Goro Inagaki and his band SMAP, which stands for Sports Music Assemble People, are described by some as Japan's answer to the Monkees. Besides playing music, they have their own variety shows and frequently appear in television dramas.
A more recent reference though might be the Backstreet Boys as they are said to be the country's most popular boy band who tour frequently.
The five member band has been capturing the attention of media since the 1990s when they signed on with one of Japan's biggest talent agencies and released their debut album in 1991. The attention they got was not always wanted as Inagaki, for example, made headlines for getting arrested over a hit and run incident that apparently happened because Inagaki was trying to avoid a parking ticket. In his haste, he reportedly hit the police woman issuing the ticket. The band struggled during this time as, although the woman was reported to be only slightly injured, the fact that Inagaki had been arrested was enough to cancel commercial contracts such as a drama series worth 200 million yen.
Despite this setback, the band continued to play and still tours to this day.
The leader of the band is Nakai Masahiro. The other members are Kimura Takuya, Katori Shingo and Kusanagi Tsuyoshi.
Inagaki got his start with SMAP in junior high school with the help of his sister who passed on his picture to a talent agency. They liked what they saw and immediately asked him to sign on.
Inagaki can be seen in a number of Japanese dramas, some of which came out in 2006.
The boy toy musician who sings much of the lead for the group likes to jog and golf in his spare time. He also has his own late-night variety show called Goro's Bar and shares his acting talent with theatre when the opportunity arises.