It was announced at the Tokyo Dome concert on Friday night that KAT-TUN’s Akanishi Jin will be “officially graduating” from the group. Johnny’s Entertainment president Johnny Kitagawa spoke to the press that day and stated that the final decision will be made after Akanishi’s US tour this fall. However, it seems like the decision has all been finalized at this point.
Akanishi has been in the USA since May working on his solo career. He has performed several shows in LA this past June and has a 7-city tour scheduled for September and October. President Kitagawa also stated that Akanishi is already planning future concerts for 2011. Meanwhile, KAT-TUN has been continuing on as a 5-member group similarly as they did when Akanishi left temporarily to study abroad in the USA in 2006.
Kitagawa explained that the main focus is that Akanishi becomes successful in the US. He added on that it would be too soft on Akanishi to let him return to KAT-TUN if he wasn’t successful in this venture. It would be unforgivable to KAT-TUN fans to have Akanishi return the same way he did after studying abroad. 
Kitagawa once again reassured fans that KAT-TUN will not disband. Even though the groups name is based on the first initials of each member’s family name, it is said that Akanishi’s “A” will be replaced by extending Kazuya Kamenashi’s “K” to “KA”. Kitagawa said that there are no plans replace Akanishi with a new member and that there is no need to have six people in the group. He stated that the remaining five members are currently doing fine without Akanishi.
Well, we all saw this one coming. It makes me a little sad to see it actually happen though since I used to be a big KAT-TUN fan back in their early days. Can Jin make put his foot in the door and take a bigger leap in the USA than the Wonder Girls? Good luck with that! Just for old time sake, here’s the video to their debut single “REAL FACE.”
Source: Tokyograph
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