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The story
A thread asking which group was the most incredible at its peak — Hikaru Genji, SMAP, or Arashi — popped up on 5ch’s Nandemo Jikkyo G (Live News General) board. Hikaru Genji, the seven-member group that debuted in 1987 and is known for rollerskating acrobatics and songs like “Yuuki 100%” (“Courage 100%”), had a short prime, but plenty of posters argued their momentary intensity was unmatched. SMAP, meanwhile, got credit for keeping its nationwide popularity going from the mid-’90s all the way into the early 2000s, while Arashi’s case rested on songs that became wedding- and sports-day staples. Opinions split depending on the yardstick used: a brief burst of mania versus long-sustained national fame.
What people said
STARLIGHT, with lyrics by ASKA (of CHAGE and ASKA), is seriously cool too.
And on top of that, they're the ones who gave us "Yuuki 100%," the honorary theme song of Ninja Rantarou — that's huge.
Way too many good songs.
But ASKA's lyrics never make any sense, do they?
They must have practiced like crazy.
Yeah, it really was amazing.
In terms of pure entertainment value — performance, music, and stage presence combined — I think they were the peak of all Johnny's groups.
Don't know Hikaru Genji from their actual active years though.
"Lame" doesn't even cover it.
They were just a group that happened to be in the president's good graces.
None of them except Ohno had performance skills at a professional level.
If you're mid-40s, I think you'd just barely remember it.
Their peak-instant velocity was amazing, sure, but…
They started out as 7 members, and I remember when they dropped to 5, people started calling them "Super 5."
Arashi → "Happiness," "Love So Sweet"
Hikaru Genji → "Yuuki 100%"
SMAP → "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" ("The Only Flower in the World")
That's basically the picture when it comes to songs people still hear often today.
As idols it'd be the '90s, but they were throwing their weight around well into the 2000s.
Mid-'90s through the early 2000s, I'd say.
That's too long a stretch to call a single "prime," but that's exactly how long these guys managed to keep cashing in.
Probably after Mori-kun (Katsuyuki Mori) retired.
At some point they started putting out nothing but songs with that slow, old-folks'-recital kind of tempo — that's probably when they started going downhill.
Same here — once you get to NEWS, there are a lot of guys I just can't place.
With KAT-TUN it's more like you remember them through arrests and scandals.
This.
Literally everyone knew them, regardless of age or gender.
SMAP's concert tickets didn't exactly fly off the shelves.
But in terms of mainstream reach, SMAP is miles, miles ahead of everyone else.
SMAP were more like all-around entertainers/TV personalities than idols, really.
Man, those are good songs.
Seriously, so many great songs.
ASKA really is amazing — and this was while his own stuff wasn't even selling.
As an old guy, I blanked for a second on what that even meant.
Also only recently found out that "timelesz," tied to Inomata, is actually just what Sexy Zone got renamed to.
What's really wild is that SnowMan is even more lackluster than Arashi.
No star quality, and the songs aren't great either.
Just a mass-produced, low-effort group, honestly…
Song-wise, Arashi isn't bad either.
Arashi at least has a handful of well-known songs, but SnowMan's songs? Only hardcore Johnny's fangirls/fanboys (janiota) know those.
Honestly, from around that point on, they weren't "national idols" in the first place.
With SMAP, V6, TOKIO, and KinKi Kids all ahead of them, they just never really broke through — and by the time KAT-TUN showed up and overtook them, nobody thought Arashi would ever become national idols.
"Hana Yori Dango" (the hit drama) was probably their breakout moment. So, 2006.
A mere bureaucrat doesn't have that kind of power.
Background and Key Points of the Debate
Hikaru Genji debuted in 1987, and their time at the absolute peak of popularity lasted only a few years; when their lineup shrank from seven members to five, they came to be nicknamed “Super 5.” SMAP debuted in 1991, but didn’t establish nationwide popularity until the mid-1990s onward, remaining at the center of the entertainment industry for a long stretch until their breakup in 2016. Arashi’s popularity expanded after their appearance in “Hana Yori Dango” became a turning point in the mid-2000s, and the group went on hiatus in 2020 — in the thread, several posters noted that they had a long period of paying dues before that breakthrough. The core of the disagreement comes down to how “how incredible the prime was” is measured: whether the yardstick is a brief peak of mania or a long-sustained hold on national name recognition, and applying different criteria complicates the debate. There was also the observation that only people in their mid-40s or older would actually remember Hikaru Genji, making generational gaps a dividing line in how people judged the question.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread ““Hikaru Genji at its peak” vs. “SMAP at its peak” vs. “Arashi at its peak” — which one was actually the most incredible?“
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