TOKYO - Pop idol group Arashi performed their final concert on May 31, ending their around 27-year history that has made them into a household name in Japan, with their success spawning beyond music and into drama and TV variety shows and a fan base elsewhere in Asia.

Appearing at a packed Tokyo Dome, the five-member boy band kicked off their performance with the upbeat song Love Rainbow (2010), with Jun Matsumoto telling a cheering crowd: “Arashi has come back!”

The group took a hiatus after a virtual concert at the end of 2020 and returned in the spring of 2025.

With the venue flooded with penlights of the members’ signature colours, the group performed 33 songs without an encore, from popular tunes such as Love So Sweet (2007) and Happiness (2007) to ones such as Truth (2008) that showed off their dancing skills.

While entertaining fans with their repertoire, that also included their November 1999 debut single Arashi, and Whenever You Call (2020), their first all-English song written by Grammy winner Bruno Mars, they also engaged in their usual banter.

Satoshi Ono, the group’s leader and main vocalist, addressed fans, saying: “Today marks the end of our activities, but the Arashi that we have created together will continue to live on.”

He joined Matsumoto, 42, and their bandmates – Masaki Aiba, 43, Kazunari Ninomiya, 42, and Sho Sakurai, 44, to cap the show with their latest single Five (2026).

Following the concert on May 31, Ono, 45, left the Starto Entertainment agency, formerly known as Johnny & Associates, a powerhouse noted for fostering a pool of male idols.

Over the weekend, throngs of fans flocked to the dome, where the group’s concert tour, We Are Arashi, across five major cities wrapped up. Man...