For nearly three decades, millions of Japanese have clamored for their every album, lined up in anticipation for their concerts, and gathered together on Monday nights to see their hit TV show. Now, Japan’s longest-running boy band SMAP is breaking up. It is the end of an era on the Japanese cultural landscape.
SMAP is a wildly popular band. Clocking up over 35 million album sales, it is one of the most successful music acts in Japanese history. Its most famous single, “The Only Flower in the World,” is regularly taught in Japan’s schools.
SMAP, an acronym for “Sports Music Assemble People,” has legions of fans in Taiwan, China, South Korea and throughout Asia. The five members — Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Shingo Katori — have also hosted one of Japan’s top-rated variety shows, “SMAP×SMAP.” The last episode of the show is scheduled for Monday.
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
(The New York Times)
近三十年來，成百上千萬的日本人搶購他們的每張專輯，期待地排隊參加他們的演唱會，並在週一晚上收看他們的熱門電視節目。如今，日本最長壽的男子團體「SMAP」宣告解散，這也意味著日本文化界一個時代的終結。
「SMAP」是個超受歡迎的樂團，狂賣三千五百多萬張專輯，是日本歷史上最成功的音樂團體之一。而最著名的單曲「世界上唯一的花」經常在日本的學校裡被教唱。
「SMAP」是「運動、音樂將人們聚集在一起」的首字母縮寫，它在台灣、中國、南韓和亞洲其它地方都有大批歌迷。五名成員—中居正廣、木村拓哉、稻垣吾郎、草彅剛、香取慎吾—還主持日本高收視率綜藝節目「SMAP×SMAP」，該節目將在下週一落幕。
（張聖恩譯自紐約時報）
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