KAT-TUN's Taguchi Junnosuke announces his departure from the group and resignation from Johnny's Jimusho

KAT_TUN's Taguchi Junnosuke made a surprise announcement during his group's appearance on NTV's music special programme "Best Artist 2015" shown on 24 November where he revealed that he will be leaving the group by spring next year and quit Johnny's Jimusho at the same time. Before the group was due to perform, Taguchi announced his decision to leave KAT-TUN which was met by gasps of disbelief from the audience. He explained that before he turns 30 this year, Taguchi thought about what he wants to do in future which led him to make this decision. However, as a result of this decision, he is very sorry about leaving his teammates behind and apologised for the inconvenience and worry he has brought to his fans and people working with them.

Following Taguchi's speech, Kamenashi Kazuya represented his fellow teammates to apologise for the sudden announcement especially since this is not the first time that KAT-TUN members left. He pledged that the four of them will continue to work hard and thanked NTV, the staff and fellow performers on the show for giving them the time to make the announcement.

Johnny's Jimusho also released a statement on the same night saying that Taguchi wanted to leave the agency for personal reasons and decided to do so next year as KAT-TUN is due to celebrate its 10th anniversary. As for the exact date when he will do so, it will be dependent on work schedules and the agency wishes to minimise the impact on the programmes which he's currently involved in. There are no plans to disband the group for now but going forward, there will be discussions held with the remaining members before a final decision is made.

Kamenashi, Ueda and Nakamaru also released their personal statements in response to the news of Taguchi's resignation. Kamenashi was regretful that this had to happen at this time and feels miserable about his decision. Ueda revealed that after repeated discussions, they had come to realise that Taguchi had different plans for his future thus making it impossible for them to stay together. Nakamaru commented that they had vastly different expectations about their careers in showbiz so despite their best efforts, it was not likely that they could reach a consensus after all.

KAT-TUN was formed in 2006 with six members Kamenashi, Akanishi Jin, Tanaka Koki, Taguchi, Ueda Tatsuya and Nakamaru Yuichi but Akanishi quit the group in July 2010 while Tanaka left in September 2013. Taguchi appeared in various dramas such as "Legal High" in 2012 and "Kyou wa kaisha yasumimasu" last year.

For those who wish to watch the announcement, please visit here.

Source: Oricon / Asahi Shimbun