The China Mail - J-pop mega-group Arashi to disband after final tour

Since debuting in 1999, the five-member boyband have rocketed to stardom with their catchy, chart-topping music to become the face of Japan's now-defunct boyband empire Johnny and Associates, before going on a hiatus in 2020.

Fans have since been anxiously awaiting news of their return to the spotlight, and on Tuesday, the group said in a bittersweet announcement that they will perform once again next spring -- except that will be their final act.

"In the last year before our hiatus, we couldn't perform in front of you due to the pandemic", Arashi's official X account said Tuesday.

"The five of us will now reunite", it said, adding the idols, now in their 40s, will start preparing for a concert tour scheduled for around spring next year.

"And that tour will end our activity as Arashi".

An outpouring of gratitude and lamentations soon inundated social media, with the prospect of the group's disbandment dominating Japanese news programmes for much of Wednesday.

"Their dissolution is immensely sad and my brain can't quite process the information yet, but thank you so much for creating one last opportunity for us to see you all", one fan wrote on X.

Even Japan's top government spokesman offered a tribute, describing Arashi as the "national idol group that has commanded a big presence with their numerous hit songs".

"They have also taken on the role of promoting Japanese cultures overseas, and collaborated multiple times with the Japanese government to this end", Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.

Arashi's former talent agency Johnny and Associates admitted in 2023 that its founder and music mogul Johnny Kitagawa -- who died aged 87 in 2019 -- had for decades sexually molested teenage boys and young men under his tutelage.

C.Mak--ThChM