W-inds


W-inds is a Japanese pop boy band managed by Vision Factory and signed to the Pony Canyon label since 2000. The group consists of Ryohei Chiba and Keita Tachibana; Ryuichi Ogata 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 and Japan Record Awards 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, Keita Tachibana from Fukuoka passed the Starlight Auditions hosted by Vision Factory and was signed onto their label. In the same year, Ryohei Chiba and Ryuichi Ogata, who attended the same dance school in Sapporo, passed dance auditions to join the group. The three moved to Tokyo to live together, and in November, began street performances in Yoyogi Park and Shibuya 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", selling 216,590 copies. On June 17, they held their debut showcase at Asahikawa Medical University Medic Festival in Hokkaido. On July 4, 2001, their second single, titled "Feel the Fate", 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 Japan Record Awards.
On December 19, 2001, W-inds's first album, 1st Message, was released and debuted at #1 on the Oricon 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 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, Flame, and Folder 5 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, China, 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 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 for the first time, where they sang "New Paradise."

2003–2007: Expansion across Asia

w-inds. released their eighth single, "Super Lover, 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 Mandarin Awards in September 2006.
In 2006, w-inds. made an appearance on Mnet KM Music Festival, a music awards show in South Korea 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 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. 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 from Big Bang, 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 " on December 9, 2009. The single debuted at #2 on the Oricon Weekly Charts. "Truth " was composed by the American singer and songwriters Ne-Yo and B. Howard, who acknowledged their talent after coming across their act. The promotional video for "Truth " 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.

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, 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, 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 w-inds.' Windy Street, which lasted from 2001 to 2008. From 2003 to 2007, they appeared in commercials for , with each new single playing in every new commercial.
In 2002, manga artist Natsume Hirose wrote and illustrated a manga titled Tokyo Style Bomb, which starred w-inds. as side characters. The manga lasted for three volumes and was serialized in Bessatsu Margaret.

Discography

Studio albums
Compilation albums

Films

Radio

Publications

  1. W-inds: First Pictorial
  2. W-inds "Move!"
  3. W-inds The Stage!
  4. W-inds Keita – 1st personal photobook
  5. W-inds Ryohei – 1st personal photobook
  6. W-inds Ryuichi – 1st personal photobook
  7. W-inds Meets Junon
  8. W-inds Tour
  9. W-inds Live Tour "Ageha" The Document
  10. W-inds Vacanza
  11. Triangle: W-inds Meets Junon 2

    Tours

YearAwardCategoryNominated WorkResult
200134th Japan Cable AwardsBest New Artist Award"Paradox"
200143rd Japan Record AwardsBest New Artist Award"Paradox"
200244th Japan Record AwardsGold Award"Because of You"
200239th Golden Arrow AwardMusic Newcomer AwardW-inds
200216th Japan Gold Disc AwardNew Artist of the YearW-inds
200345th Japan Record AwardsGold Award"Long Road"
2004Yahoo! Hong Kong Buzz Music AwardsBest International GroupW-inds
2004IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music AwardsBest Sales Release
Prime of Life
2004IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music AwardsBest Sales Release
W-inds. BesTracks
200547th Japan Record AwardsGold Award"Izayoi no Tsuki"
2005Yahoo! Hong Kong Buzz Music AwardsBest International GroupW-inds
2005IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music AwardsBest Sales Release
Ageha
200639th Japan Cable AwardsMusic AwardW-inds
200647th Japan Record AwardsGold Award"Boogie Woogie 66"
2006MTV Student Voice Awards 2006Best Dance Artist AwardW-inds
20062006 China and Taiwan Hito Popularity Music AwardBest Pop Song"Kirei Da"
2006MTV Channel Mandarin AwardsMost Popular Group
W-inds
2006MTV Channel Mandarin AwardsSpecial Award
W-inds
2006Mnet KM Music Festival 2006Best Asia Pop ArtistW-inds
2006Yahoo! Hong Kong Buzz Music AwardsBest International GroupW-inds
2006IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music AwardsBest Sales Release
Thanks
200749th Japan Record AwardsGold Award"Love is the Greatest Thing"
2007MTV Student Voice Awards 2007Best Celebrity Student Voice Group AwardW-inds
200718th RTHK International Pop Poll AwardsTop Japanese Artist/GroupW-inds
2007Yahoo! Hong Kong Buzz Music AwardsBest International GroupW-inds
2008IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music AwardsBest Sales Release
Journey
20085th Asia Song FestivalBest Asian Artist Award
W-inds
200850th Japan Record AwardsGold Award"Ame Ato"
2009IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music AwardsBest Sales Release
Single Collection: Best Eleven
2009IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music AwardsBest Sales Release
Seventh Ave.
200951st Japan Record AwardsExcellence Work Award"Rain is Fallin'"
2010MTV World Stage VMAJ 2010Best Collaboration Video Award"Rain is Fallin'"
201051st Japan Record AwardsExcellence Work Award"New World"
2011IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music AwardsBest Sales Release
Another World
201122nd RTHK International Pop Poll AwardTop Japanese Gold Song"Addicted to Love"
2012IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music AwardsBest Sales Release
W-inds 10th Anniversary Best Album
2013IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music AwardsBest Sales Release
Move Like This
2015IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music AwardsBest Sales Release
Timeless
201519th China Music AwardsAsian Most Influential Japanese SingerW-inds
2016IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music AwardsBest Sales Release
Blue Blood
201627th RTHK International Pop Poll AwardTop Artist/Group
W-inds
201627th RTHK International Pop Poll AwardTop Japanese Gold Song"In Love with the Music"
201728th RTHK International Pop Poll AwardTop Artist/Group
W-inds
201728th RTHK International Pop Poll AwardTop Japanese Gold Song"Boom Word Up"
201829th RTHK International Pop Poll AwardTop Japanese Gold Song"Time Has Gone"