SMAP

Infobox musical artist 2
Name = SMAP


Img_capt =
Background = group_or_band
Origin = flagicon|JPN Japan
Genre = Japanese pop, Pop, bubblegum music
Years_active = 1991–present
Label = Victor Entertainment
URL = [http://www.johnnys-net.jp/j/artists/smap/index.html SMAP's profile at johnnys net]
Current_members = Masahiro Nakai
Takuya Kimura
Tsuyoshi Kusanagi
Goro Inagaki
Shingo Katori
Past_members = Katsuyuki Mori

SMAP is a Japanese "idol" group, formed by Johnny & Associates. Originally, there were six members in the group; current members are Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Goro Inagaki and Shingo Katori.

Their musical debut was in 1991. Since then they have released many CDs, three of which have been sold more than a million. Recently, the interval of releasing single CDs is becoming relatively long, approximately once a year. The members of SMAP have also starred in many television variety shows, dramas, commercials, and movies. Their fanbase mostly consists of Japanese women.

History

The SMAP members first worked together in 1988 when chosen by talent agency Johnny & Associates to be part of a group of twelve backup dancers for Hikaru Genji, a popular idol group at the time. Six of these dancers were then chosen to be form a group of their own, SMAP, an acronym for "Sports Music Assemble People". [Schilling, Mark (Ed.) (1997). "The encyclopedia of Japanese pop culture", p.234. First Edition, Weatherhill, Inc.] Their début in 1991, in a time when there weren't many music programs, was not immediately successful. Of all of Johnny's groups, SMAP was the least popular.

In August 1991 a "Saint Seiya" musical sponsored by Bandai, was shown in the Aoyama theater in Tokyo, Japan. The story recalls the Sanctuary and Poseidon chapter, starring the members of SMAP as the 5 bronze saints and Poseidon.

Since SMAP was so unsuccessful, Nakai asked Johnny's office to let SMAP have a variety program to make people laugh with their unique personalities. The program was called nihongo|"I Love SMAP"|愛ラブSMAP|ai rabu SMAP|a pun as the first character also means "love". Through this program, SMAP slowly gained popularity. 1993 was a year of opportunities for SMAP. They had a hit single, and SMAP member Takuya Kimura was in a TV drama called "Asunaro Hakusho", in which he played Osamu Toride, a shy boy. Asunaro was a big hit and Kimura's popularity soared. At the same time, SMAP also provided the opening and ending themes for the anime "Hime-chan's Ribbon", and Tsuyoshi Kusanagi appeared in multiple episodes as himself doing the voice of a regular character. SMAP also recorded the opening song, "Kimi Iro Omoi", for the anime "Akazukin Cha Cha", and this time the youngest member, Shingo Katori, lent his voice for the whole show as the young strong werewolf, Riiya.

After that, SMAP members starred in movies both individually and as a group, and SMAP continued to release new hit singles composed by professionals. Their song "Yozora no Mukou" was mentioned in some Japanese textbooks.

In 1996, SMAP started their own variety program called "SMAP×SMAP" (also called SmaSma). On "SMAP×SMAP", they cook (on a regular section of the show called Bistro Smap), perform in comedy sketches (often parodies of other shows), play games, sing and dance with other musical groups. As "an idol group that does anything", they began starring in a wide variety of programs ranging from live stage to music, dancing, hosting other programs, acting in movies, commercials, etc.

In 2000, NTT East produced two animated and two live-action television commercials for their ISDN service featuring a more updated version of the anime series "Science Ninja Team Gatchaman". The live action commercials featured some of the members of SMAP in Gatchaman costumes.

In 2001, Inagaki was involved in a traffic altercation. There were allegations of wrongdoing on his part, and he briefly retreated from the public spotlight. However, the ultimate result of the incident was to put SMAP in the public eye once more. Inagaki has since made a comeback, and starred in a 2004 drama about a fictional Japanese investment banker killed in the events of September 11.

In 2003, SMAP leader Nakai was identified as the highest tax payer of any entertainer in Japan by the Japanese National Tax Bureau [ [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fd20030525cs.htm The boy bachelor | The Japan Times Online ] ] . That same year, he was involved in at least four television shows simultaneously, in addition to commercials.

