The Last Storm, 2026: "We are ARASHI, Now and Always" | We are ARASHI, 27 Years with the Storm, and What Comes Next

We are ARASHI: 27 Years with the Storm, and What Comes Next [Part 5, Final]

Let's begin this story by going back to the start.

1999. On a ship off Honolulu there were five boys about whom people asked, "Are these guys really OK?" Three of them wanted to quit. The leader switched off his phone for two weeks. Their debut single sold 970,000 copies, and then sales slid steadily downhill.

Twenty-seven years later: total CD sales of over 43.43 million, the all-time top in video sales, nine Kohaku hosting stints, a tour that drew 2.37 million people and a fan club of 3.39 million. The boys once asked "Are they OK?" became one of the greatest presences in the history of Japanese entertainment.

2026. Those five stand on their final stage.

"ARASHI LIVE TOUR 2026 'We are ARASHI'": 15 Shows

The final tour, officially announced on November 22, 2025, comprised 15 shows in the five major domes. Total attendance reached about 490,000.

Tickets were ¥12,000 (tax included) for all reserved seats plus a ¥900 fee. They were limited to valid fan club members who joined by June 2, 2025, and a facial recognition system was introduced. Everyone had to register a photo after applying, with one application per person and up to two tickets.

Valid fan club membership is estimated at 3 to 3.39 million. With total attendance of about 490,000, only around one in seven of those 3.39 million could see Arashi with their own eyes at a venue.

The staging was produced by Jun Matsumoto. The man who spent a year building the world of the NHK period drama "What Will You Do, Ieyasu?" and experienced the cutting edge of theater in NODA・MAP's London production designed Arashi's final stage, to reclaim the chance to meet fans in person that COVID-19 had taken away, and to heal the wound of five years ago with these 15 shows. The regret of spending 2020, a final year that should have been filled with cheers, without an audience: Matsumoto set out to repay that "debt they couldn't repay" in the language of staging.

Sho Sakurai hinted at a live stream, saying, "We are also preparing a live broadcast." Another stage was being prepared for the millions of fans who couldn't get tickets.

The New Song "Five": Where the Beginning and the End Come Full Circle

On March 4, 2026, the new song "Five" was released on music streaming services, Arashi's first new song in about five years and four months since the album "This is Arashi" in November 2020.

The CD single was released on May 31 (the day their activities ended), sold only through the FamiClub Store Online (by advance order, ¥1,760 each for CD with Blu-ray or DVD). Arashi's last recording arrived on Arashi's last day.

"Five." In 1999, this word was a candidate for the group's name. It was on the list with "Akebono" and "? (Questions)," and "Arashi" was finally chosen. The word not chosen back then became the title of their final song at the end of a 27-year journey.

The option at the beginning became the conclusion at the end. The circle closes.

In the fan club video, Masaki Aiba said warmly, "The lyrics are great, they really sink in," and Sho Sakurai said excitedly, "When I listened to the finished song, I was moved, thinking, 'Wow, this is Arashi.'" The songwriters were kept secret until release day, but a song the five felt was "Arashi" arrived as their last gift.

A Live Stream with All Five: The Night of Their 26th Anniversary

On November 3, 2025, the 26th anniversary of their debut, a fan-club-only live stream, "Nama Haishin da yo Arashi-kai 2025," was held. It was the first live stream with all five since December 31, 2020, a full 1,768 days.

Satoshi Ohno smiled wryly: "Building up my stamina... I haven't started yet. I'm in mental rehab." The man who had lived freely on Miyakojima was expressing, with his own humor, his resolve to return to the stage. He wanted to quit twice before debuting, asked to stop 18 years later, and still came back to Arashi after five years of freedom. The very fact that Satoshi Ohno is in Arashi is the most eloquent testimony of these 27 years.

Kohaku Uta Gassen: A Final Stage That Didn't Happen

Kohaku Uta Gassen, where they appeared 12 years in a row from 2009 to 2020, hosted the White Team five years running and were involved in nine hosting stints in all, was Arashi's year-end tradition and their biggest stage for connecting with the nation.

Many fans hoped they would appear on the 76th Kohaku on New Year's Eve 2025. At the November 14 announcement of performers, NHK chief producer Shinsuke Shinohara left the door open: "They are an artist attracting a great deal of attention. We will continue negotiating with artists for whom expectations are high."

But at a rehearsal press event on December 30, it was stated clearly that "this morning's announcement is everything," confirming that Arashi would not appear.

