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The story
Takuya Kimura (53) has been on his first solo live tour in about two and a half years since September 5, titled "TAKUYA KIMURA Live Tour 2026 Checkpoint." Spanning 9 shows in 5 cities, it’s his first tour since switching, this past May, from the record label he’d been with for years. Where he’d previously limited SMAP-era songs to just one or two numbers in the encore, he’s reportedly performing more of them this time around. On 5ch, this shift sparked speculation that it reflects Kimura’s belief that "SMAP is six people," while also stirring up a wide range of opinions about how SMAP broke up and his relationship with the former members.
"SMAP marked its 35th debut anniversary on September 9. The group disbanded at the end of 2016, but Kimura has kept its hit songs alive" (entertainment industry insider).
Takuya Kimura (53) is currently on his first solo live tour in about two and a half years, "TAKUYA KIMURA Live Tour 2026 Checkpoint," which kicked off September 5. Having switched this past May from the record label he’d been signed to since his SMAP days, he’s now holding 9 shows across 5 cities under his new label.
"Kimura has sung SMAP songs at his solo shows before, but he kept it to just one or two numbers, usually during the encore.
Source: jisin.jp / Original article here
What people said
Fun fact.
Hibagon's the worst singer. (Hibagon = a Japanese Bigfoot-like cryptid, used here as a jokey insult)
Why did they actually break up?
Wait, isn't Shingo Katori the obvious answer?
"There was no obligation to switch labels together, but if he'd decided not to switch, why didn't he say so right away?
Staying silent just made the rest of us naturally assume he'd be coming along too, I'd think…"
I figure it was the kind of situation that left all five of them scratching their heads.
Does a hit-and-run count as clean too?
Tsuyoshi Kusanagi got arrested naked. (referring to his 2009 arrest for public intoxication and indecency)
Nakai, Kusanagi, Katori, and — forget his last name — Goro don't go on about SMAP SMAP these days either.
and Kimura's probably the one who can use them most naturally.
The other members: "SMAP was just you."
Their juniors keep breaking up one after another, so I actually think they disbanded at a good time.
Mori was a member too,
but former-SMAP is six — SMAP itself is five. (referring to Katsuyuki Mori, an original sixth member who left in 1996)
What are you even talking about?
What about Kokubun and Sakamoto?
Didn't both of them leave the agency? Is Koichi still there?
Yamapi's been singing his old songs too, hasn't he?
There was a news story saying they can sing them, but the songs got pulled from karaoke.
but nobody's got a theory blaming Kusanagi or Inagaki.
Funny how the ones nobody blames are the ones with an actual criminal record.
And meanwhile Kimura's over here milking SMAP songs for everything they're worth.
Kimura has the rights because he stayed with the old Johnny's agency. The Chizu crew who left don't have them.
The rights actually belong to JASRAC ("Kasurac"), so anyone can sing the songs as long as they pay — no agency permission needed.
Unless they were forced to sign some special pledge on leaving saying they'd never sing SMAP songs again, that is.
"Stay Safe" — the ballad named after the phrase he always signs off his Instagram posts with.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
SMAP disbanded at the end of 2016. Takuya Kimura stayed with the Johnny’s (now STARTO ENTERTAINMENT) label, while Masahiro Nakai, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori left the agency and went their separate ways. Kimura switched record labels in May 2026 after years with his previous one, and this tour is his first solo performance since. Worth noting: the thread’s central questions — “why did they break up” and “whose fault was it” — rest on fragmentary accounts from industry sources, and even on 5ch the discussion never got past speculation with no definitive answer. That said, the thread also raised a point that’s easier to substantiate from public contract terms: the right to perform SMAP songs belongs to whoever stayed with the agency, not to those who left. In compiling this piece, comments amounting to speculation or personal attacks tied to actual criminal cases involving specific former members were excluded.
*This article is compiled as excerpts and a summary from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread "[Kimutaku] Did Masahiro Nakai’s Retirement Play a Role? Why Takuya Kimura Is Singing More SMAP Songs at His First Solo Tour in 2 Years… A Sign He Believes “SMAP Is Six People”? [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★]".
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