is a Japanese

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

managed by

Vision Factory , operating as Rising Production, is a Japanese talent agency. It largely works with musical talent, but has branched out in recent years to include actors and comedians. The company came into prominence after the widespread successes of musical ...

and signed to the

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...

label since 2000. The group consists of Ryohei Chiba and

Keita Tachibana , also known mononymously as Keita (stylized KEITA), is a Japanese singer and actor. Since 2000, he rose to fame as the lead vocalist from the boy band W-inds. During that time, he launched a solo career, and in 2012, has revitalized it again ...

;

Ryuichi Ogata , also known mononymously as Ryuichi or Dravil, is a Japanese singer, rapper, and guitarist. In 2001, he rose to fame as a member of the Japanese boy band W-inds as the group's dancer, back-up vocalist, and rapper. In addition to his activities w ...

left the group in 2020. Tachibana is the lead singer of the group, while Chiba and Ogata provide backing vocals and rap. W-inds released their debut single, "Forever Memories", in 2001. They were named "Best New Artists" at the

Japan Cable Awards are an annual set of music awards, sponsored by the . The awards were presented annually since 1968 and are based on requests from the audience received by cable broadcasters. The awards ended in 2017; Kiyoshi Hikawa, who is a Japanese enka si ...

and

Japan Record Awards is a major music awards show, held annually in Japan that recognizes outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association. Established in 1959, the Japan Record Awards are one of the oldest and most prestigious music awards in the countr ...

for the release of "Paradox." In addition to selling 5 million copies of CDs in Japan, W-inds has earned numerous awards and accolades from China, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

History

Pre-debut

In 2000,

from

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

passed the Starlight Auditions hosted by Vision Factory and was signed onto their label. In the same year, Ryohei Chiba and

, who attended the same dance school in Sapporo, passed dance auditions to join the group. The three moved to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

to live together, and in November, began street performances in

Yoyogi Park is a park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It is located adjacent to Harajuku Station and Meiji Shrine in Yoyogikamizonochō. The park is a popular Tokyo destination, especially on Sundays when it is used as a gathering place for Japanese rock music ...

and

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

to promote their activities. Prior to their major label debut in 2001, approximately 8,000 people came to watch.

2001–2002: ''1st Message'' and ''The System of Alive''

On March 14, 2001, W-inds released their first single, "

Forever Memories "Forever Memories" is the debut single by Japanese hip-hop group W-inds (stylized as ''w-inds.'') released on March 14, 2001. The single debuted on Oricon at No. 12 and remained on the charts for 23 weeks. The success of the single and their foll ...

", selling 216,590 copies. On June 17, they held their debut showcase at Asahikawa Medical University Medic Festival in

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

. On July 4, 2001, their second single, titled "

Feel the Fate ''Feel the Fate'' (stylized as ''Feel The Fate'') is the second single by the three-member Japanese hip-hop group w-inds, released on July 4, 2001. It charted better than their debut single, ranking in the top ten on the Oricon charts at No. 8. T ...

", was released and their official website launched on the same day. Filming for the promotional video took place on June 7 and the song was performed live at the international tournament in Yoyogi on August 2, where 7,000 people came to watch. Later that year, W-inds made their first appearance in the movie ''Star Light'', which premiered on October 7 at the Ikebukuro Theater. The movie also featured their third single, "Paradox", which was released on October 17, 2001. Filming for the promotional video took place on September 3. For ''Paradox'', w-inds. was awarded "Best New Artists" in the 43rd

. On December 19, 2001, W-inds's first album, ''

1st Message The discography for the Japanese boy band w-inds. consists of 40 singles and 16 studio albums since their major label debut in 2001. Albums Studio albums Compilation albums Remix albums Singles As lead artist As featured artist Pro ...

'', was released and debuted at #1 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

Weekly Albums Charts. For the first time, Chiba and Ogata appeared on some of the song tracks. In 2005, Ogata recalled being unsure with the idea at the time, as both of them generally had little experience in rapping and singing. On February 6, 2002, W-inds released a behind-the-scenes DVD titled ''Private of W-inds'', which charted at #3 on the ''

'' Weekly DVD Chart. The DVD was the best-selling male

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a devotional image of a deity or saint used during puja ...

DVD for nine years until 2011. On February 20, 2002, W-inds released their fourth single, titled "Try Your Emotion", which peaked at #2 on the weekly charts. Their fifth single, "Another Days", was released on May 22, 2002, and was used as the song to a commercial from Family Mart. Shortly after, W-inds collaborated with

Lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

Flame A flame () is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction made in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density, they are then considered plasm ...