There were speculations that SMAP would disband following Takuya Kimura's announcement of his marriage and Goro Inagaki's traffic altercation in 2001. Although they did not release even a single in 2004, the popularity of SMAP is still strong. This is reflected in the charts, where both their latest album and a recent single (017 SAMPLE BANG! and BANG BANG! バカンス!) topped the respective daily charts just moments after their release, although it did not become the annual top.

In 2008, they will have a 6-day tour at the Tokyo Dome, becoming the Japanese artist(s) to have the most amount of tour at the Dome. They will also release a new album "super.modern.artistic.performance" (SMAP) on the first day of the tour, September 24 2008. [citeweb|url=http://www.sanspo.com/geino/news/080825/gnj0808250500007-n2.htm|title=SMAP、日本人初東京ドームで6公演|accessdate=2008-08-25|date=2008-08-25|language=Japanese]

Members

All of the members of SMAP have acted in numerous television dramas, variety programs commercials, and movies, but each also cultivates a distinctive image and personality.
*Masahiro Nakai is the eldest and "leader" of the group and has hosted numerous television programs with other experienced hosts except one current program, the most famous of which, being Utaban, which he has co-hosted with comedian Takaaki Ishibashi since the show's beginning in 1996 to this day. He is a notorious bachelor, trickster and poor singer, none of which have prevented him from being one of the currently highest paid tarento in the Japanese entertainment industry. He frequently wears a hat and has long hair, although his look changes frequently. He starred as Eiryo Waga in 2004's "Suna no Utsuwa" alongside Watanabe Ken.

*Takuya Kimura has appeared in many high-rating television dramas. After his breakout role in Long Vacation, Kimura became the cover boy for many magazines. In 1994, the so-called Kimutaku (a contraction of Kimura Takuya) phenomenon started to be observed in some media. Kimura was voted Best Jeanist from 1994 to 1999, after which he received his own special category as the magazine's "forever Jeanist". He was voted AnAn's favorite guy, whose survey method practically allows multiple votes. He is still AnAn's favorite guy, having won the vote 15 times consecutively (as of 2008). In 1995, Kimura acted in a movie called, "Kimi wo wasurenai". More recent movie credits include Wong Kar Wai's "2046" and "Howl's Moving Castle". Many of the dramas he has acted in, such as "HERO" and "Beautiful Life", have received high ratings.

*Goro Inagaki is one of the main vocalists of the group. He has his own late-night variety programme called Goro's Bar, and also acts in television dramas as well as occasional stage plays.

*Tsuyoshi Kusanagi speaks Korean and is also known as an actor, appearing in "Hotel Venus". He seems to have soft features and to project a "sensitive" image. In 2005, he went to Thailand to learn more about the lives of orphans there, and documented the trip for a television special of SMAP's weekly variety program SMAPXSMAP.

*Shingo Katori He is the youngest member of SMAP, but also the tallest. For a while he dyed his hair white, making him stand out in the group. At one point he also had dreadlocks. He has also done anime voice work, most notably the role of Riiya in Akazukin ChaCha. He also received critical acclaim for playing Kondo Isami in NHK's all-star cast Taiga Drama, "Shinsengumi" in 2005, and as Son Goku on the hit television series "Saiyuuki" and it's accompanying feature film in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

Music

SMAP has released over thirty singles, and three of them, nihongo|"Yozora no mukou"|夜空ノムコウ| "Beyond the Night Sky", "Lion Heart", and nihongo|"Sekai ni hitotsu dake no hana"|世界に一つだけの花|"A Flower Unlike Any Other in the World", have sold more than two million copies each.

"A Flower Unlike Any Other in the World" was very popular in Japan more than a year after its release in 2003 and sold over two million copies. It was the only single selling over a million copies that year, a year that saw CD sales declining due to the Japanese economic slump. This song was selected as the Space Shuttle Discovery crew wake-up call in August 2005, on STS-114 Flight Day 13. The song was covered and re-arranged by heavy metal guitarist Marty Friedman on his 2006 album Loudspeaker.

The song is about individuality, and since it became a hit fame during the lead up to and aftermath of the 2003 Iraq war, some seemed to perceive it as a plea for peace. The song made it to No. 1 on the Oricon 2003 Yearly Singles Top 100. A line from the end and beginning of the song, "NO.1 にならなくてもいい　もともと特別な Only one", roughly translated,　"You don't have to become the best. You're special to begin with, the one and only (you)", was made reference to on some occasions. The music and lyrics of the song were created by Noriyuki Makihara, a popular Japanese singer and songwriter.

