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1988–2002
Prior to SMAP's official debut in 1991, the group's lineup continuously rotated and, at one point, even included future V6 (band) V6 leader Masayuki Sakamoto and future Tokio (band) Tokio member Taichi Kokubun.<ref name="smap_bio" /> Once the official lineup of Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Shingo Katori, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Goro Inagaki and Katsuyuki Mori was decided in 1988, the group began to work as backup dancer backup dancers for their Johnny & Associates Johnny's senpai seniors Hikaru Genji (band) Hikaru Genji.<ref name="smap_bio" />
On September 9, 1991, SMAP made their official CD single CD debut by releasing the single "Can't Stop!! Loving", which debuted at number two on the Oricon singles chart.ja icon cite web url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/292396/1/ title=Can't Stop!! Loving single information work=Oricon accessdate=2009-12-13 The group faced a quick decline in sales as their next string of singles became some of their lowest-selling singles in their history despite the fact that the singles all debuted within the Top 10 on the singles chart.ja icon cite web url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/artists/s/22180/ title=SMAP singles ranking work=Oricon accessdate=2009-12-13 It was not until 1994 did SMAP see their first number one single nihongo "Hey Hey Ōki ni Maido Ari" Hey Hey おおきに毎度あり "Hey Hey Thanks For Your Business".ja icon cite web url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/292727/1/ title=Hey Hey おおきに毎度あり single information publisher=Oricon accessdate=2010-01-25
Since SMAP was so unsuccessful, Nakai asked Johnny's office to let SMAP host their own variety show to make people laugh with their unique personalities. The show was called nihongo "I Love SMAP" 愛ラブSMAP Ai Rabu SMAP a dajare pun as the first character also means "love". Through this show, SMAP slowly gained popularity. 1993 was a year of opportunities for SMAP. They had a hit single, and SMAP member Takuya Kimura was in a dorama TV drama called "Asunaro Hakusho", in which he played Osamu Toride, a shy boy. Asunaro was a big hit and Kimura's popularity soared. At the same time, SMAP also provided the opening and ending themes for the anime ''Hime-chan's Ribbon'', and Tsuyoshi Kusanagi appeared in multiple episodes as himself doing the voice of a regular character. SMAP also recorded the opening song, "Kimi Iro Omoi", for the anime ''Akazukin Cha Cha'', and this time the youngest member, Shingo Katori, lent his voice for the whole show as the young strong werewolf, Riiya.
After that, SMAP members starred in movies both individually and as a group. In 1996, shortly after member Katsuyuki Mori left the group to pursue a career as a motorcycle racer,<ref name="smap_bio" /> SMAP started their own variety program called ''SMAP×SMAP''. On ''SMAP×SMAP'', they cook (on a regular section of the show called ''Bistro Smap''), perform in comedy sketches (often parodies of other shows), play games, sing and dance with other musical groups.cite web last=Shoji first=Kaori url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fm20010829a2.html title=SMAP: the hardest working easygoing 'boys' in show business date=2001-08-29 publisher=The Japan Times accessdate=2010-01-25 As "an idol group that does anything", they began starring in a wide variety of programs such as live stage to music, dancing, hosting other programs, acting in movies and commercials.
SMAP continued to release new hit singles composed by professionals. Their 1998 single nihongo "Yozora no Mukō" 夜空ノムコウ "Beyond the Night Sky" and their 2000 single "Lion Heart" sold more than one million copies each.ja icon cite web url=http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/million_list/2000.html title=年度別ミリオンセラー一覧 2000年 publisher=Recording Industry Association of Japan RIAJ accessdate=2010-01-25 Their song "Yozora no Mukō" was mentioned in some Japanese textbooks. Their 2001 greatest-hits album ''Smap Vest'' sold more than one million copies in only one week.ja icon cite web url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/search/result.php?kbn=ja&types=rnk&year=2001&month=4&week=1&submit5.x=16&submit5.y=9 title=Oricon Weekly Album Charts for the first week of April 2001 publisher=Oricon accessdate=2009-03-06
In 2000, NTT East produced two animated and two live-action television commercials for their ISDN service featuring a more updated version of the anime series ''Science Ninja Team Gatchaman''. The live action commercials featured some of the members of SMAP in Gatchaman costumes.
In August 2001, Inagaki was involved in a traffic altercation, and there were allegations of wrongdoing on his part. Though he briefly retreated from the public spotlight and had all his commercial tie-ins and television appearances canceled and withdrawn, Inagaki made a comeback and starred in a 2004 drama about a fictional Japanese investment banker killed in the events of September 11, 2001 attacks September 11.<ref name="smap_bio" /> There were speculations that SMAP would disband following Takuya Kimura's announcement of his marriage and Goro Inagaki's traffic altercation in 2001.
