SixTones

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SixTones
SixTones in 2022
Background information
Origin	Japan
Genres	J-pop
Years active	2015–present
Labels	Sony Music Entertainment Japan
Members	Yugo Kochi Taiga Kyomoto Juri Tanaka Hokuto Matsumura Jesse Shintaro Morimoto
Website	www.sixtones.jp

SixTones (ストーンズ, Sutōnzu; stylized as SixTONES and pronounced "Stones") is a Japanese idol group formed in 2015 by Johnny & Associates and currently managed by Starto Entertainment. The group made its official debut on January 22, 2020 under Sony Music Entertainment Japan. As of year, SixTONES has sold over 6.24 million physical records in Japan.[1]

Johnny Kitagawa, the late leader of Johnny & Associates named the group "SixTones". Initially named "Six Tones", the name was later changed to "SixTones" (pronounced "Stones", with the "ix" in "Six" being silent).[2] The "stones" pronunciation refers to "diamond in the rough", where the group's potential emerges as its members continually polish and refine their skills.[3][4] The name also refers to the six members, each with a distinctive tone, personality and sound.[2]

In 2011, shortly after the debut of Sexy Zone, the members performed as back dancers for A.B.C-Z and Hey! Say! JUMP.[5][6]

In February 2012, while they were back dancing in A.B.C-Z's ABC Za (Stars) stage play,[7][8] the group participated on the Nippon Television drama, Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou (lit. "Private Bakaleya High School"), which was the first drama collaboration between Johnny's talents and AKB48's members.[9][10] Members reprised their roles in the sequel drama and film Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou: The Movie (2012). At this point, the six members were not officially formed as a unit, named by fans as Bakareya6 or Bakareya-gumi during the airing of the drama.[11]

A discussion with Johnny Kitagawa,[12] led to announcement of the Johnny's Jr. Johnny's Dome theater: Summary, one of the few performances with Junior's as main at the time.[11][13] At the years-end Fresh Johnny's Jr. in Yokohama Arena concert, clips of the Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou drama were shown together with the original soundtrack Shake It Up by Kis-my-ft2.[14]

After a January 2013 cover performance of Kat-Tun's "Six Senses" on Shounen Club, the unofficial Bakareya6 unit disbanded. The group was split into a 2:4 formation, with Jesse and Hokuto Matsumura performing separately from the remaining four members. While the former had numerous appearances, the rest struggled.[11] Some of the limited appearances were individual The Shounen Club ones.[15] Additionally, the previously announced six-member performance at the Live House Johnny's Ginza was changed and the members split into the same 2:4 formation.[16]

In August 2014, five of the members, excluding Jesse, performed at the Johnny's Ginza 2014 shows .[17] The six members reunited for a performance of Kis-my-ft2's "Shake It Up" at Gamushara [ja] J's party‼ vol.4 in May 2015.[18] This was their first performance as a six-member-unit after eighteen months. In a magazine interview afterward, Hokuto Matsumura and Taiga Kyomoto said they felt that the show was a closure to their Bakareya era.[19] However, Gamushara J's party!! Vol. 6 was announced in the following month. The members consisted of Genki Iwahashi, Yuta Jinguji, and Yuta Kishi as well as the six members.[20]

Years later, when SixTones talked about their group formation, they revealed that many of the members were planning to quit their agency at that point. Shintaro Morimoto was planning to return to his studies to obtain a teaching license after graduating from high school.[21] Yugo Kochi, Taiga Kyomoto and Juri Tanaka were considering their futures, too.[21][22] SixTones also revealed that during the that inactive period, the members were brought back together by Jesse, who had expressed the desire to work together as six once again.[22]

In The Shounen Club episode broadcast in January 2015, the six members together performed a cover of Hell No by KAT-TUN.[23] This was the first performance together as six on the show after a two-year gap.

In April 2015, five of the members, excluding Taiga Kyomoto, performed in the Johnny's Ginza 2015 shows.[24] Taiga Kyomoto was in the Elizabeth musical at that time and could not join the show.[24] In order to announce their group name as Six, Taiga Kyomoto rushed over from the Imperial Theatre to the Theatre Creation on 1 May 2015, where the Six members announced their formation as SixTones.[25][26]

The group name was later changed to SixTones and read as Stones and officially announced in Shounen Club on June 10, 2015. In September 2015, SixTones starred as the main casts in the Boys: Dream of The World...Children Who Don't Know War musical for the first time, together with Snow Man.[27] They performed their first two original songs, Kono Hoshi No HIKARI and BE CRAZY, in the Shounentachi musical.[28][29]

SixTones held concerts as part of Johnny's Ginza 2016 from May 27 to 30, 2016.[30] In September 2016, SixTones starred as the main cast in The Boys, Crisis! musical for the second time, together with Snow Man.[31]

