I found these little bunches of SMAP trivia... Some of them are so interesting, especially for JE newbies like me:
10 Things about SMAP (more than you ever wanted to know)
1. SMAP stands for Sports Music Assemble People. According to Shingo, the group was "officially" formed in the back of a van. As half of Skateboys who backdanced for Hikaru Genji in the late 80s, they were travelling together to a Genji gig when Johnny K suddenly declared in the van, "From today, you'll be known as SMAP!"
2. SMAP members are colour coded. Shingo's colour is green, Tsuyoshi's is yellow, Kimura's is red. Nakai used to be blue and Goro pink. But during Goro's self imposed exile in 2001, Nakai started wearing pink to remind fans that Goro was still part of SMAP. Goro's colour is now unofficially Blue.
3. Inagaki Goro was not an original member of SMAP.
4. But Kokubun Taichi was. Johnny K had originally intended for Taichi to be in SMAP, but later decided that he'd be more appropriate in Tokio.
5. SMAP and Tokio made up 2 halves of the Skateboys who backdanced for Hikaru Genji. SMAP parody their young selves in a recurring SMAPxSMAP skit called "Idol Kickoff."
6. SMAP started out with 6 members. Mori Katsuyuki left Johnny's in May 1996 to pursue a career in motor racing. At Mori's farewell press conference, Nakai defied management's orders to stay away, and showed up wearing a baseball uniform. He told reporters that even though Mori was leaving SMAP, SMAP will always support Mori because he was leaving to pursue a dream. Baseball was Nakai's own dream before an injury forced him to give it up.
7. Nakai and Kimura are collectively known as the Two Tops, because they are the oldest in SMAP, and also because of their personalities. Both are extremely formidable, serious about work, and have fierce tempers. Nakai may be SMAP's official leader, but Kimura is often regarded as the group's spiritual leader.
8. Kimura Takuya is SMAP's best singer. But SMAP consider Domoto Tsuyoshi to be the best singer in all of Johnny's. (This was talked about in MC during the Sapporo concert in 2001)
9. In 1993, SMAP had their first concert at a major venue (I think it was Nagoya). When the concert began, they were shocked to see the arena was less than half full, and the grandstand section completely empty. It was a very humbling experience that made them realise how much harder they had to work.
A decade later...
10. SMAP's 2002 Drink! concert tour pulled in more than 1.1 million people over 24 shows. That set a new Japanese attendence record for a single tour.
10 things about SMAP's Leader, Nakai Masahiro
1. Nakai wanted desperetly to be a professional baseball player. He was injured in Jr. Highschool and the doctor told him to quit baseball. He joined johnny's because he liked moving his body and missed playing baseball.
2. Nakai is well known for an extremely weak stomach. It is said he gets so sick before filming that he literally throws up. The director of Shiroi Kage actually expressed how worried he was, thinking Nakai was very sick
3. Nakai as smap's leader, strongly encouraged all smap members to find a niche and make something of themselves outside of smap (he never believed smap would last so long and wanted to make sure they all had a future)
4. Nakai is well known for being a workaholic, he is the only regular on iitomo never to have taken a day off, even when that meant he had to fly in from Greece two weeks in a row just to film iitomo. this is a record for iitomo regulars, over 10 years now! (btw, he was flying from Greece because he was the lead announcer for the athens olympics for TBS)
5. Nakai decided long ago that smap was not very talented in the singing department it is said that he created his "tone deaf" character and named himself as smap's worst singer as a way to make the other members look better
6. Nakai has written both the lyrics and music to some of smap's songs, he is actually rather musical!
7. Nakai knows so much about baseball, he claims to be able to name a player and all their stats just by looking at their socks! He has often announced baseball games
8. Nakai at one time had a variety show, starring him (as host or co host), on every day of the week
9. Nakai once was hospitalized with stomach problems, he took the IV out of his arm himself and called a cab to go to do Music Station, he refused to allow smap to go on without him, even though the song they were performing did not have a nakai solo
10. Nakai loves smap, and Shingo kun and other Smap members have often called him "smap's biggest fan" Shingo claimes Nakai has a framed picture of smap in his living room.
