Editing SMAP (section)

===2004–2005: Individual activities and ''SAMPLE Bang''===
Although all five members were able to work actively as a group while pursuing solo careers since their debut, in 2004, their solo projects were on a tight schedule compared to the previous years, as they all carried their own television programs and worked as actors, on both television and film. They were not able to rearrange their schedules to fit in a time to work as a group, besides the taping of their weekly television program, ''[[SMAP×SMAP]]''. It was announced that the band did not have a single day that all five members could meet together, other than the taping of ''SMAP×SMAP'', which happened four times a month, commenting on the impossibility of shooting a music video, promoting a record, or going on tour. This led to a musical hiatus in a way, although they continued to perform their songs every week in a musical segment on ''SMAP×SMAP''. This was the first time in thirteen years that the band did not release any new material or go on tour. A song titled "Wonderful Life" was initially scheduled to become the band's new single in 2004. After finding out that the release was unlikely, they first decided to wait until the coming year but later had Inagaki release the song as a solo artist instead. He created a temporary stage name, &G, and made his solo debut in March and the single reached number one in the charts.

From August 2004, Nakai launched his career as a [[Sports commentator|sportscaster]] and became the host of the Olympic games on [[Tokyo Broadcasting System Television|TBS]]. "Susume Gold", a remix of their song form their fifteenth album, ''SMAP 016/MIJ'', was scheduled to be released on September 8, 2004, as the band's thirty-sixth single but was later canceled. The song served as the official song of the [[2004 Summer Olympics]] and used during its television coverage on TBS. In December 2004, SMAP aired a television special as an apology for their musical hiatus and to show the fans their appreciation for their support on the group's solo projects. By the end of 2004, their single, "The One and Only Flower in the World", released in 2003, had become the best selling single in the 21st century and the most recognized song in Japan. Although many assumed that the band would be performing the song again at ''[[Kohaku Uta Gassen]]'' as the ''ootori'', as they did the previous year, the band declined their invitation from the show due to not releasing any new music in 2004. ''Kohaku'' experienced a fall in ratings that year and became the lowest-rated ''Kohaku'' in history and the absence of SMAP is thought to be the cause of this.

In January 2005, the band released their new single, "Tomodachi e Say What You Will", a cover of [[Eric Clapton]]'s "Say What You Will", which reached number one in the charts.<ref>{{cite web|title=SMAP、14作目の首位に向けて好スタート!|url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/4873/|website=Oricon Style|date=January 19, 2005 |access-date=January 19, 2005}}</ref> Its subsequent singles, "Bang Bang Vacation" and "Triangle", and their sixteenth album, ''Sample Bang!'', released on July 27, 2005, all reached number one in the charts as well.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/confidence/49603/|title=NEWS、自身初のシングル、アルバム同時初登場1位！|publisher=[[Oricon]]|date=November 13, 2007|access-date=April 27, 2010|language=ja}}</ref> "Triangle" served as the official song of all sports broadcasts on [[TV Asahi]], such as the [[2006 Winter Olympics]], the [[2006 World Baseball Classic]], and the [[ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating]]. It was featured during the television coverage on [[TV Asahi]] from November 2005 through March 2006. Later in 2008, it was announced that "Triangle" would be appearing on text books used in music classes in school. From July to September 2005, they launched their tenth stadium tour, ''SMAP to Iku SMAP Sample Tour''. SMAP became the first artist in history to perform at the [[National Olympic Stadium (Tokyo)|National Olympic Stadium]].<ref>{{cite web|title=SMAP 史上初の国立競技場単独ライブ|url=http://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/special/2005jya/KFullNormal20050603022.html|website=Sponichi Annex|access-date=June 3, 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051215130620/http://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/special/2005jya/KFullNormal20050603022.html|archive-date=December 15, 2005}}</ref> The tour was released through DVD on December 14, 2005.<ref>{{cite web|title=SMAP新着情報到着!3作リリースが決定!|url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/759/full/|website=Oricon Style|access-date=October 28, 2005}}</ref> In August 2005, [[Soichi Noguchi]], a Japanese [[astronaut]], played SMAP's hit single, "The One and Only Flower in the World", while flying in the [[Space Shuttle Discovery|Space Shuttle ''Discovery'']] and it became the second Japanese song played in space. Noguchi also took with him, food that Inagaki, Kusanagi, and Katori cooked in Bistro SMAP, a cooking segment aired on ''SMAP×SMAP'', when he made a guest appearance on the show. On August 27 and 28, Kusanagi and Katori hosted [[Nippon TV|NTV]]'s annual [[telethon]], ''24 Hour Television'', and raised one billion yen. It also became the highest-rated ''24 Hour Television'' since its launch in 1978. On December 31, SMAP performed "Triangle" at ''[[Kohaku Uta Gassen]]''. As artists are ranked according to the ratings during their performance, SMAP ranked number one out of fifty-four artists, and was the most watched act of that year's ''Kohaku'', with a household share rating of 48.6%.