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w-inds. (ウィンズ, U-inzu) is a Japanese pop vocal group. They are popular in Japan, and have performed in shows such as the annual Kōhaku Uta Gassen (紅白歌合戦), a Japanese TV program that invites only the top-selling artists of the year. Their first hit was "Forever Memories."

History

Beginning in November 2000, w-inds. gave street performances at Yoyogi Park and Shibuya every Sunday. They officially debuted in March 2001. 8,000 people came to Shibuya Heaven to watch them live. Their 1st album, ~1st message~ was released the same year and topped the Oricon Weekly Album Chart on the first day of its release.

Members

Name: Ryohei Chiba (千葉涼平, Chiba Ryouhei)
Role: Rapper, background singer, dancer
Birth date: November 18, 1984
Birth place: Sapporo

Name: Keita Tachibana (橘慶太, Tachibana Keita)
Role: Vocalist and dancer
Birth date: December 16, 1985
Birth Place: Fukuoka

Name: Ryuichi Ogata (緒方龍一, Ogata Ryūichi)
Role: Rapper, background singer, dancer
Birth date: 17 December 1985
Birth place: Sapporo

Information

w-inds. has a wide and strong fan base around Asia, including Taiwan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. They are especially popular in Taiwan, and were the only Japanese group invited to perform on the MTV Mandarin Awards, September 2006. They have held two concerts in Taiwan (2004 and 2005). Both received great response from fans. In 2004, their concert tickets sold out within 23 minutes, which set a record in Taiwan for the "artiste with the fastest selling tickets." Several popular Taiwanese celebrities have attended their concerts as well. In 2007, they returned to Taiwan to once again host a concert for the w-inds. live tour 2007 Journey.

They first performed in China in 2002, in Shanghai. They also took part in a China-Japan music festival in 2006. In March 2007, they flew to Beijing to participate in another China-Japan music festival along with two other Japanese artists. They have held video conferences in Hong Kong. On July 2, 2007 they 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.

They have held summer live tours around Japan every year since 2002.

They were also the only Japanese artists to perform in MKMF, a music awards show in Korea in 2006.

The main vocalist, Keita Tachibana, debuted with a solo single, "Michishirube," on October 18, 2006. Contrary to the rumours, Tachibana has confirmed that w-inds.. is not disbanding despite his solo career.

w-inds. are featured in various magazines in Japan and throughout Asia. They are also often invited to perform in Popjam, CDTV and Music Fighter. They are also frequent winners in polls conducted by Jun-on (純音, Dyun-on) for their good looks and talent.

To date, all their singles and studio albums have made it into the top 10 positions in the Oricon Charts, with the exception of their first single, "Forever Memories."

Achievements

2001

• Best New Artists, 43rd Japan Composers' Association Awards (日本レコード大賞, Nihon Rekōdo Taishō), for "Paradox"

2002

• First Prize, 44th Japan Composers' Association Awards, for "Because of You"
• Best New Musical Artists, 39th Magazine Publishers' Association of Japan Awards (ゴールデン・アロー賞, Gōruden Arō Shō)
• Best New Artists, 16th Recording Industry Association of Japan Awards (日本ゴールドディスク大賞, Nihon Gōrudisuku Taishō)

2003

• First Prize, 45th Japan Composers' Association Awards, for "Long Road"

2004

• Best International Group, YAHOO! Hong Kong Buzz Music Awards
• Best Selling Album（Japan and/or Korea）, IFPI Hong Kong, for PRIME OF LIFE

2005

• First Prize, 47th Japan Composers' Association Awards, for "Izayoi no Tsuki" (十六夜の月)
• Best International Group, YAHOO! Hong Kong Buzz Music Awards
• Best Selling Album（Japan and/or Korea）, IFPI Hong Kong, for ageha

