*, in which he shares the lead with Tsuyoshi Kusanagi (51) and Shingo Katori (49)—both of whom have also gone independent—he seems to be continuing to do the work he loves at his own pace with the people he enjoys working with.”

In stark contrast to his professional attitude toward work, his unguarded private persona was brimming with humanity.

From the June 26 & July 3, 2026, combined issue of *FRIDAY*