was a Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates in 1999, consisting of five members: Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. The group was announced on September 15, 1999, aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii, and officially debuted on November 3, 1999. It remained with Johnny & Associates until 2023, when they became part of Starto Entertainment under an agent contract. They were initially signed to Pony Canyon, where they released one studio album and six singles, beginning with their 1999 eponymous debut single. In 2001 they were moved to the Johnny's subsidiary label J Storm, which was set up for their succeeding releases.
Their eighteenth single "Love So Sweet", theme song for Matsumoto's drama Hana Yori Dango 2, was one of the top five best-selling singles of 2007 in Japan, and their first single to exceed 400,000 copies sold overall in nearly seven years. In the following two years, Arashi became the first artist to place the top two rankings on the Oricon singles yearly chart with their singles "Truth / Kaze no Mukō e" and "One Love" in 2008, and "Believe / Kumorinochi, Kaisei" and "Ashita no Kioku / Crazy Moon (Kimi wa Muteki)" in 2009. They simultaneously topped the 2009 Oricon singles, album and music DVD yearly charts, becoming the third artist in Oricon history to monopolize the top three best-selling singles of the year. In 2010, all six of Arashi's singles ranked within the top ten of the Oricon singles yearly chart, and their million-selling studio album Boku no Miteiru Fūkei was named the best-selling album of the year in Japan. , the group had sold over 58.8 million copies of albums, singles and videos, becoming the best selling boy band in Asia. Since then, Arashi continued to release chart-topping singles and albums, performed in sold-out concert tours, host a number of variety shows, and remained an influential figure in Japanese media.
On January 27, 2019, Arashi announced that group activities would be suspended as of December 31, 2020. On May 6, 2025 the group announced their end of activities following a final tour in the spring of 2026, which came to a close on May 31 at Tokyo Dome.
History
1999–2001: Debut and departure from Pony Canyon Johnny & Associates announced the group's debut on September 15, 1999, through a press conference aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii. Then-president Johnny Kitagawa chose five trainees from the Johnny's Jr. division of the agency to become the members of Arashi, the Japanese word for Storm, and to represent the agency's thrust of "creating a storm throughout the world". On November 3, 1999, they made their CD debut by releasing the single "Arashi", which became the theme song for the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup hosted by Japan in 1999. It went on to become a major hit, selling 557,430 copies in its first week and almost a million copies by the end of its chart run.
On April 5, 2000, Arashi released their second single, "Sunrise Nippon/Horizon", which debuted at number-one on the Oricon weekly singles chart selling 304,340 copies. The next day, the group began their first concert tour at Osaka Hall. In July, the group released their next single "Typhoon Generation", which debuted at number three on the weekly singles chart with 256,510 copies sold, and continued to chart for nine weeks before leaving the charts. After holding more concerts in August, the group released their last single of 2000, "Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi". The single debuted at number two on the Oricon weekly singles chart and had first-week sales of 258,720.
In January 2001, Arashi released their first studio album, Arashi No.1 Ichigou: Arashi wa Arashi o Yobu!. The album debuted at number-one on the Oricon weekly album chart with initial sales of 267,220 copies. Until the release of their tenth anniversary compilation album All the Best! 1999–2009, the album remained the group's best-selling album with overall sales of about 323,030 for nearly ten years. From March 25 to April 30, 2001, the group embarked on their first nationwide concert tour Arashi Spring Concert 2001. The tour took place in Sendai, Osaka, Nagoya, Hokkaidō, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Toyama, and Tokyo with an unprecedented twenty-six performances. Before moving to a private record label by the end of 2001, Arashi released "Jidai" as their final single under Pony Canyon. Used as the theme song for Matsumoto's drama Kindaichi Shōnen no Jikenbo 3, it was named Best Theme Song in the 30th Television Drama Academy Awards.
2002–2005: J Storm and decline in sales Arashi began 2002 by releasing their first single under J Storm. "A Day in Our Life" was used as the theme song for Sakurai's comedy drama Kisarazu Cat's Eye and debuted atop of the Oricon weekly singles chart selling 226,480 copies. Their subsequent releases of the year, "Nice na Kokoroiki" and "Pikanchi", were used as the theme songs for the anime Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo and Arashi's movie respectively.
Starting in 2003, the group would only release two singles every year until 2007. Both singles released in 2003, "Tomadoi Nagara" and "Hadashi no Mirai/Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono", debuted at number two on the charts. The song "Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono" marked the first time a member contributed to the penning of a single, as many of the group's songs are produced by other lyricists, composers, or musicians. Sakurai, who is the designated rapper of Arashi, has since written all the incorporated rap lyrics of the group's releases.