2003: "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana"
Image:Sekaini.jpg thumb right 200px "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" became SMAP's best selling single ever and also the best selling single in Japan for the year 2003
In 2003, Noriyuki Makihara wrote and composed SMAP's 2003 single nihongo "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" 世界に一つだけの花 "A Flower Unlike Any Other in the World". The single sold more than 2.57 million copies and became the ninth List_of_best-selling_singles_in_Japan#Best-selling_singles_in_Japan best-selling single in Japan in Oricon history.<ref >ja icon cite web url=http://contents.oricon.co.jp/news/music/52143/full/ title=「およげ！たいやきくん」がギネス認定、再評価の気運高まる publisher=Oricon date=2008-02-20 accessdate=2009-01-03 Along with Hikaru Utada Hikaru Utada's Colors (Hikaru Utada song) "Colors", it was one of the only two singles to sell over a million copies in 2003, a year that saw CD sales declining due to the Japanese economic slump.ja icon cite web url=http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/million_list/2003.html title=年度別ミリオンセラー一覧 2003年 work=Recording Industry Association of Japan RIAJ accessdate=2010-01-17 The single made it to the top of the Oricon 2003 Yearly singles chart.
In 2003, Nakai was identified as the highest tax payer of any entertainer in Japan by the Japanese National Tax Bureau.[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fd20030525cs.htm The boy bachelor The Japan Times Online Bot generated title ] That same year, he was involved in at least four television shows simultaneously, in addition to commercials.
2004–present
"Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" held the number one spot for the first few weeks into the yearja icon cite web url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/search/result.php?kbn=js&types=rnk&year=2004&month=1&week=2&submit4.x=13&submit4.y=18 title=2004年01月第2週のシングルランキング情報 publisher=Oricon accessdate=2010-01-25ja icon cite web url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/search/result.php?kbn=js&types=rnk&year=2004&month=1&week=3&submit4.x=13&submit4.y=18 title=2004年01月第3週のシングルランキング情報 publisher=Oricon accessdate=2010-01-25 and finished the year as the eleventh best-selling of 2004. They were invited to perform in Kōhaku Uta Gassen that year, but refused for the second time since 2001. They did not release any new single or album that year. All the individual members had so many commitments that year, such as movies and dramas, that they wanted to rest.
2004 was a year that did not have a single million-selling CD in Japan. Although they did not release even a single in 2004, the popularity of SMAP was still strong in 2005. This was reflected in the charts, where both their album and single (''Sample Bang!'' and "Bang! Bang! Bakansu!" respectively) topped the respective daily charts just moments after their release, although it did not become the annual top.
SMAP's 40th single nihongo "Arigatō" ありがとう "Thank You" was released on October 11, 2006. It is an expression of thanks in honor of the 15th anniversary of their debut.
In 2008, they had a six-day tour at the Tokyo Dome, becoming the first Japanese artist to have a total of six shows at the Dome in a single tour. They also released a new album ''Super Modern Artistic Performance'' (stylized as super.modern.artistic.performance) on September 24, 2008, the first day of the tour.ja icon citeweb url=http://www.sanspo.com/geino/news/080825/gnj0808250500007-n2.htm title=SMAP、日本人初東京ドームで6公演 accessdate=2008-08-25 date=2008-08-25cite web url=http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-3691 title=SMAP schedules 6 shows at Tokyo Dome date=2008-08-25 publisher=Tokyograph accessdate=2010-01-17 On October 1, 2008, since ''Super.Modern.Artistic.Performance'' topped the Oricon charts at 214,000 in sales, SMAP achieved total album sales of ten million, making them the second musical group of vocalists after Chage and Aska to do so.cite web url=http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-3861 title=Charts: SMAP reaches 10 million in album sales date=2008-10-01 publisher=Tokyograph accessdate=2010-01-17
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SMAP's singing abilities are far from admirable as fans go as far as to admit that "Nakai’s inability to sing is somewhat of a national joke today in Japan".cite journal last1=Darling-Wolf first1=Fabienne year=2004 title=SMAP, sex and masculinity: Constructing the perfect female
fantasy in Japanese popular music journal=Popular Music and Society volume=27 issue=3 pages=358 In spite of that, their up-beat songs that have been well-received by the Japanese public as their best-selling single nihongo "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" 世界に一つだけの花 "A Flower Unlike Any Other in the World" is about individuality as line from the beginning and end of the song was "No. 1 ni Naranakute mo ii
Moto Moto Tokubetsu na Only One", which roughly translates into "You don't have to become the best. You're special to begin with, the one and only (you)".#tag:ref Original text: "No.1 にならなくてもいい もともと特別な Only One" group=fn The song was selected as the Space Shuttle Discovery crew wake-up call in August 2005, on STS-114 Flight Day 13. The song was covered and re-arranged by heavy metal music heavy metal guitarist Marty Friedman (musician) Marty Friedman on his 2006 album ''Loudspeaker (album) Loudspeaker''.