From February 18 to 26, 2017, SixTones and four Kansai Johnny's Jr. (Daigo Nishihata, Kōji Mukai, Ryusei Onishi and Ryūta Muro) held joint concerts together as part of the East SixTones × West Kansai Johnny's Jr. SHOW Battle.[32] SixTones also held concerts in the Summer Station ~ Kimitachi ga~ KING'S TREASURE shows from 1 to 3 August 2017.[33] In September 2017, SixTones starred as the main cast in the Boys: Born Tomorrow musical with Snow Man for the third consecutive year.[34] The two groups also performed during The Boys Live in Aichi Prefecture, Hyōgo Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture and Hiroshima that year.[35]

Upon the opening of Johnny's Jr.'s official YouTube channel on 21 March 2018, SixTones were announced to be in charge of each week's Friday content for the channel.[36] In July 2018, SixTones held concerts as part of Summer Paradise 2018, with four additional shows later announced in August 2018.[37]

In October 2018, it was announced that SixTones were chosen for YouTube's first Japanese Artist Promotion Campaign for emerging artists that YouTube launched in several countries. The staff working with SixTones on their weekly Johnny's Jr. Channel content recommended them to be part of the campaign. The president of the YouTube headquarters in California then contacted Johnny & Associates directly to offer SixTones the opportunity to be part of the campaign.[38][39]

On November 5, 2018, SixTones released their first music video, "Japonica Style", as part of the campaign on the Johnny's Jr. Channel.[40] The music video was produced by Hideaki Takizawa while the costuming and styling were provided by the woman's fashion magazine, CanCam.[40][41] On November 16, 2018, the group held its first YouTube Livestream at YouTube Space Tokyo,[42] which was also the first YouTube Livestream held by talents of Johnny & Associates. SixTones later went on to perform at Japan's first YouTube FanFest Music on December 11.[43]

At the Johnny's Jr. 8.8 Festival〜Tokyo Dome Kara Hajimaru〜 on August 8, 2019, it was announced that SixTones would release their debut single in 2020.[44] Additionally, the group also opened an official Instagram account and announced their graduation from Johnny's Jr. Channel with the opening of their own YouTube Artist Channel [45] at 10:00 p.m. JST the same day.[44]

Together with Travis Japan, SixTones is the first talent group of Johnny & Associates to open an official Instagram account, as well as the first talent group of Johnny & Associates to have their own YouTube Channel.

SixTones made their debut on January 22, 2020, with a double A-side CD single with another Johnny's group Snow Man called "SixTones vs Snow Man" with SixTones' track being "Imitation Rain". "Imitation Rain" was composed and arranged by X Japan's Yoshiki, and sold 772,902 CD copies in a single day, with it eventually crossing one million in following days, topping the Oricon Chart.[46] On July 22, 2020, SixTones released another album single titled "Navigator", which was used as the opening of The Millionaire Detective Balance: Unlimited. Another song, "New Era", was released on November 11, 2020, and was used as the first opening of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon.

SixTones released their first album, 1ST on 6 January 2021. The album was released in three editions: Rough Edition, Tone Colors, and the regular edition. The album topped both the Oricon Albums Chart and Billboard Japan Hot Albums Chart, selling over 467,000 copies in Japan in its first week.[47] They released their second album, City, on January 5, 2022. City includes their fourth album single, "Boku wa Boku Janai Mitai Da", released on February 17, 2021, and their fifth single, "Mascara", released on August 11, 2021. "Boku wa Boku Janai Mitai Da" was used as the theme song for the movie LiarxLiar, which Matsumura Hokuto played a lead role in. "Mascara" was written and produced by King Gnu's Tsuneta Daiki. One song from the album, "Rosy", was used as the theme song for the Japanese dub of Spider-Man: No Way Home.[48]

SixTones released their second album, City, on January 5, 2022. The album was released in three editions: the regular edition, first edition A and first edition B. The album topped the Oricon Albums Chart in the week after its release.

On January 1, 2022, SixTones appeared on the YouTube channel, The First Take, performing an orchestral arrangement of their debut song, "Imitation Rain". With over 120,000 people watching the premiere, they set a record on the channel for the most views during a premiere, as well as became the first group from Johnny & Associates to appear on the channel. On January 12, they appeared on the channel a second time, performing a song from City, "Everlasting".

In 2023, SixTones collaborated with Yoshiki to perform "Imitation Rain" in the documentary film Yoshiki: Under the Sky.[49]

On November 15, 2024, SixTones reported on their SNS that they would be holding their first "five dome tour" in 2025, starting with Tokyo Dome on January 24, visiting Fukuoka, Osaka, Hokkaido, and ending in Aichi on April 14. "SixTones Live Tour 2025 'Young Old'" will consist of a total of 13 performances in the cities previously mentioned.[50]

On February 28, 2025, it was revealed that SixTones were awarded the MTV VMAJ "Group of the Year" award, which they will receive at the ceremony on March 19, where they will also perform live.[51][52]

On January 19, 2026, "Ichibyou", Nippon Television's cheer song during the 2026 Winter Olympics, was announced on News Zero.[53]

• Yugo Kochi
• Taiga Kyomoto
• Juri Tanaka
• Hokuto Matsumura
• Jesse
• Shintaro Morimoto

SixTONES has no permanent leader. The leader role rotates annually, with one member serving as leader for that year, chosen by rock paper scissors at the beginning of each year.[54]

• Official website