The year 2004 was Arashi's fifth anniversary since debut. They began the year by releasing their twelfth single, "Pikanchi Double", in February as the theme song for their second movie . Selling 89,106 copies in the first week, it is Arashi's lowest-selling single to date. In celebration of their anniversary, the group released a greatest hits album 5x5 The Best Selection of 2002–2004, which included their second 2004 single "Hitomi no Naka no Galaxy/Hero".
In 2005, on New Year's Day, Arashi released their first concert DVD since How's It Going? in 2003 titled 2004 Arashi! Iza, Now Tour!!. From July 26 to August 24, they embarked on a summer tour titled One to support their album of the same name. One of the highlights of the tour included the live performance their first single of the year, "Sakura Sake", on top of , a transparent stage that travels over the top of the audience. Invented by Matsumoto, "Johnny's Moving Stage" has since been used in a majority of Arashi's concerts to allow them to move closer to the audience seated at a distance from the main stage. In November, Arashi released a theme song for the manga-based drama Hana Yori Dango, which starred Matsumoto as one of the lead actors. "Wish" went on to sell an estimated 178,000 copies in its first week and over 300,000 copies by the end of its chart run, making it their first single to sell over 300,000 copies in total in nearly three years since "A Day in Our Life" in 2002.
2006: International activities in Asia By 2006, the group's singles and albums were being released outside Japan. Their studio album, Arashic, was released not only in Japan, but also in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The album was successful in Korea as the first 10,000 copies of the album were sold out on the first day, and it even topped the non-Korean sales charts on the third week of July.
In the midst of Arashi's summer concert tour Arachic Arashic Arasick Cool and Soul, the group embarked on a publicity tour around Asia called Jet Storm Tour on July 31. The group visited Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea, countries which later became part of their 2006 Asia tour, all in one day to hold press conferences and promote their Arashic album. For two days, September 16 and 17, Arashi held their first concerts in Taipei at the Taipei Arena.
Performing "Arashi", "Wish" and "Kitto Daijōbu", which was their first single release of the year, the group represented Japan in the 3rd annual Asia Song Festival in South Korea on September 22. Almost two months later, they became the first group from Johnny's to perform individual concerts in South Korea. According to The Korea Times, the concerts in Korea were decided because about 1,500 Korean fans gathered at the Incheon International Airport during the group's Jet Storm Tour., Retrieved June 7, 2007 Arashi proved popular to Korean fans when their concert tickets were sold out in an hour, as some 150,000 people rushed to book tickets online.
The group traveled back to Japan and then released their second and final the single of the year "Aozora Pedal", which was written and composed by Japanese musician Shikao Suga and used for Sakurai's movie Honey and Clover. Although Arashi had planned to return to Thailand to hold a concert on October 7, it was canceled due to a military coup d'état.
2007: Returning to the Japanese market On February 21, the group released their first single of the year, "Love So Sweet", the theme song for the high-rating drama Hana Yori Dango 2, which peaked at the number-one spot on the Oricon daily and weekly charts. It is also Arashi's first single to sell more than 200,000 copies in a week in almost five years. Their nineteenth single "We Can Make It!", released on May 2, also charted number-one on the Oricon daily and weekly charts.
In April, the group performed in one of their largest concerts: Arashi Around Asia in Dome, a continuation of their Triumphant Homecoming concert held in January, which was aimed to celebrate the successful Asia tour. Arashi Around Asia in Dome was held at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka and at Tokyo Dome, making it Arashi's first time performing there. On July 14, Arashi launched their summer tour titled Time – Kotoba no Chikara to support their seventh studio album Time. The album sold over 190,000 copies in its first week, not only extending the group's string of number-one releases but also propelling the album to reach Platinum status by Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).
Also in July, the TBS drama production of the manga Yamada Tarō Monogatari, which starred Ninomiya and Sakurai, began. Arashi sang the theme song of the drama, titled "Happiness", and released it on September 5 as their third single of the year. The year proved successful for the group as all of their singles ranked within the Top 30 of the annual Oricon charts, with "Love So Sweet" ranking fourth in single sales overall, making it the group's first single to rank within the Top 10 on the annual charts. "Love So Sweet" was also named one of The Best 10 Singles in the 22nd Japan Gold Disc Awards in 2008.
2008: Rising popularity in Japan