A final farewell on the stage they had stood on for 12 straight years did not happen. But in a way, that was very Arashi. Not on Kohaku, but on their own stage, on their own tour, in front of their own fans, they would bring down the curtain, ending not on a borrowed stage but in a space directed by Jun Matsumoto and built by the five. That was Arashi's choice.

Economic Impact: On the Order of ¥100 Billion

Several estimates of the final tour's economic impact have appeared. Shukan Josei PRIME pointed to the possibility of more than ¥100 billion, adding accommodation, food and transport to merchandise sales (about ¥3.5 billion at ¥5,000 per person). Shueisha Online estimated that if 10 million people watched the live stream at around ¥5,000, revenue would be in the ¥60 billion range.

It is considered certain to exceed the 5×20 tour of 2018-19 (2.37 million people, about ¥21.3 billion). Attendance of about 490,000 is about one-fifth of 5×20, but the live stream adds a new channel that extends the economic sphere beyond the venues.

The Legacy Arashi Left to Japanese Pop Culture

The legacy in numbers is overwhelming: total CD sales of 43.438 million, an all-time record 16.839 million in video sales, nine Kohaku hosting stints, nine years at No. 1 in annual artist sales, a tour of 2.37 million people and 3.39 million fan club members.

But Arashi's real legacy lies outside the numbers.

Arashi embodied the diversity of idols: Satoshi Ohno the artist, Sho Sakurai the newscaster, Jun Matsumoto the director, Masaki Aiba the variety star, Kazunari Ninomiya the actor. Five completely different talents gathered in the magnetic field called "Arashi," and each one's brilliance flowed back into the group's light. This cycle-based group model was unique in the history of Japanese idols.

And Arashi showed a model for how to say goodbye. Nine years have passed since the talks began in that Osaka hotel in 2017. They turned "I want to quit" into a "hiatus," and the hiatus into an "end of activities," without a single betrayal along the way. They respected Ohno's freedom, gave fans two years of notice and refused the deception of returning only to vanish again. Arashi left "how to end" as a legacy for every group in the industry.

Then there is the legacy of relationships: Jun Matsumoto's "What I feel most strongly is that each of the five of us loves Arashi"; the fact that Satoshi Ohno, who wanted to quit, stayed to the end; the decision to found a company together and protect Arashi with their own hands.

"Love so sweet" has passed 210 million streams, and more than 20 years after their debut it still plays at weddings, on commuter trains, supporting someone's morning. Arashi is gone. But Arashi's music keeps playing as the soundtrack to people's lives.

May 31, 2026, Tokyo Dome: The Last Stage

The 27-year voyage that began on a cruise ship off Honolulu on September 15, 1999 ends here.

The boys who were 16 to 18 are now 42 to 45. One married, one became a father, some left the agency, one lived freely on an island, one starred in an NHK period drama. Carrying 27 years of life, the five stand on their last stage.

The last song may be "Five." Or they may begin with "A·RA·SHI" and end with "Five." Whatever is sung, at the moment when 55,000 voices, a sea of penlights and the feelings of millions beyond the screen gather in Tokyo Dome, all 27 years are condensed into one space.

A sea of 55,000 penlights. In each light is a life that crossed paths with Arashi at some point over those 27 years.

Satoshi Ohno, who wanted to quit at the debut, is there to the end. The boy who turned off his phone at 18 stands at center stage at 45. That fact alone completes the 27-year story.

Arashi did not choose "breakup." Nor "hiatus": they said "end of activities." The name Arashi remains. The songs remain. As the five live their own lives, the fact that "they were Arashi" will never disappear.

Jun Matsumoto said: "We'd be happy if you would keep running with us until the very moment our activities end."

That "moment" is almost here. But the real question lies beyond it. In a Japan without Arashi, how will you live with your memories of them? "Sakura Sake" heard on the day of an entrance exam, "Love so sweet" at a wedding, "Happiness" that got you through a hard night. Arashi will stay in your life as music and as memory.

We are ARASHI. It is not just the five's words. It is a message to everyone who walked with them for 27 years.

Update: The final tour ended at Tokyo Dome on May 31, 2026, drawing about 490,000 people over 15 shows. Arashi performed 33 songs at the last show and ended their activities as a group. (Added September 2026)

The End

In your country, which artist has been loved across generations and stayed with people through life's milestones?

References

• https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2319841/
• https://www.jprime.jp/articles/-/32456
• https://www.oricon.co.jp/confidence/special/
• https://natalie.mu/music/news/612345
• https://www.nhk.or.jp/kouhaku/history/