Pahabol!
My Childhood Friend - he did not write but he asked a song writer to write it for him, in memory of a girl he once had a crush on and who was killed in a car accident before he ever told her he liked her. (aawww!)
Jinsei - he wrote both the lyrics and music
10 Things about the Aesthete of SMAP -- Inagaki Goro
1. His elder sister sent his application to Johnny's Jimusho when he was in Junior High. She liked many of Johnny's idols and thought having a brother in the agency would be the best way to meet them!
2. He's had the same hairstyle throughout his years with SMAP. He says the natural curls make it difficult for him to wear his hair any other way. Members joke that they can always tell when it's going to rain by how much the humidity makes Goro's hair curl.
3. Often described (by fans and SMAP members) as being the worst dancer not just in SMAP, but in all of Johnny's Jimusho. He's also the least athletic in the group, and is ruthlessly teased whenever there's a physical challenge involved, such as Table Tennis on Utaban, Idol Kickoff on SxS, and just about everything in Tokyo Friend Park.
4. Goro may not be good at physical activities, but he's known as the aesthete in the group. He likes to read, enjoys art and is said to be an expert on fine wine. Other members are regularly in TV Dramas, but Goro prefers stage plays.
5. Goro was arrested in Aug 2001 for trying to dodge a parking ticket in Shibuya, and injuring a police officer while driving away. Charges were dropped but for 143 days, he did not appear on TV or in public. For the first time, SMAPxSMAP went on long hiatus.
6. When the show finally resumed, it was with a 4-member SMAP. To show support for Goro's return, Nakai started wearing pink in Bistro, the colour previously worn by Goro. And in defiance of management, members regularly used thier hands to flash the numbers 5 and 6 at cameras whenever they were on live TV. In Japanese, 5 = Go, 6 = Ro.
7. Hates taking off his clothes in public. In recent years, Goro is always photographed fully-clothed. And in SMAP concerts, he would often be the only one who doesnt strip off his top in the encores.
8. Has severe acrophobia, which was a major issue in the group's early days, as he would refuse to participate in activities that involved heights.
9. Is forgetful. Goro recently said during SxS's Ending Talk that he's lost more than 7 mobile phones!
10. Goro loves cats and dotes on the 2 he has at home -- a Russian Blue, and an American Shorthair. He has famously refused to reveal their names, but SMAP fans like to joke that they're probably called Nakai + Kimura!
10 Things about the Baby of SMAP -- Katori Shingo
1. Shingo left school after Junior High and has been working fulltime ever since. Unlike the other members of SMAP, he didnt go to High School. He's considered a good artist though, and has released a book of artwork. In a SMAPxSMAP special several years ago, he teamed up with a group of children to paint a mural on a train.
2. In 1996 Shingo insured his butt for JY200 million because the drama he was doing at the time, "Toumei Ningen" (aka Invisible Man), required him to go naked everytime he turned invisible. A year later, he did a movie with HK starlet Anita Yuen called "Hong Kong Night Club." It has a dreadful plot and dreadful acting, but one very long and very beautiful shot of Shingo sleeping naked.
3. Did a nude photo shoot for an-an magazine in 1999.
4. ShingoMama was created on SataSMA, a show Shingo hosted for several years with Nakai. The premise was that the character ShingoMama would be "substitute mother" to a family for a morning, allowing the real mother to sleep in. It was a type of reality show, with mothers across Japan writing in to participate. The chosen mother would then pass her house keys to the SataSMA production team. And on a random morning at 5am, ShingoMama would let herself into the house, cook breakfast with whatever's available in the fridge, wake the kids and father (who are usually shocked to see her), and make sure that everyone goes off to school and work on time.
5. ShingoMama's O-Ha! (short for "ohayo gozaimasu") was Japan's most popular catchphrase in 2000, and the character became such a national icon that she led the Education Ministry's campaign to improve communication between parents and children.