2006

• First Prize in Music, 39th Japan Cable Distributors' Awards
• First Prize, 48th Japan Composers' Association Awards, for "Boogie Woogie 66" (ブギウギ66)
• Best Dance Artists, MTV Student Voice Awards
• Most Popular Musical Artists, HITO（China and Taiwan）Awards, for "Kirei da" (キレイだ)
• Most Popular Group（Japan）, MTV Mandarin Awards
• Special Award: 12 Million CDs Sold, MTV Mandarin Awards
• Best Pop Artists（Asia）, MNET KM Music Festival（Korea）
• Best International Group, YAHOO! Hong Kong Buzz Music Awards
• Best Selling Album（Japan and/or Korea）, IFPI Hong Kong, for THANKS

2007

• First Prize, 49th Japan Composers' Association Awards, for "Love Is The Greatest Thing"
• Best Group, MTV Student Voice Awards
• Best Group（Japan）, 18th RTHK International Pop Poll Awards
• Best International Group, YAHOO! Hong Kong Buzz Music Awards

Additionally, w-inds. has performed on the Kōhaku Uta Gassen (紅白歌合戦), NHK Studios, Tōkyō, in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006; and at the All Japan Night 40th Anniversary Concert, Budokan, Tōkyō, in 2007.

Discography

Singles

Albums

DVDs

1. "Private of w-inds." （6 February 2002） -  ??? copies sold
2. "Works vol.1" （20 March 2002） -  ??? copies sold
3. w-inds.1st Live Tour"1st message" （17 October 2002） -  ??? copies sold
4. "Works vol.2" （23 April 2003） - 21,247 copies sold
5. w-inds."THE SYSTEM OF ALIVE"Tourl 2003 （6 November 2003） - 22,611 copies sold
6. "Works vol.3" （21 April 2004） - 31,076 copies sold
7. w-inds."PRIME OF LIFE"Tour 2004 （15 December 2004） - 29,202 copies sold
8. "w-inds.tv" （16 February 2005） -  ??? copies sold
9. "Works vol.4" （20 July 2005） - 24,999 copies sold
10. w-inds.LIVE TOUR 2005“ageha” （14 December 2005） - 30,486 copies sold
11. "Works vol.5" （20 September 2006） - 22,363 copies sold
12. w-inds. LIVE TOUR 2006 "THANKS" （20 December 2006 - Debut: 22,375 Total: 28,020
13. "Works vol. 6" （9 September 2007）
14. w-inds. LIVE TOUR 2007 "Journey" （19 December 2007）

Movies

• Star Light（15 May 2002 VHS/DVD）
• ナースのお仕事 ザ・ムービー （18 December 2002 VHS/DVD）

Photobooks

1. w-inds. ~first pictorial~（30 September 2001）
2. w-inds. "move!"（18 January 2002）
3. w-inds. THE STAGE!（20 September 2002）
4. w-inds. Keita – 1st personal photobook（1 November 2002）
5. w-inds. Ryohei – 1st personal photobook（22 November 2002）
6. w-inds. Ryuichi – 1st personal photobook（6 December 2002）
7. w-inds. Meets JUNON（13 September 2003）
8. w-inds. Tour（8 October 2004）
9. w-inds. Live Tour “ageha” The Document（28 October 2005）
10. w-inds. vacanza（4 August 2006）

Trivia

• WaT and King Kong are known to be very good friends of w-inds.
• Ryohei thinks that brown hair suits Keita the most.
• Fans voted the Trial's hairstyle as their favourite.
• w-inds.' song "Kazauta" was based on the American boy band O-Town's "All or Nothing". The tune is the same, but the lyrics are changed and the ending is longer.

References

• Oricon yearly single charts Top 100
• /Music/3914 at JBBS.LiveDoor.jp
• /~yamag/ at Biglobe.ne.jp
• w-inds. Livejournal Community

See also

• List of bands from Japan

External links

• (曰本語) Official Website, w-inds.tv
• Official English Website, W-indsWebsite.com
• (曰本語) Keita Tachibana's Solo Website, Keita.tv
• (曰本語) Ryohei Chiba's official blog at Yaplog.jp
• (曰本語) Keita Tachibana's official blog at Ameblo.jp
• (曰本語) Ryuichi Ogata's official blog at YAHOO! Japan Blogs

• Articles needing cleanup from September 2007
• Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from September 2007
• Misplaced Pages pages needing cleanup from September 2007
• Boy bands
• Japanese pop music groups