, and

Folder 5 Folder 5 (also spelled Folder5) (フォルダファイヴ ''Forudafaivu'') was a five-girl Japanese pop idol group on the Avex Trax music label. The group's music was known for its Eurobeat style. The band's music was produced by Takashi Kimur ...

with the single "World Needs Love", released under the collective name Earth Harmony. During the summer, their sixth single, "Because of You" on August 21, 2002, and was the first single apart from their first album to have Ogata rapping. November 13, 2002 saw the release of their seventh single, "New Paradise". In the same year, w-inds. had their first nationwide tour for their first album, ''1st Message''. They extended their fanbase by briefly performing in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, as part of their tour. In addition to their activities, w-inds. made a brief cameo in the movie ''Nurse no Oshigoto The Movie'' as three soccer players. At the end of 2002, w-inds. released their second album, ''

The System of Alive The discography for the Japanese boy band w-inds. consists of 40 singles and 16 studio albums since their major label debut in 2001. Albums Studio albums Compilation albums Remix albums Singles As lead artist As featured artist P ...

'' on December 18, 2002. Similar to 2001, they promoted it at their Christmas fanclub event. Additionally, they gained the opportunity to perform at

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

for the first time, where they sang "New Paradise."

2003–2007: Expansion across Asia

w-inds. released their eighth single, "Super Lover (I Need You Tonight), on May 21, 2003. On August 21, 2003, they released "Love Is Message", with a musical style that was a departure from the former's dance beat nature. On October 29, 2003, they released "Long Road". In 2004, Vision Factory included Taiwan as one of their locations for the Prime of Life tour. Following that, w-inds. made their debut in Taiwan, and the tickets for their concert there sold out within 23 minutes, which set a record in Taiwan for "the artist with the fastest selling tickets." They became the only Japanese group invited to perform on the

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Mandarin Awards in September 2006. In 2006, w-inds. made an appearance on

Mnet KM Music Festival The MAMA Awards (, formerly Mnet Asian Music Awards) is a major music awards ceremony presented annually by entertainment company CJ ENM. First held in South Korea, the majority of prizes have been won by K-pop artists, although there are ot ...

, a music awards show in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

they were the first Japanese artists to ever appear on the show. w-inds. also took part in a China-Japan music festival in 2006. In March 2007, the group flew to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

to participate in another China-Japan music festival along with two other Japanese artists. On July 2, 2007 w-inds. joined the Pop Rock Gala in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. On this visit they picked up ten awards, accumulated from the years since their debut. During the end of their ''Thanks'' tour, held from the summer of 2007 to the end of the year, w-inds. revealed their upcoming single, "Boogie Woogie 66", and filmed their promotional video at the concerts. w-inds.' 22nd single, "Love Is the Greatest Thing", was released on July 4, 2007, as the theme song for the Japanese release of ''

Shrek the Third ''Shrek the Third'' (also known as ''Shrek 3'') is a 2007 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig. Directed by Chris Miller and co-directed by Raman Hui from a sc ...

''. The song was sampled from De Souza's "Guilty", and peaked at #4, selling 34,416 copies.

2008–2011: ''Seventh Ave.'', ''Another World'', 10th anniversary

In addition to their first double A side, "Everyday/Can't Get Back", in 2008, on May 13, 2009, w-inds. released another double A side, titled "Rain Is Fallin'/Hybrid Dream". "Rain Is Fallin'" was a collaboration and featured rap verses from

G-Dragon Kwon Ji-yong (; born August 18, 1988), best known as G-Dragon (), is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur, known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of K-pop". Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, G-Drag ...

from

Big Bang The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including th ...

, while "Hybrid Dream" was used as the theme song for the program ''Countdown Document Byo-Yomi!'' for the month of May. The single peaked at #2 and sold 48,577 copies. From the summer of 2009 to the end of the year, w-inds. toured venues in Japan with the Sweet Fantasy Tour; in November, the tour extended to Taiwan and Hong Kong. The Hong Kong show pulled in a crowd of 8,000 people. Halfway throughout the tour, the concert held at Kanagawa, Omiya had to be truncated due to Tachibana falling ill. W-inds released another double A-side single " New World/Truth (Saigo no Shinjitsu)" on December 9, 2009. The single debuted at #2 on the Oricon Weekly Charts. "Truth (Saigo no Shinjitsu)" was composed by the American singer and songwriters

