一個時代的終結 日本國民天團SMAP解散
For nearly three decades, millions of Japanese have clamored for their every album, lined up with breathless anticipation for their concerts and gathered on Monday nights for their hit television show.
近30年來，成百上千萬的日本人哄搶他們的每張專輯，滿心期待地排隊入場參加他們的演唱會，在星期一的晚上收看他們的熱門電視節目。
Now, the nation is awash with anguish over word that SMAP — Japan’s longest-running boy band, if it can still be called that with its youngest member pushing 40 — is splitting up.
如今，日本組團時間最長的男孩組合（如果還能叫“男孩”的話，因爲其中最年輕的成員也已經將近40了）宣告解散，令整個國家悲痛不已。
The news has dominated newspaper headlines and television talk shows since the band’s announcement this month. Even the mayor of Tokyo and two members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet have weighed in. One said he was worried about the effect on the Japanese economy, the world’s third-largest.
自從樂隊在本月宣佈這個消息以來，報紙和電視談話節目裏鋪天蓋地全是相關新聞。就連東京都知事和安倍晉三內閣的兩名成員都加入討論。其中一人表示，他爲這件事對目前位居世界第三的日本經濟可能產生的影響感到擔心。
“We will not let them stop!” a grieving fan wrote in one of more than a dozen petitions on pleading with the aging heartthrobs to remain together. “If we let them go and disband, it means Japan is finished.”
“我們不會讓他們停止！”一個悲傷的歌迷在petitions on 網站上寫道，網站上已經有幾十個歌迷痛苦地請求這個已經不再年輕的偶像團體不要解散。“如果我們讓他們解散，那意味着日本也完蛋了。”
To understand the bedlam unfolding here, think of the Beatles’ breaking up, the airing of the final episode of “Seinfeld” and the “conscious uncoupling” of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin all rolled into one — the end of an era on the Japanese cultural landscape.
要想搞清楚眼前的這種混亂，不妨設想披頭士(Beatles)的解散、《宋飛傳》(Seinfeld)最後一集播出時的氣氛，以及演員格溫妮斯•帕特洛(Gwyneth Paltrow)與克里斯•馬丁（Chris Martin，酷玩樂隊主唱——編注）“完全清醒地分手”三者加在一起——它意味着日本文化界一個時代的終結。
SMAP’s most famous saccharine single, “The Only Flower in the World,” is regularly taught in Japan’s schools. But SMAP is not just a wildly popular band whose albums have sold more than 35 million copies, making it one of the most successful musical acts in Japanese history.
SMAP最著名的甜歌《世界上唯一的花》(The Only Flower in the World)經常在日本的學校裏被教唱。這是一個極度流行的樂隊，專輯賣出了3500多萬張，是日本歷史上最成功的音樂團體之一，然而還不止如此。
For two decades, its five members — Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Shingo Katori — have also hosted one of Japan’s top-rated television programs, “SMAP X SMAP,” a family-friendly variety show in which they cook for celebrity guests, compete in games, perform comedic skits and, of course, sing. Each has starred on his own in numerous television series, movies and commercials. The frontman, Mr. Nakai, has been a newscaster for several Olympic Games.
20年來，它的五名成員——中居正廣、木村拓哉、稲垣吾郎、草彅剛和香取慎吾還主持着日本收視率頂尖的電視節目SMAP X SMAP，這是一檔全家皆宜的綜藝秀，他們在其中爲名人嘉賓烹飪、進行遊戲比賽，表演喜劇小品，當然，也唱歌。他們每人都出演過數不清的電視劇、電影和廣告。領隊中居正廣還曾經在若干屆奧運會轉播中擔任解說員。
The group, whose members started out as teenagers performing on skateboards and now range in age from 39 to 44, managed to both broaden its audience beyond adolescent girls and hold on to them over the years. Many of their most ardent fans are women who grew up with them.
這個樂隊的成員一開始以滑板少年出道，現在的年齡39~44歲不等，他們的觀衆超出了青春期少女的範圍，一直保持了多年。其中很多最忠誠的歌迷是跟隨他們一起成長的女性。
SMAP, an acronym for Sports Music Assemble People, also has legions of fans in China, South Korea, Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia. In 2011, it performed in Tokyo for Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier at the time, and then gave a rare concert in Beijing — which may have helped ease tensions after a Chinese trawler collided with Japanese coast guard ships in disputed waters of the East China Sea.
SMAP是“運動、音樂將人們聯合在一起”(Sports Music Assemble People)的首字母縮寫，它在中國、韓國、臺灣和亞洲其他地方亦有大批歌迷。2011年，它在日本爲當時的中國總理溫家寶演出，之後少有地在北京舉辦了演唱會，當時中國的一艘漁船在東海有爭議的水域同日本海上保安廳的船隻發生了衝突，這場演唱會對於緩和其後的中日緊張關係或許起到了一些作用。
Much of the drama and commentary surrounding SMAP’s breakup has been tied to suspicions among fans and industry analysts of skulduggery by the talent agency that manages the group, Johnny & Associates, which has dominated the Japanese boy-band scene for nearly four decades.
圍繞SMAP的解散存在種種說法，歌迷和業界的分析人士懷疑是這家樂隊的經紀公司傑尼斯事務所在搗鬼；在將近40年的時間裏，這個事務所一直統治着日本的男團界。
Founded by Johnny Kitagawa, now one of the most powerful figures in the Japanese entertainment industry, the agency recruits boys and puts them through a rigorous training program of singing and dancing. They start out as backup performers before the agency assembles them into new bands that it promotes and tightly controls, leveraging the success of its other acts.
