BREAKING! KAT-TUN to disband on March 31, Kazuya Kamenashi to leave STARTO ENTERTAINMENT

STARTO ENTERTAINMENT has announced that KAT-TUN will officially disband on March 31, 2025. The decision was made after more than a year of discussions between the members and the agency, concluding that stepping away from the group name would be the best path forward.

From April 1, Kazuya Kamenashi will leave STARTO ENTERTAINMENT, while Tatsuya Ueda and Yuichi Nakamaru will continue their individual activities under the agency.

In a statement, the company expressed its gratitude to fans and those who have supported KAT-TUN throughout their 25-year history. While the group will officially disband at the end of March, efforts are underway to organize an opportunity for fans to meet the members one last time. Details will be announced once finalized.

Formed in 2001, KAT-TUN made its major debut in 2006 with the hit single "Real Face." The group, originally a six-member unit, went through multiple lineup changes before continuing as a trio in 2016. Known for their energetic performances and unique group identity, KAT-TUN remained a strong presence in the industry for over two decades.

The members expressed their appreciation to fans for their long-standing support, stating that they will continue to move forward with pride in their history as KAT-TUN. More details on their final activities will be shared soon.

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I actuallyı expected Nakamaru to leave as well when he's a big factor on this. I don't think they would've disbanded if his scandal didn't happen. They were the reason I started listening to Jpop, and Kame was the reason I started watching jdramas. All I can say is "thank you".

Hopefully, Kame keeps acting and I'll still see Ueda around in some way.

Quote from crystalblues

I am sorry what? What the heck????? I never thought they would disband

They were one of the most iconic groups in Jpop. I'm sure if the members could get over their ridiculous egos, they could be one of the top groups in Jpop today.

Quote from kazuyakamenashi

True kat-tun was BTS before they were even born

In a way, yes, we can say that this is a correct observation because KAT-TUN was one of the first groups that managed to cross the borders of Asia and gain fans from Europe and US. They had gained such momentum that if the members had been able to overcome their egos and solve their problems within themselves, we might be talking about very different things about the group today. It saddens me, as their fan, to see a group with so much potential end up like this. Unfortunately, there's not much we can do.

Quote from crystalblues

Oh I know. They were also always so prideful about "we will never disband" and yet here we are watching a disbandment notice. 😭

I think everything depended on Kame. As long as Kame was in the group, the group would continue, I'm sure of that. Kame supported the group all these years despite the scandals brought by the other members. But I think everyone has a limit.

Quote from kazuyakamenashi

Yes kame couldn't keep that ship afloat the drug scandals from taguchi and koki really tanked things. But the early big blow was jin leaving. He and kame are the best vocalist and song writers in the group. Plus jin was the leader and suddenly it all was now kame's responsibility. Ueda just works lol you don't get much trouble from him but the issue with him and Maru is they weren't as popular and their skill set now as robust as the top two members of kat-tun. Kame was doing movies TV shows MC and dramas and had to carry solos and group tours by himself. I'm not surprised that he's tired now. I still remember kat-tun setting the fashion trend almost every outfit they wore was cool af and this was when stylists actually had a real job and made custom wardrobes instead of just throwing designer brand trash at the idols. Japan in general when it comes to the entertainment industry and some cultural issues is what truly prevented jpop from being what kpop is today

Jin was never the leader of anything (except maybe scandal-making). In fact, the group only elected one official leader, Ueda, but he soon realized that he could not lead such a divided group of members and gave up on it. From that day on, the "unofficial" leader of the group was always Kame.

KAT-TUN was one of the very few groups that had two lead vocalists. Kame and Jin understood and supported each other's voices very well. That's why Jin's departure took a toll on KAT-TUN. But even after his departure, they still released many iconic songs. Honestly, if they had just put their egos aside and acted like mature men by accepting that they would never be as popular as Kame, they could still be in a good place as a group. Even before they debuted, Kame started to carry this group. The reason he even agreed to debut with Yamapi before debuting with his group was to give his group a debut momentum, and they hated him for that. And guess what? Nobuta broke rating records. Seishun Amigo broke single records and became an iconic song that is still sung today. Kame, with his baseball background, was a real team player, and I wish his group members could realize that. If the group even made it to their 19th anniversary, they owe it to Kame. No one else.

Quote from xx-jenn-xx

I liked Jin Akanishi’s music—his solo work was actually what I discovered first, before I knew about any of the scandals. KAT-TUN has some great songs too. It feels like most groups still under the new Johnny’s name are struggling, aside from the biggest names. Meanwhile, the ones who left seem to be thriving, like Number_i and the new guy, Issei.

I wanted to come after here the developments that including Jin surprised everyone. After KAT-TUN officially disbanded on March 31, the three members, Ueda, Nakamaru, and Kamenashi, followed Jin on Instagram and Jin followed them back. Especially the fact that Kame and Jin, who had not interacted with each other for years and were known to be on bad terms, were following each other was such big news that even major news sites like Oricon reported it.

Jin shared this message on his social media accounts,

"Many thanks to KAT-TUN

KAT-TUN, Hyphen, again thank you

Despite that, tomorrow is still coming

Let's get started, shall we?

#KATTUN #HYPHEN # Thank you # The beginning of the beginning"

This of course led fans and media outlets to start theorizing that the group will reunite under a different name. If they can convince Kame, then why not, but since Ueda and Nakamaru are still under contract with Starto, I don't know if it would be a problem.