The break-up of SMAP and the rise of entrepreneurial masculinity in 2010s Japan

In SMAP’s post-break-up social media output, there was a shift in the kind of masculinity embodied by the performers: from the beautiful, sexually desirable mode of masculinity associated with their Heisei heyday to a more vulnerable mode of masculinity that emphasized intimacy and authenticity. I call this more recent mode of masculinity ‘entrepreneurial masculinity’, drawing on Akiko Takeyama’s study of male hosts, who use romance, emotion and intimacy to connect with customers. From an object of desire, particularly sexual desire, the male body changes to an entity associated with vulnerability. This article explores different kinds of vulnerability in SMAP’s post-break-up output, particularly in social media posts by member Katori Shingo: vulnerability to loneliness, vulnerability to social and economic precarity and vulnerability to violence. This shift with regard to the body and masculinity in idol culture reflects trends of increased social and economic precarity in neo-liberal Japan.