相葉雅紀 (Aiba Masaki, born December 24 1982 in Chiba) often called Aiba-chan, is a Japanese idol, singer, television personality and radio host. He is a member of the j-pop group 嵐 (Arashi) alongside 松本潤 (Matsumoto Jun), 二宮和也 (Ninomiya Kazunari), 大野智 (Ohno Satoshi) and 櫻井翔 (Sakurai Sho) who are under the management of Johnny’s Entertainment.
Aiba joined Johnny’s Entertainment in August 1996 for the sole reason of wanting to play basketball with SMAP, when he asked his female classmates how he could play basketball with them and they told him to send an application to join Johnny’s Entertainment. Though he did not know that the agency was about singing and dancing, Aiba passed the auditions and became a Johnny’s Jr.
When Aiba joined Johnny’s Entertainment, he was a member of a temporary unit named M.A.I.N., which consisted of fellow Arashi members, 松本潤 (Matsumoto Jun), 二宮和也 (Ninomiya Kazunari), as well as fellow “Johnny” 生田斗真 (Ikuta Toma) before the formation of Arashi. He was the last to know about his part in the formation of Arashi, learning of the fact only three days before their official debut in Hawaii on September 1999.
Aiba has his own radio show named “Aiba Recomen Remix” and is a regular member on variety show “Tensai Shimura Doubutsuen” as well as Arashi’s own variety shows. Aiba used to play the saxophone but stopped due to health reasons as he was diagnosed with pneumothorax when his lung collapsed and had to go through an operation. He now has a scar on his right chest from the operation. He also has a very noticeable birthmark on his left shoulder. According to bandmate 櫻井翔 (Sakurai Sho), Aiba becomes thankful for everything when he is drunk. Usually when he is with all of the Arashi members, he tends to say, “I’m so glad to be in Arashi”. |