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...

and B. Howard, who acknowledged their talent after coming across their act. The promotional video for "Truth (Saigo no Shinjitsu)" was filmed during W-inds' stay in Hong Kong for the Sweet Fantasy Tour. The b-side to the single was titled "Tribute" and was a tribute to

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

2012–present: ''Blue Blood'', ''Timeless'', and ''100''

In 2012, W-inds took a brief hiatus to focus on their own individual projects. During this time, Tachibana relaunched his solo career, Chiba performed in dance showcases with Kenzo from

Da Pump is a Japanese boy band made up of lead vocalist, Issa Hentona and MCs Ken Okumoto, Yukinari Tamaki and Shinobu Miyara. The band formed as students at Okinawa Actors School in 1996. They made their debut on the Avex Trax subsidiary avex tune unde ...

, and Ogata formed the rock band All City Steppers. On October 31, 2013, W-inds returned with the single "A Little Bit." On June 1, 2020, Ogata withdrew from the group due to psychosomatic disorder.

Musical style

From their debut, w-inds.' musical style was mainly

bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a more specific rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States in the late 1960s, th ...

, as it was the trend at the time. Tachibana, whose parents are both DJs, listened to American music growing up. Their sixth single, ''Because of you'', was even mentioned to have an "American style" to it. From 2003 onward, w-inds. moved on from lighthearted pop beats into more mellow ballads with mature lyrics in accordance to their growing image. At the end of 2008, w-inds. transitioned into dance beats.

Other activities and endorsements

w-inds. hosted a long-running radio show titled , which lasted from 2001 to 2008. From 2003 to 2007, they appeared in commercials fo
Bourbon Gum
with each new single playing in every new commercial. In 2002,

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

Natsume Hirose wrote and illustrated a

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

titled , which starred w-inds. as side characters. The manga lasted for three volumes and was serialized in ''

Bessatsu Margaret , or for short, is a shōjo manga magazine published monthly in Japan by Shueisha since 1964. The stories featured in it are noted to have an emphasis on character growth, focusing on themes of interpersonal relationships and settings of ever ...

''. They performed the theme song for the Japanese version of

, called "Love is the Greatest Thing".

Discography

Studio albums * ''1st Message'' (2001) * ''The System of Alive'' (2002) * ''Prime of Life'' (2003) * ''Ageha'' (2005) * ''Thanks'' (2006) * '' Journey'' (2007) * ''Seventh Avenue'' (2008) * ''Another World'' (2010) * ''Move Like This'' (2012) * ''Timeless'' (2014) * ''Blue Blood'' (2016) * ''Invisible'' (2017) * ''100'' (2018) * '' 20XX: We Are'' (2021) * ''Beyond'' (2023) * ''Winderlust'' (2025) Compilation albums * ''W-inds BesTracks'' (2004) * ''W-inds Single Collection Best Eleven'' (2008) * ''W-inds 10th Anniversary Best Album: We Dance For Everyone'' (2011) * ''W-inds 10th Anniversary Best Album: We Sing For You'' (2011)

Filmography

Films

Radio

Publications

# W-inds: First Pictorial (30 September 2001) # W-inds "Move!" (18 January 2002) # W-inds The Stage! (20 September 2002) # W-inds Keita – 1st personal photobook (1 November 2002) # W-inds Ryohei – 1st personal photobook (22 November 2002) # W-inds Ryuichi – 1st personal photobook (6 December 2002) # W-inds Meets Junon (13 September 2003) # W-inds Tour (8 October 2004) # W-inds Live Tour "Ageha" The Document (28 October 2005) # W-inds Vacanza (4 August 2006) # Triangle: W-inds Meets Junon 2 (26 October 2007)

Tours

* W-inds 1st Live Tour: 1st Message * W-inds: The System of Alive Tour 2003 * W-inds: Prime of Life Tour 2004 * W-inds Live Tour 2005: Ageha * W-inds Live Tour 2006: Thanks * W-inds Live Tour 2007: Journey * W-inds Live Tour 2008: Seventh Ave. * W-inds Live Tour 2009: Sweet Fantasy * W-inds Live Tour 2010: Another World * W-inds 10th Anniversary: Three Fourteen * W-inds Best Live Tour 2011 Final at Nippon Budokan * W-inds Live Tour: Awake at Nippon Budokan * W-inds Live Tour 2014: Timeless * W-inds Live Tour 2015: Blue Blood * W-inds 15th Anniversary Live Tour 2016: Forever Memories