Top Japan band SMAP calls it quits

The five-member boy band SMAP has been around since the late 1980s. Photo: Filepic

Japanese boy band SMAP will break up at the end of the year, its promoter said recently, disappointing legions of fans in Japan and other parts of Asia just seven months after its members pledged to stay together.

The five-man group, which formed in 1988 when its members were in their teens, will split on December