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main SMAP discography
col-begin
col-2
'''Studio albums'''
■1992: ''SMAP 001''
■1992: ''SMAP 002''
■1993: ''SMAP 003''
■1993: ''SMAP 004''
■1994: ''SMAP 005''
■1994: ''SMAP 006: Sexy Six''
■1995: ''SMAP 007: Gold Singer''
■1996: ''SMAP 008: Tacomax''
■1996: ''SMAP 009''
■1997: ''SMAP 011: Su''
■1998: ''SMAP 012: Viva Amigos!''
■1999: ''Birdman SMAP 013''
■2000: ''S-map SMAP 014''
■2002: ''SMAP 015/Drink! Smap!''
■2003: ''SMAP 016/MIJ''
■2005: ''Sample Bang!''
■2006: ''Pop Up! SMAP''
■2008: ''Super Modern Artistic Performance''
col-2
'''Compilations'''
■1995: ''Cool''
■1997: ''Wool''
■2001: ''Smap Vest''
■2001: ''Pams''
'''Remix albums'''
■1995: ''Boo''
'''Mini albums'''
■1998: ''La Festa''
col-end
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Image:AyumiHamasaki livesmap2.jpg 200px right thumb Ayumi Hamasaki "The Empress of J-pop" as a special guest at ''SMAP×SMAP'' (February 2007)
Their variety program ''SMAP×SMAP'' shows several types of entertainments ranging from cooking, comedy, and games to singing and dancing, often with celebrity guests such as Mariah Carey, Ayumi Hamasaki, Michael Jackson, Will Smith, Hikaru Utada, David Beckham, Tom Cruise, The Backstreet Boys, Paris Hilton, Matt Damon, Madonna (entertainer) Madonna, Coldplay, Kylie Minogue, Justin Timberlake, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sheryl Crow, Richard Gere, Avril Lavigne, Kwon Sang Woo, Tohoshinki, Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino, though most guests are Japanese ''tarento''.
Besides singing and acting, the group also manages to be active in numerous other forms of media fields as well. In August 1991 a ''Saint Seiya'' musical sponsored by Bandai, was shown in the Aoyama theater in Tokyo, Japan. The story recalls the Sanctuary and Poseidon chapter, starring the members of SMAP as the five bronze saints and Poseidon. In 2002, the group released a soft drink called "Drink! SMAP" in order to promote a CD of the same name.
SMAP was also chosen to be official spokespersons for Square-Enix's popular ''Dragon Quest'' series of role-playing video games. This actually is not the first time SMAP was associated with the series. SMAP starred in a musical based on the Dragon Quest games.
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Japan Gold Disc Awards
SMAP won fourteen awards from Recording Industry Association of Japan Recording Industry Association of Japan's annual music awards ceremony, the Japan Gold Disc Award Japan Gold Disc Awards.ja icon cite web url=http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/gdlist/pdf/gd1-20_list.pdf format=PDF title=Japan Gold Disc Awards list work=Japan Gold Disc Award accessdate=2010-01-03ja icon cite web url=http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/data/gdisc/2007.html title=Japan Gold Disc Awards 2007 work=Japan Gold Disc Award accessdate=2010-01-03ja icon cite web url=http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/data/gdisc/2009.html title=Japan Gold Disc Awards 2009 work=Japan Gold Disc Award accessdate=2010-01-03
awards table
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1992
SMAP
Best 5 New Artist Award
won
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rowspan="2" 1995
''Cool''
Album Award
won
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''Sexy Six Show''
Music Video Award
won
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1996
''SMAP 007: Gold Singer''
Album Award
won
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1997
''SMAP 008: Taxomax''
Album Award
won
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1999
"Yozora no Mukō"
Song of the Year (Special Award)
won
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2001
"Lion Heart"
Song of the Year
won
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2002
''SMAP Vest''
Pop Album of the Year
won
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rowspan="3" 2004
"Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana"
Song of the Year
won
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''Smap! Tour! 2002!''
rowspan="3" Music Video of the Year
won
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''Live MIJ''
won
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2006
''SMAP to Icchatta! SMAP Sample Tour2005''
won
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2007
''Pop Up! SMAP Live''
rowspan="2" Best Music Videos
won
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2009
''SMAP 2008 Super Modern Artistic Performance Tour''
won
}
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■ [http://www.johnnys-net.jp/j/artists/smap/index.html Official Johnny's website]
■ [http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/-/Discography/A002763/-.html Official website]
Johnny & Associates
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zh-min-nan:SMAP
de:SMAP (J-Pop)
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id:SMAP
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