Snow Man variety special (SoreSno)
Illustration: WhyTrend

What happened

On the evening of June 5 (Japan time), Japanese broadcaster TBS airs a two-hour special of *Sore Snow Man ni Yarasete Kudasai* — a variety show (a Japanese TV format mixing talk, games, and comedy) hosted by Snow Man, an idol group (a pop act whose members are marketed individually to fans). The episode is built around two segments. In the first, members Koji Mukai and Raul visit a high school in Saitama for the fifth installment of the show's popular "Underage Declaration" segment, watching students shout confessions and performing a parody-song version of the track "Odorouze!"

with them.

Why it is trending now

The second segment is the bigger draw outside the core fandom. Members Ryohei Abe and ROLAND are let into a restricted, normally off-limits area of Google Japan's office, with Abe reacting that he had "experienced the future." What pushed the hashtag beyond regular fans was that Google Japan's official account announced the day before that it would live-post about the products shown during the broadcast — an unusual case of a global tech brand syncing with a Japanese idol show in real time.

How fans reacted

Japanese viewers split their excitement between the two segments: warm anticipation for Mukai and Raul's school visit, and surprise at the rare access to Google's offices. Affiliate stations across Japan urged fans to watch live, and actor Hiroshi Motoki and TV personality Saeko appear as studio guests.

What to watch next:

The episode streams free afterward on TVer (Japan's free catch-up TV service), so international fans without a TBS feed can still watch. Whether Google Japan's live-posting experiment becomes a repeatable promotional format for Japanese TV is the next thing to watch.