SMAP

Formed in 1988 under Johnny & Associates (now known as STARTO), the Japanese boy group SMAP originally consisted of six members (Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Katsuyuki Mori, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori) and made its major-label debut in 1991 with the single Can’t Stop!! -LOVING-, which respectably peaked at #2 on the Oricon weekly charts in Japan. While Mori left SMAP in 1996 (eight years into its existence) to pursue an auto racing career, the remaining five members continued releasing music and hosting their own variety show (SMAP×SMAP) until the group’s disbandment in 2016, becoming known as one of Asia’s most influential boy bands during this time.

The group’s name, given by Johnny Kitagawa, mainly stood for “Sports Music Assemble People” – when it was first formed in 1988, however, it was also reported that Kitagawa took initials from the surnames of three of Hikaru Genji’s members (Hiroyuki Sato, Kazumi Morohoshi, and Akira Akasaka) and combined them with the initial letter of the word “pansy” to come up with that name.