該事務所由約翰尼•喜多川(Johnny Kitagawa)所創立，如今他已是日本娛樂業中最有權勢的人之一，該事務所招募男孩，對他們進行唱歌和跳舞的嚴格訓練。他們以伴唱伴舞演員的身份出道，之後事務所再把他們重新包裝成新樂隊，對他們進行推廣，並實行嚴格控制，然後用他們的成功帶動旗下的其他團體。
That business model, pioneered in Asia to dizzying success by Mr. Kitagawa with SMAP and other groups, has since been replicated by talent agencies in China and South Korea, many of which have been accused of signing children to “slave contracts” that require them to surrender half or more of all profits for as long as a decade.
喜多川的這種商業模式爲SMAP和其他團體帶來了令人暈眩的巨大成功，從而在亞洲倡導了風潮，其做法被中國和韓國的經紀公司複製。這些經紀公司中的很多家此前曾遭到指控，與孩子簽下“奴隸合約”，要求他們在長達十年的時間裏放棄自己帶來的一半乃至更多利潤。
According to Japanese news reports, SMAP decided to call it quits after four of its members tried to leave the Johnny agency, which is said to control their appearances on television and in movies, as well as merchandising rights to their images.
根據日本的新聞報道，SMAP是在其中四名成員決定離開傑尼斯事務所後決定解散的，據說該事務所仍然控制着他們的電視和電影合約，以及他們在廣告中使用自己形象的權利。
In announcing the band’s dissolution, the agency said it would continue to represent each of the group’s members as solo acts. The agency said it had initially proposed a temporary break but that “some members” wanted a permanent split.
在樂隊的解散聲明中，事務所說它將繼續代理每個樂隊成員的個人發展合約。事務所還表示，它本來提議暫時解散，但是“有些成員”希望永久解散。
SMAP seemed on the verge of disbanding in January as rumors swirled of infighting. But in a rare live appearance on their television show, the singers, wearing somber black suits, announced that they were staying together and apologized for having caused their fans distress.
今年1月，曾經有內訌的謠言傳出，SMAP似乎已處在解散邊緣。但是他們在自己的電視節目中通過直播罕見地露面，五人穿着沉重的黑色西裝，宣佈他們會繼續在一起，併爲之前讓歌迷傷心而道歉。
The public apology was viewed in nearly seven million households, and even the prime minister, Mr. Abe, was moved to comment, telling a parliamentary committee that “the group will remain intact in response to many fans’ wishes, which is good.”
將近700萬個家庭收看了這場公開道歉，就連安倍首相也受到感動，對一個國會委員會說，“這支組合不負衆多歌迷的願望，沒有解散，真是太好了。”
Mr. Abe has yet to address the breakup.
安倍目前還沒有對組合解散發表評論。
Each of the band’s members has issued a written statement, but so far only two have spoken in public about the split, apologizing on their weekly radio shows for surprising fans with the announcement.
每位組合成員都發表了書面宣言，但只有兩人就解散發表了公開講話，在自己的每週電臺節目裏向驚訝的歌迷道歉。
Writing in Josei Seven, a weekly magazine, the cultural critic and columnist Akio Nakamori asked if the performers were being muzzled.
文化評論家和專欄作家中森明夫(Akio Nakamori)在《Josei Seven》 週刊上發表文章，質問這些藝人們的言論是否受到了限制。
“Just recently the emperor talked about the abdication,” Mr. Nakamori wrote, referring to the televised address in which Emperor Akihito expressed his desire to retire. “It was such an unusual thing. He decided to talk to the people. I wonder if SMAP is more untouchable than the imperial family? They should at least have a press conference or even a recorded video, and directly talk to fans.”
“最近，天皇還說起退位，”中森提起明仁天皇表達退位願望的電視講話。“這是非同尋常的事。他決定對人民講話。我想SMAP是不是比皇室還要難以接觸？他們至少應該舉辦一場新聞發佈會，甚至是錄一段視頻，直接對歌迷說話。”
Given SMAP’s popularity in Asia, Japan’s minister of economy, trade and industry, Hiroshige Seko, said he was concerned that the breakup might undermine the country’s “Cool Japan” campaign, aimed at exporting Japanese culture to foreign countries.
鑑於SMAP在亞洲的流行程度，日本的經濟產業大臣世耕弘成(Hiroshige Seko)說，他擔心樂隊解散會損害日本旨在向外國輸出日本文化的“Cool Japan”計劃。
But there are signs that SMAP is already being replaced by its successors.
但是有跡象表明，SMAP已經被後繼者取代。
On a visit this week to a store run by Johnny & Associates in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo, I watched fans buy professional photo cards of their favorite singers, but there were no SMAP cards on sale. And when I checked out an official fan club in the Shibuya district, also operated by the agency, I saw videos only of other Japanese boy bands playing on a screen.
這個星期我去了傑尼斯事務所在東京原宿開的店，看到歌迷在購買專業攝影師爲他們喜愛的歌星拍的照片，但是沒有SMAP的卡片出售。後來我又去了澀谷一家同樣由傑尼斯事務所運營的官方歌迷俱樂部，結果看到一個大屏幕裏放着其他男孩團體的視頻。
A wall was covered with current promotional posters for multiple boy bands. There was just one for SMAP, from 2012.
店內的一面牆上貼着不少男孩團體的宣傳海報，其中只有一張是SMAP，而且還是2012年的。
