◆A post about “Bistro SMAP” that went up in flames Masahiro Nakai made a shocking confession about his shaved head: “I used to wear a wig. Hitomi Tada, 45, who ran for the National Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in this summer’s House of Councillors election in Hyogo and was unsuccessful, posted this controversial message on X. The post was met with a flood of criticism. The post was flooded with criticism. After deleting the post, Tada explained, “The purpose of the Bistro post was to raise an issue about the production that made it look like all the SMAP members were cooking. He added, “As a longtime SMAP fan myself, I was very surprised. I should have investigated more carefully and not been overconfident of the information in the media,” he wrote. Mr. Tada ran for the Hyogo electoral district (with three seats up for election) in this summer’s Upper House election along with 12 others, including Fusaho Izumi, 62, former mayor of Akashi City in the same prefecture, and Takashi Tachibana, 58, leader of the NHK party. Izumi came out on top with 822,000 votes. The number of votes needed to win the election was 285,000. The other candidates who won the election were from the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito Party, while Tada received 225,000 votes but was eliminated in sixth place. I feel sorry for the members of SMAP,” said a male staff member who had been involved in “Bistro SMAP” for many years and supported the show in a behind-the-scenes role. Bistro SMAP” is a popular corner of “SMAP x SMAP” (Fuji Television), a variety show featuring SMAP that aired from April 1996 to December 2004. The members Masahiro Nakai (53), Takuya Kimura (52), Goro Inagaki (51), Tsuyoshi Kusanagi (51), and Shingo Katori (48) acted as the owner and chef of the fictional restaurant “Bistro SMAP” and served dishes according to the orders of the guests who visited the restaurant, and the winner who made the dish that the guests liked best was decided. The winner is decided. It became one of the most popular corners, and sometimes the entire program consisted of this corner. The four were serious about it.” “At first, it started as a cooking showdown between former member Katsuyuki Mori, 51, who was known as one of the best cooks among the members, and Kimura, who was just starting to make his mark. However, shortly after the program started, Mr. Mori left the group and switched to becoming an auto racer. Therefore, Mr. Nakai, who had declared, “I will never cook! Nakai-san, who had declared, “I never cook!” became the “owner,” and the remaining four members were divided into two teams for the cooking showdown. The staff had a hard schedule,” said one of the former staff members. We staff only provided support in the preparation of the dishes, but at first, the members were too occupied to handle all the dishes. But we had heard the guests’ orders in advance, so we worked together to come up with menus and seasonings. Gradually, as we became more proficient at cooking, the members began to devise ways to add their own “color” to the dishes. Mr. Kimura and Mr. Kusanagi would often suggest things like, “I want to do it this way,” or “How about this arrangement? They were very proactive in their suggestions. Although they were not taught the basics of cooking by professionals, they improved rapidly and made almost all of their own dishes. I think the attitude that they took cooking so seriously has been applied to the four of them in their acting careers. Mr. Nakai, being Mr. Nakai, was firmly doing his part and reading the atmosphere of the place as he proceeded. It was understandable that he later became a first-rate MC.” The corner became so popular that eight recipe books were released between 1996 and ’11, becoming bestsellers. Former staff members point out that these recipe books may have been the cause of Tada’s factual errors. ◆We asked Mr. Tada about the true meaning of his contribution. “The program was timed, so my first priority was to complete it anyway. Therefore, the size of the ingredients and the quantity of seasonings were all measured by eye. Even so, I was able to manage every time because it was only for one guest on each team to eat. However, in the recipe book, the size of the ingredients and the amount of seasonings are described in detail. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a recipe book. As mentioned above, Tada made an explanatory comment, but at that time, he uploaded a picture of how the food was prepared by professionals and the division of labor, saying, “I asked Kansai TV again. The comment was further inflamed by the fact that he had uploaded a picture of how the food was prepared by professionals and division of labor, saying, “Once again, I visited Kansai TV. What does Mr. Tada think of this comment by a former staff member? When we asked him in an e-mail, including the circumstances of his initial posting, his response was as follows. My post was based in part on information I had received and my personal opinions and doubts about the state of program production and news reporting. I have not been able to fully confirm some of the information I received, and as a result, I deeply apologize for any concern or inconvenience I may have caused to the people involved and to my fans. From now on, I will refrain from sending out information that I have not sufficiently confirmed and will be cautious in my statements. If corrections or additions are necessary, we will respond promptly.” Posting or spreading “what you have heard” as it is can sometimes come with a heavy price. It is difficult to handle social networking sites because what is posted casually can be conveyed to a large number of people. FRIDAY Digital” welcomes information and tip-offs from everyone. Please send your information to the following information form or to official X. Information Form: https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/tips Official X: https://x.com/FRIDAY_twit
