SMAP members say they will remain together

I dunno whether to laugh or cry really.

let me guess...they have a new album coming out and needed to generate interest to ensure it sells as their recent offerings have been extremely poor ...

Yeah! My world was torn apart when I heard about the possible split. Now I can celebrate.

cheap publicity...makes me laugh.

Slap My Ass A$$ Please as no-talent hacks that represent the worst of the entertainment industry (to be fair, the same thing could be said of the States).

Can't sing. Aren't funny. Good cooks (but so's my dad).

I really hoped we'd be rid of them....

changed the channel as soon as their "press conference" started. all those Oyaji pity faces made me sick to my stomach.. all faked IMHO.

What a bad joke. I thought 2016 is going to be a good year :(

They even said "we're sorry for making everyone worried". pfff

The fact that the mere prospect of this "boy band" breaking up was enormous National news is very telling in this fishbowl society.

Such a tragedy. They could really disband.

It is a JiJI band of tone deaf singers. I do like Bistro Smap though. They fake cooking really well.

In my ten years in Japan I don't think I've ever seen them singing.

The fans who will watch this fake bunch of "buddies" "performing" together and get a buzz should have a think about it.

These guys are all slaves. One Direction got to go in all different directions, so too should the SMAP puppets! I feel sorry for them.

Particularly unflattering pic of Kimutaku. Why don't they just do us all a favour and disappear quietly?

They were all, no doubt, summoned to a meeting with serious men with thin mustaches, tinted glasses and punch-perms who advised them to reconsider their actions "for the sake of their fans."

I had a feeling this was a PR stunt from the beginning. Oldest trick in the book. Japanese entertainment industry truly is a joke!

In related news...Nakai san still cant sing

Called it!

They, except for Takuya Kimura, sounded like they were scared of something.

“Sports Music Assemble People,”

Is that what that acronym is? When are the Japanese going to take their music to next level? There's some talent out there, but once the dogmatic clowns running the entertainment industry get a hold of it, they turn it into J-pop.

SMAP members say they will remain together

This has to be the worst news I've heard so far this year. A very sad day indeed.

I don't know what planet the Japanese are living on, but Japanese commentators on TV comparing the break up of SMAP with the break up of the Beatles, is so laughable.

My oh my what a HORRIBLE turn of events!!

Just when I get some good news they turn around & chicken out, oh the horror!!!

but Japanese commentators on TV comparing the break up of SMAP with the break up of the Beatles, is so laughable.

@Gary Raynor . . . R you serious? No, they didn't go there. Baka (fools!)! The TV commentators have spoke / compared blasphemously!!

Well, there you go. News of SMAP's potential break-up pretty much overshadowed David Bowie's death last week. That tells me something.

News of SMAP's potential break-up pretty much overshadowed David Bowie's death last week.

This is Japan. Ordinary Japanese know SMAP, but don't know David Bowie. SMAP will never get a "star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Not even close.

Dang it...knew it was too good to be true...

why all negative comments? four look uncomfortable to be back together, but wish them get along well as before. life is too short to hold unhappiness inside heart and brain.

These guys sold their souls and are all bought and paid for by the entertainment industry. I wonder if they stare at the clock like Faustus.

I can't believe how many readers hate SMAP. They have millions of fans in Japan and are immensely popular. It's interesting to note that most of the user names that hate SMAP are also Japan-bashers on other threads.

Japan has the largest music industry next to the US. SMAP's fan base is big in the Asian region many who have not heard of David Bowie due to age gap.

I'm not a SMAP fan, far from that actually, but I don't think they need any "PR stunt", as some commentors here suspect. 1) They're are already the most known artists in Japan; 2) Latest singles always sold above 200,000 copies. True, far from some of their best-selling singles, but not bad anyway; 3) I don't think SMAP or their agency really care about their selling numbers. They have a lot of ways to make much more money; 4) They're well-established enough that even if they stop singing that wouldn't really affect their popularity.

I can't help but wonder if Mori regrets quitting the group within the first couple of years after formation.

Yaks gonna break some legs if they don't

Of course, maybe it was just a publicity stunt.

They are grown men if the want to go on their own good on them. People need to stop apologizing in this country for wanting to live their lives. It is totally stupid the way the entertainment industry works here.

Ah, yokkata !

It is now getting ridiculous with all the foreign news reports. SMAP has no musical talent (the bistro show is good) but come on, they are just plain terrible as a "boy band."

Shame, was hoping to finally stop seeing their heavily artificial (plastic surgery to obscure their age) faces on tv.

"Why apologising" is a good question!!! They have the right to have a voice and even a strong one, and even not to be happy about their common fame!! What horrendrous way to live, to have to live the same life for 20 years without nearly a change. But i like them. It is nice for them if they stay together for the right band, and not the one i have seen the last few years.

Change is a good way to stay on top. People change, their heart change, their maturity too. If they want to stay together and still reach the stars, they will have to admit they have to evolve toward something greather than they were in their twenties., otherwise, like everything in nature, it is bound to die or disolve.

What they were in the beginning was clearly made of passion and fun and dream. Talent is not important when the right emotions are expressed. That, i think is the good point in the soul of Japan. What the people loved was their capacity to create émotion, to expressed them in a country badly damage by shame.

Now, that they have 20 years of experience, and asia "hall of fame", they have to advance toward the unversality of the world. They have that capacity. But for that, it will have to be their dream to catch on. And for that i agree, they have to professionalise toward art. That means working more and quality than quantity like every growing process in the world.

Creativity come from Liberty. Japan is afraid of freedom for the good reason, but Liberty is different. In France we say, "La liberté des uns commence là, où s'arrête celle d'autrui". (One's liberty start, where one's liberty stop ). It is a good way to prevent the horrendrous "anarchy". Are theirs bosses able to grow toward that japaneese originality ? Let's hope. Let's hope.