Japanese under 40 grew up with them; older people know them as television and radio presenters, and cultural ambassadors to the rest of Asia. Even Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, expressed relief in January when rumours of a break-up proved baseless. But this week it was confirmed: after 28 years together, SMAP, Japan’s most famous boy-band (well, man-band, by now), will split up at the end of the
![Sayonara, SMAP: J-pop](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/eb5f17b9126df1b01934d6bb680594b2d62efc47/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.espresso.economist.com%2Ffiles%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20160818_dap307.jpg)