Although SMAP did not release a new song in 2004, it held the #1 spot for the first few weeks into the year and finished the year on the #11 spot. SMAP was invited to perform in Kouhaku that year, but they refused for the second time since 2001 because all the individual members had so many commitments that year, such as movies and dramas, that they wanted to rest. In retrospect, 2004 was a year that did not have a single million-selling CD.

nihongo|"Arigatou"|ありがとう|"Thank You" was SMAP's 40th single, and was released on Oct 11th,2006. It is an expression of thanks in honor of the 15th anniversary of SMAP's debut.

Singles

Albums

Acting

Their variety program "SMAP×SMAP" shows several types of entertainments ranging from cooking, comedy, and games to singing and dancing, often with celebrity guests, including celebrities like Ayumi Hamasaki, Michael Jackson, Will Smith, Utada Hikaru, David Beckham, Tom Cruise, The Backstreet Boys, Paris Hilton, Matt Damon, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Justin Timberlake, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sheryl Crow, Richard Gere, Avril Lavigne, and Kwon Sang Woo, though most guests are Japanese "tarento" ("talents").

At the beginning of 2004, Kimura and Kusanagi each starred in a drama show ("PRIDE" and "Boku to Kanojo to Kanojo no Ikiru Michi" or "The Way We Live", respectively) both the high-rating dramas of the season. Inagaki sang the song for "Boku to Kanojo to Kanojo no Ikiru Michi". (Initially, the fact that Inagaki was singing the song was kept a secret, but after numerous fans called Fuji TV, it was revealed to the public.)

Film "Yomigaeri" starring Kusanagi was considered to be a hit in 2003.

Other projects

Besides singing and acting, the group also manages to be active in numerous other forms of media fields as well.

Besides their weekly variety show "SMAP×SMAP", the individual members are also currently regulars/hosts on the following shows:

Masahiro Nakai:
Waratte Iitomo! Zoukangou (Sunday, 10:00~11:45)
Black Variety (Sunday, 22:30~22:56)
Waratte Iitomo! (Tuesday, 12:00~13:00)
The! Sekai Gyouten News (Wednesday, 21:00~21:54)
Utaban (Thursday, 19:54~20:54)
Nakai Masahiro no Kinyoubi no Sma-tachi e (Friday, 21:00~21:54)

Goro Inagaki:
Goro's Bar (Thursday, 24:25~24:55)
Wasurebumi (Sunday, 5:45~6:00)

Tsuyoshi Kusanagi:
Waratte Iitomo! Zoukangou (Sunday, 10:00~11:45)
Pussuma (Tuesday, 23:15~24:10)
Waratte Iitomo! (Thursday, 12:00~13:00)
Bokura no Ongaku 3 (Narrator; Thursday, 23:30~23:58)
Chonan Kan 2 (Thursday, 25:25~25:40)

Shingo Katori:
Waratte Iitomo! (Monday, 12:00~13:00)
Waratte Iitomo! Zoukangou (Sunday, 10:00~11:45)
Tokujou! Tensei Shingo (Sunday, 16:25~16:55)
UraSma6 (Saturday, 22:57~23:00)
SmaSTATION-6 (Saturday, 23:00~23:54)

Takuya Kimura:
Takuya Kimura is not currently a regular on any show besides SMAPxSMAP. However, he regularly hosts "What's Up Smap" (WuS), a weekly radio programme for a local radio station in Tokyo (Friday nights) and guests from time to time in his co-members shows, such as Pussuma, UraSma and SmaSTATION. Even though all other members of SMAP appear regularly on "Waratte Iitomo!", Kimura never appears on the show unless there is a drama or film that he is starring in, and he is promoting it on the show as a guest.

In 2003, three of the books ranked in the year's best selling 10 books were released by S

In 2002, the group released a soft drink called "Drink! SMAP" in order to promote a CD of the same name.

SMAP was also chosen to be official spokespersons for Square-Enix's popular "Dragon Quest" series of role-playing video games.

References

External links

* [http://www.johnnys-net.jp/j/artists/smap/index.html Official website by Johnny & Associates]
* [http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/-/Discography/A002763/-.html SMAP official website]
* [http://www.smokyo.com/blog Videos of Foreign Guests on Smap x Smap]