After a quarter-century run, the Japanese boy band SMAP has decided to call it quits on Dec. 31, its management agency said in a press release Sunday, shocking die-hard fans in Asia and around the world.
Some of the members of the synchronized five-man idol group ¡ª Takuya Kimura, Shingo Katori, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Masahiro Nakai ¡ª believe it¡¯s best to go their separate ways, and their decision will be respected, Johnny & Associates said in a statement on its website.
¡°Some members have expressed their wish to disband, rather than to suspend¡± SMAP¡¯s active schedule as a group, the statement said.
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