After 26 years together, Arashi have announced that they are officially disbanding.
The veteran Japanese boy group revealed the news on May 6, 2025 (Tuesday) through a collective statement on their official social media. The quintet — composed of Aiba Masaki, Jun Matsumoto, Kazunari Ninomiya, Satoshi Ohno, and Sho Sakurai — had been on an indefinite hiatus since December 31, 2020 prior to the announcement.
In their statement, the members of Arashi revealed that they had actually been meeting in the past year and a half to discuss the possibility of working together again as a group. However, due to changes in their environment as well as individual circumstances, they determined that the best decision would be to break their hiatus, hold a final tour to properly express their gratitude and say goodbye to their fans, and then officially end their time together as a group. “We could not imagine resuming our activities only to go on a hiatus yet again,” the statement read.
Arashi’s final tour is expected to held in the spring of 2026. Relevant details such as ticketing information, venues, and more have yet to be announced. Watch this space for updates.
Read Arashi’s full statement on their disbandment below:
We have something the five of us would like to share with you all.
It has been almost four and a half years since we went on hiatus, and we sincerely regret we were unable to perform for all of you during that last year of activities due to the Coronavirus pandemic. So, in order to finally express our deep gratitude directly to all our fans, the five of us have gathered together once again and have begun planning a concert tour as ARASHI to be held next spring. With the establishment of Arashi Inc., there had been discussion around the possibility of assembling a new structure with new staff members to support our plans, but we have decided instead to bring this to life together with the many people who have helped and supported us over the past 20 years. And upon conclusion of this tour, we will end our activities as ARASHI.
For about a year and a half now, the five of us have regularly gotten together to discuss the idea of working as ARASHI again. However, it was not easy to find an answer to how to do this, as the environment surrounding us has changed, in addition to each of our individually changed circumstances compared to before. Such being the case, after much time and repeated conversations, we came to the conclusion that we should all come together as ARASHI, hold a concert that would allow us to express our thanks directly with the kind of in-person performance our Corona concert did not allow for, and then end our activities as a group. We could not imagine resuming our activities only to go on a hiatus yet again.
As for concert tickets, we will temporarily suspend new applications for fan club membership so that priority can be given to current fan club members. Also, as we are still in the preparation stage with many different people for next year’s tour, we are not at present in a position to share specific details. However, as soon as such has been decided, we will inform our fans first, here and in our own words.
With the end of ARASHI’s activities, our family club will also close in May 2026, but we will continue to deliver as much content as possible throughout this next year for your fun and enjoyment, and will resume accepting new family club memberships as soon as possible so that even those who are not members already can enjoy the videos and more. Our next content distribution to the ARASHI Family Club is scheduled for the middle of next month.
Once again, we would like to thank all the fans who have continued to support us, and have come together as the five of us in order to bring you something very special. Please look forward to everything we have planned.
ARASHI – Aiba Masaki, Jun Matsumoto, Kazunari Ninomiya, Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai
Formed in 1999, Arashi are recognized as one of the most popular and best-selling Japanese boy groups of all time. They are best known for such hits as “Love So Sweet,” “Happiness,” “Sakura Sake,” “Kite,” and more. Their 17th studio album This Is Arashi was released on November 3, 2020 and served as their final full-length record before their hiatus almost two months later.
Revisit Arashi’s discography by listening to their greatest hits album 5×20 All the BEST!! 1999–2019 below: