W-inds.

Infobox musical artist
Name = w-inds.


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Origin = flagicon|Japan Shibuya, Tōkyō-to, JPN
Instrument =
Genre = J-pop
Boy band
Occupation =
Years_active = 2001–present
Label = Pony Canyon
Flight Master
Associated_acts = Lead
URL = [http://www.w-inds.tv/ w-inds.tv]
Current_members = Keita Tachibana
Ryohei Chiba
Ryuichi Ogata
Past_members =
Notable_instruments = Nihongo|w-inds.|ウィンズ|winzu is a Japanese pop vocal/dance group. They are popular in Japan, and have performed in shows such as the annual Nihongo|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 in Yoyogi Park and Shibuya. Just prior to their major label debut in March 2001, 8,000 people came out to see them perform near Shibuya Station. This was followed by their official debut on March 14th with their first single, Forever Memories. Their 1st album, "w-inds.~1ST MESSAGE~," was released the same year and topped the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart on the first day of its release.Fact|date=May 2008

Members

Name: Nihongo|Ryohei Chiba|千葉涼平|Chiba Ryouhei
Role: Rapper, background singer, dancer
Birth date: November 18, 1984
Birth place: Sapporo
Name: Nihongo|Keita Tachibana|橘慶太|Tachibana Keita
Role: Vocalist and dancer
Birth date: December 16, 1985
Birth Place: Fukuoka

Name: Nihongo|Ryuichi Ogata|緒方龍一|Ogata Ryūichi
Role: Rapper, background singer, dancer
Birth date: December 17, 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, Vietnam 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.

w-inds. are one of the few bands that are able to hold summer live tours annually. They have held summer live tours around Japan every year since 2002.

They were also the only Japanese artists to perform in the Mnet KM Music Festival, 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 often featured in various magazines in Japan and throughout Asia such as "JUNON," "Newsmaker," Arena37c and "ORICON STYLE". They are also often invited to perform on Popjam, CDTV, Music Japan and Music Fighter. They are also frequent winners in polls conducted by "JUNON" 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."

Upcoming in 2008

On July 2, 2008, the group's latest album, to be titled "Seventh Ave.", will be released in both a "Regular Edition" version with CD alone, and a "Limited Edition" version with bonus DVD included.

Achievements

2001
* Best New Artists, 43rd Nihongo|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 Nihongo|Magazine Publishers' Association of Japan Awards|ゴールデン・アロー賞|Gōruden Arō Shō
* Best New Artists, 16th Nihongo|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 Nihongo|"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 Nihongo|"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 Nihongo|"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 Nihongo|Kōhaku Uta Gassen|紅白歌合戦, NHK Studios, Tōkyō, in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007; and at the All Japan Night 40th Anniversary Concert, Budokan, Tōkyō, in 2007.

Discography

This is the discography of w-inds., and their releases shown below are only availible in Japan.

ingles

Albums

DVDs

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

# 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 October2007）

Trivia

* WaT and King Kong are known to be very good friends of w-inds.
* Ryohei thinks that brown hair suits Keita the most.Fact|date=April 2008
* Fans voted the Trial's hairstyle as their favourite.Fact|date=April 2008
* 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.Fact|date=April 2008

References

*Oricon yearly single charts Top 100
* [http://jbbs.livedoor.jp/music/3914/ /Music/3914] at [http://jbbs.livedoor.jp/ JBBS.LiveDoor.jp]
* [http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/ /~yamag/] at [http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/ Biglobe.ne.jp]
* [http://community.livejournal.com/feel_the_fate w-inds. Livejournal Community]

ee also

* List of bands from Japan

External links

*(曰本語) [http://www.w-inds.tv/index2.html Official Website, www.w-inds.tv]
*(曰本語) [http://www.keita.tv/ Keita Tachibana's Solo Website, Keita.tv]
*(曰本語) [http://www.yaplog.jp/ryoheiblog/ Ryohei Chiba's official blog] at [http://www.yaplog.jp/ Yaplog.jp]
*(曰本語) [http://ameblo.jp/tachibana-keita/ Keita Tachibana's official blog] at [http://ameblo.jp/ Ameblo.jp]
*(曰本語) [http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ogundam78/ Ryuichi Ogata's official blog] at [http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ YAHOO"!" Japan Blogs]
*(English) [http://www.w-indswebsite.com/ w-inds.Website, w-indswebsite.com]
*(English) [http://www.super-lover.net/ super☆lover w-inds. resource site, super-lover.net]
*(English) [http://www.w-inds.ws/ [e-mail] North American w-inds. Fan Club]