Fans of ageing Japanese boyband SMAP breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday at the news the middle-aged heartthrobs were staying together, after their agent said they were mulling a breakup.
The news of the possible disbandment last week shook Japan, where groups such as SMAP – tightly controlled by their managers – are wildly popular and often stay together for decades.
Devastated fans on social media had called on each other to “protect” SMAP members by buying their old hit songs, in the hope it would avert a split.
Those wishes came true late Monday when the band – which has been together since 1988 and whose members now range in age from 38 to 43 – carved out time on their weekly television show to apologise for causing anxiety and pledge to remain an item.
Wearing black suits, the five members bowed deeply before each offered short remarks.
Takuya Kimura, the most popular member and a veritable megastar in Japan, explained they hastily arranged for live speeches to be injected into their taped variety show SMAPxSMAP, acknowledging that the group had been on the verge of a “mid-air breakup”.