6. Shingo loves beer and has said that he can drink up to 5 litres a day! (I hope he was joking!) He also loves mayonnaise and his TV characters can often be seen sucking mayo straight from the tube..."mayo chu chu" style. ShingoMama would do it while cooking breakfast and cheekily put the mayo tube back in the unsuspecting family's fridge
7. Shingo hosts a weekly "News and Current Affairs" discussion show called SMA Station (aka SMASte). It's designed to get young people interested in world events. The idea being that if young girls tune in to watch Shingo, they would by default also hear the news.
When SMASte first started, Shingo set himself the challenge of learning English and invited the rest of Japan to learn along with him. Every week he shows off new skills in a segment called "Bera Bera." Earlier this year, he hosted an episode of SMAPxSMAP entirely in english.
8. Another regular TV slot is the Monday edition of Iitomo.The regular host is Tamori-san, of Music Station fame. Shingo co-hosts on Mondays, Nakai on Tuesdays and Tsuyoshi on Fridays.
9. Shingo is the first pop idol to have a lead role in an NHK Taiga Drama. The Taiga Drama is an insititution in Japan -- a year-long drama which highlights the lives of famous people and events in Japanese history. The casting of Shingo as Isami Kondo in this year's Shingsengumi attracted criticism from traditionalists, but also succeed in attracting younger viewers to the genre.
10. Known as the Baby of SMAP, Shingo works very well with kids and most of his more famous movies/dramas have family themes. Among them -- Miseinen, Juvenile, Hito ni Yasashiku...and this year's NinXNin Hattori Kun.
10 thing's about SMAP's Kusanagi Tsuyoshi
here are 10 things about tsu or tsuyopon as he is called within smap!
1) Tsuyoshi is the only person who still does backflips in Smap. (Kimura and Mori used to do so too) He used to be in gymnastics in school & hence doing backflips is a breeze to him.
2) Tsuyoshi was only 14 years old when he joined Smap. Before that he (& rest of smap) was a johnny junior & part of a group of skateboard boys. Before Shingo joined Johnny Junior, Tsuyoshi was the youngest junior around.
3) Tsuyoshi was the only person in Smap who applied to join Johnny's by himself (the rest had their applications sent in by family members). Apparently, he joined then coz he had no other extra-curricular activities in school & didn't want to continue in gymnastics in school.
4) Tsuyoshi took on his 1st lead role in a drama in 1997 in "Ii hito". Since then he was given an image of a "ii hito" for the next few years. And that image still follows him around today.
5) Even though he has this "good guy " image Tsuyoshi is well known for his love of beer and his wide collection of AV videos!
6) Tsuyoshi has a late night 15mins programme, Chonankan, that started in 2001.For that show, he learnt Korean language & would travel to Korea regularly. This program was orignally slated for 6 months and is now over 3 years old!
7) Through Chonankan (which is actually Kusanagi Tsuyoshi in Korean), Tsuyoshi released a single of his own in 2002. The song titled "Ai no Uta ~ Chonmaru Sarang Heyo" was sung in Korean, with the lyrics translated to Korean by Tsuyoshi himself. His Korean has become almost fluent in 3 short years, he has even interviewed the President of Korea in Korean!!
8) Tsuyoshi can be said to be the quietest member among smap. Often during SxS or Smap concerts, he would be teased by other members for being quiet. However, he shows a different facet of himself in Pusmap which gets him into various games & that's when you'll see cheekier & fun-loving side of him.
9) Tsuyoshi has once confessed that he can't sing well or do an emcee well.... & that he has no confidence in himself... But he has also been said by other members to be a very hardworking person.
10) Following pt 9, Tsuyoshi has once said that if he were not in Smap, he would be just an ordinary salaryman. Now, if he were to declare his occupation, he would write it as "Smap" (not "Artiste" or "Singer" etc). =)
Credit to Hana and smap4me of Johnny's Cafe.
*goes try to find KimuTaku's missing lil bunch of trivia*