West (band)

West., formerly known as Johnny's West, is a boy band consisting of seven members formed under the Starto Entertainment talent agency. The members are Daiki Shigeoka, Junta Nakama, Takahiro Hamada, Akito Kiriyama, Tomohiro Kamiyama, Ryusei Fujii, and Nozomu Kotaki. The group's name comes from the fact that it originated within the Starto Entertainment talent agency and that the members are from Kansai, the west region of Japan. They are the first group from Kansai Junior. that has debuted in ten years, the last being Super Eight. They debuted in 2014 with the single "Eejanaika ".
The group changed their name to West. before the 10th anniversary of their debut. Their new name was announced through an online stream on October 18, 2023. A period in the new name is added to "declare" that they are the west, and that "though it's a small dot, it's filled with infinite possibilities".

Members

Created based on the official website profile and sorted after birthdays. The member colors are used in costumes, CDs, albums, DVDs jackets, and TV shows.

Name	Kanji Name	Date of birth	Place of birth	Blood Type	Member Color
Junta Nakama	中間淳太		Hyogo	O	Yellow
Takahiro Hamada	濵田崇裕		Hyogo	AB	Purple
Akito Kiriyama	桐山照史		Osaka	A	Orange
Daiki Shigeoka	重岡大毅		Hyogo	A	Red
Tomohiro Kamiyama	神山智洋		Hyogo	A	Green
Ryusei Fujii	藤井流星		Osaka	B	Royal Blue
Nozomu Kotaki	小瀧望		Osaka	O	Pink

History

Debut

At the 2013-2014 Johnny's Countdown Live held at Tokyo Dome from December 31, 2013, to January 1, 2014, the four members, Daiki Shigeoka, Junta Nakama, Akito Kiriyama, and Nozomu Kotaki announced the group's debut and the debut CD. It was a sudden announcement that the four members got the approval from Johnny Kitagawa, the president of the agency, and decided to announce 30 minutes before the appearance on the stage. Initially, the group's name was supposed to be West 4. However, they later found that having the number "4" in their name was inappropriate due to the Japanese superstition that the number was unlucky. Therefore, they changed to the name "West." The four members directly asked Johnny Kitagawa to add three more members, namely, Takahiro Hamada, Tomohiro Kamiyama, and Ryusei Fujii. After getting his approval, West became a seven-member group.
Their first leading play, "Naniwa Samurai Hello TOKYO!!," was held at the Nissay Theatre from February 5 to 28, 2014. At the rehearsal on February 5, the first day of the play, Takahiro Hamada, Tomohiro Kamiyama, and Ryusei Fujii joined as new members and announced that seven members would debut as West. It was also revealed that initial four members persuaded Johnny Kitagawa to let the other three join the group. In the performances that followed, the group revealed that the group evolved from having four members to seven members. The band performerd "Mou 1% ", a song for the Japanese dub of The Lego Ninjago Movie.
The debut single, "Eejanaika," was released on April 23, 2014.

Story of Pre-debut

In an interview with Myōjō after their debut, they revealed the circumstances until their debut. During the appearance of the play "ANOTHER," in which six members other than Fujii appeared in September 2013, it was informed by the staff of Starto Entertainment that they would debut as seven members, including Hamada, Kamiyama, and Fujii. After that, the members had a meeting about their group's name and debut song, and they thought it would be unveiled at "Johnny's Count Down Live," held on December 31, 2013. However, shortly before the concert, the Starto Entertainment told them that they would appear at the concert as Kansai Johnny's Jr., and then all of them were told that they had no longer appeared.
After the situation changed repeatedly, they were informed that they would actually be at the concert, so they needed to go to Tokyo from Osaka. However, only four members, Shigeoka, Nakama, Kiriyama, and Kotaki, were boarded the Shinkansen. During the meeting in Tokyo, Nakama asked the staff why they were gathered without the other three members, and the staff told that they would debut as a group of four members. They told the other three members about the debut a few hours before the Countdown Concert started. Although they appeared in the concert afterward, the four members were not in the mood to smile at all during the performance. Immediately after, during the Kansai Johnny's Jr. concert held on January 4, 2014, the four members could not even meet the other three members because of the debut, and Nakama stated in the interview, "It was like hell."
The four members continued to ask for the debut with the other three members, and they were finally able to debut as a group of seven members. Shigeoka mainly asked about the debut, and several members answered, "It was Shigeoka. He did not give up from the beginning." Regarding this matter, Shigeoka responded, "I accepted it once when I was told that we would debut with four people, but I could not give up my hope. I desired to include the three members who were not involved initially, but that reason was not enough. I wanted the group to be nationally famous, so I believed that three members were absolutely essential for that."

