Japanese idol group Arashi officially goes on hiatus

It truly is the end of an era as top Japanese idol group Arashi officially goes on indefinite hiatus.

The group's last television appearance was at the 71st Kohaku Uta Gassen, Japanese broadcasting giant NHK's annual year-end show.

They performed a special medley where their juniors and Johnny & Associates label-mates joined them on stage.

Arashi officially ended group activities with This is Arashi Live, a virtual live concert which they streamed on December 31.

Due to COVID-19, there was no audience present at the Tokyo Dome but they were joined by fans virtually.

The members got visibly emotional seeing thousands of fans all over the world watching the concert and leaving messages of thanks, as well as promises to wait for them, displayed on the stage monitors.

Arashi also sent fans handwritten messages via their various social media accounts.

"This is all because of you! Thank you!" wrote leader Satoshi Ohno.

"I'm so glad to be part of ARASHI. Thank you everyone!" says Masaki Aiba.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart," Sho Sakurai wrote.

"This has been a fantastic journey to walk with these four other members. Thank you!" Kazunari Ninomiya says.

"I read everyone's messages! Thank you! Here we go!!" wrote Jun Matsumoto.

Before going on hiatus, Arashi released their seventeenth studio album called 'This is Arashi.'

It was in January of 2019 when Arashi announced that they would go on hiatus indefinitely at the end of 2020.

The band considered putting a pause to their activities when leader and main vocalist Ohno expressed his desire to "live freely."

"Around the middle of June 2017, I told other members that I wanted to end the activities as Arashi for now and that I wanted to live freely," Ohno stated at a press conference held just a day after the band announced their plans for a hiatus via their official fan club website.

He also explained that he has been thinking about taking a break for a while and has even discussed it a number of times with the group.

"I wanted to get away from this world and experience a normal life," he explained further.

Ohno, who is 40 years old, began working in the entertainment industry when he was just 13 years old.

However there is still some hope for longtime Arashi fans as it is only the group's activities that have been put on hold

The rest of the members will carry on with their individual careers and solo activities, with the exception of Ohno.