Career

2014

At the 2013-2014 Johnny's Countdown Live held at Tokyo Dome from December 31, 2013, to January 1, 2014, the four members, Daiki Shigeoka, Junta Nakama, Akito Kiriyama, and Nozomu Kotaki announced the group's debut and the debut CD.
On February 5, their first leading play, "Naniwa Samurai Hello TOKYO!!," was held at the Nissay Theatre. At the rehearsal on the same day, Takahiro Hamada, Tomohiro Kamiyama, and Ryusei Fujii joined as new members and announced that seven members would debut as West. This day is said to be the formation day of West.
On April 2, it was decided that Akito Kiriyama served as MC with Fumito Kawai from A.B.C-Z at "Shounen Club," which West appeared regularly.
On April 20, West had a press conference of debut at Abeno Harukas. After that, they moved to the heliport on the rooftop, 300 m above the ground, and performed their debut song, "Eejanaika." It was also announced that they would be appointed as the Konamon Ambassador of the Nippon Konamon Association.
On April 23, West debuted with the release of their 1st single, "Eejanaika."
From April 26 to May 6, the performance, "Naniwa Tomoare, Honmani Arigatou!," which was planned to commemorate the CD debut of West, was held at Osaka Shochikuza.
On April 27, West held a handshake event at Intex Osaka.
On April 30, a serial blog of "Na-Ni-Wa-Bu-Shi!" was started on Johnny's web, updated weekly by one of the members.
From May 11 to 21, the event, "Naniwa Tomoare, Honmani Arigatou! in TOKYO," started at Shinbashi Enbujō.
On May 14, it was announced at the MC of the same event above that the serialization of "Na-Ni-Wa-Bu-Shi!" would be updated every week by every member.
On July 22 and 23, "Debut Shitemo Eejanaika ~Banzai!! Sono Saki no Ittosho e~" was held at Zepp Namba Osaka, and on July 28 and 29 at Zepp Diver City Tokyo.
On August 2, the play, "Typhoon n Dreamer," started at Osaka Shochikuza.
On August 6, the 1st studio album, "Go West Yōi Don!," was released.
On August 28 and 29, a commemorative party for the release of the 1st album, "Go West Yōi Don!," was held at Yokohama Arena.
On September 3, the play, "Typhoon n Dreamer," started at the Nissay Theatre.
On October 8, the 2nd single, "Zipang Ōkini Daisakusen/Yume wo Dakishimete," was released.
On December 17, the 1st DVD & Blu-ray, "Naniwa Samurai Hello Tokyo!!," was released.
2015
From January 2 to 6, the 1st concert, "Johnny's WEST 1st Concert Ippatsumeeeeeee!," was held at Yokohama Arena and Osaka Castle Hall.
On January 10, the play, "Naniwa Samurai Dangoro Ichiza," started at Nissay Theatre.
On February 4, the 3rd single, "Zundoko Paradise," was released.
On April 22, Extended Album, "Paripipo," was released.
From May 4 to June 7, the 1st tour, "Johnny's WEST 1st Tour Paripipo," was held at Yokohama Arena, Nagoya International Exhibition Hall, Osaka Castle Hall, Hiroshima City Cultural Exchange Hall, Fukuoka Sunpalace, and Kobe World Memorial Hall.
On June 17, the 2nd DVD & Blu-ray, "Naniwa Tomoare, Honmani Arigatou!," was released.
On July 29, the 4th single, "Bari Hapi," was released.
On October 7, the 3rd DVD & Blu-ray, "West 1st Concert Ippatsumeeeeeee!," was released.
On December 9, the 2nd studio album, "Luckyyyyyyy7," was released.
2016
From January 3 to April 3, the tour, "Johnny's WEST Concert Tour 2016 Luckyyyyyyy7," was held at Osaka Castle Hall, Yokohama Arena, Nippon Gaishi Hall, Hiroshima Prefectural Sports Center, Fukuoka Convention Center, Toki Messe, and Sekisui Heim Super Arena.
On April 20, the 5th single, "Gyakuten Winner," was released. It was used as the first season opening of the Ace Attorney anime.
On May 18, 4th DVD & Blu-ray, "West 1st Tour Paripipo," was released.
On July 24, West's official fan club was established.
On July 27, the 6th single, "Jinsei wa Subarashī," was released.
On September 27, it was announced that West's first dome performance would be held at Kyocera Dome Osaka on December 24 and 25.
On October 19, ELOV-Label, a record company, opened a Twitter account to promote the album "Nawest".
On November 30, the 3rd studio album, "Nawest," and the 5th DVD & Blu-ray, "West Concert Tour 2016 Luckyyyyyyy7," were released.
On December 24 and 25, the 1st concert at domed stadium, "Johnny's WEST 1st Dome Live 24 kara Kansha Todokemasu," was held at Kyocera Dome Osaka.