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Travis Japan is a Japanese boy band managed by Starto Entertainment formerly known as Johnny & Associates.[1] Their name is a tribute to the American choreographer Travis Payne, who assisted in their 2012 group formation during the production of stage show Playzone'12 Song & Danc'n. Partii.[2] The group resided in Los Angeles, California in March to October 2022, to study English and train with local choreographers and vocal coaches.[3]
In February 2012, while watching a play, Yoshizawa, Nakamura, Abe, Miyachika, Kajiyama and other Johnny's Jr were called to the rehearsal room, where they met with Travis Payne. Nakada, Kawashima, Morita, and Shimekake, active at that time as Jr. A, and who were later called "Older Brothers", were also there. By then, Travis Japan was formed with the five members mentioned first, whom were later called the "Younger Brothers", but in July it was informed that the nine would act as Travis Japan in Playzone'12 Song & Danc'n。Partii.
By 2015, they would continue performing in Playzone, but they would also be chosen as back dancers for Masahiko Kondō, Arashi and Tackey & Tsubasa.
By 2016, the subgroups' relationship as one group had not deepened, and they had even thought of appearing as "Older Brothers" and "Younger Brothers" in "Johnny's Ginza 2016" in May 2016, but reconsidered after the possibility of losing their job after the end of Playzone. Shortly after that, Abe expressed his intention of leaving. By October 2016's performances, the group was made up of 8 members. It continued like that until January 2017's "JOHNNYS' ALL STARS IsLAND", where this time, Nakada was the one mentioning his desire to pursue his dream.
Without Abe and Nakada, Travis Japan had 7 members working during their performances in 2017. In September's "Johnny's You&Me IsLAND", Morita was absent, leaving the group with 6 members. Information about the start of the Fuji Television variety show "Johnny's Jr.dex", as well as "Johnny's Happy New Year IsLAND" event in October lacked Kajiyama's name, leaving the group with 5 members. After that, at the performance of "Odaiba Odoriba Saturday and Sunday Playground" on November 18, 2017, 7 people appeared, including Genta Matsuda and Kaito Matsukura, who were active as back dancers for Sexy Zone and the stage performance "Endless Shock". The performance was actually an audition for Matsuda and Matsukura to see if they would join the group. They later revealed that they were told that for them to join, they would have to appear with the other five. The seven-men group appeared in the December broadcast of "Johnny's Jr. dex".
In March 2018, on the "Johnny's web" official site, regular posts started on their blog. Official member colors were revealed in the "About" page. On August 8, 2019, they opened an official Instagram page. By October 10, 2022, they accumulated 980,000 followers.[4]
They became the first Johnny's act to perform with an overseas artist, when they participated as special guests at the "Austin Mahone Japan Tour 2019" on October 14 and 15, 2019. In 2019 they performed at the sold-out "Tora-ja ~ NINJAPAN" planned and composed originally by Johnny Kitagawa and directed by Hideaki Takizawa. The performance lasted for 3 years.
The group held their first Johnny's Jr solo concert at "Summer Paradise 2020", on August 1–10, 2020. They also performed at Arashi's last concert before hiatus, "This is Arashi Live", on December 31, 2020.[5]
"+81 Dance Studio" is the name of the YouTube channel opened on August 25, 2021, the first one for a Johnny's Jr. solo (group) act. Their performances there are of new dance versions of classic J&A artists songs. The first song dance-covered there was Arashi's "Love So Sweet".[6] They were the only Jr. group to perform at "Johnny's Festival – Thank you 2021 Hello 2022" on December 30, 2021, after receiving an offer from Arashi's Jun Matsumoto, who produced the event, as back dancers for KinKi Kids. On March 3, 2022, on an Instagram Live, members informed of their travel to Los Angeles, California to study. On March 28, 2022, they competed in the World of Dance Championship Series – Orange County 2022, earning third place in the team category and winning the Best Costume and Crowd Favorite categories. On July 13, 2022, they auditioned for America's Got Talent, qualifying for the live shows' semifinals on August 13. On July 19, 2022, Yoshizawa announced a temporary hiatus due to tendonitis, returning to activities after August 13.
On September 29, 2022, it was revealed that they would be signed to Capitol Records, a subsidiary of Universal Music, and would make their worldwide major debut with their first single on October 28, 2022, first debut at the firm in nearly 11 months since Naniwa Danshi. The group opened a new official website, Twitter and TikTok. A solo YouTube channel was also launched [7] On October 10, 2022, the name of their debut song was released. A teaser of "Just Dance!" was released on their YouTube channel.[8][9][10]
Travis Japan got called back to perform in America's Got Talent in 2024, for their special series "Fantasy League", show that aired 22 January 2024, singing their debut song "Just Dance", after having a disappointing performance and mixed reactions from the judges in their appearance at the semifinals in August 2022, which cost them a "Red buzzer" vote from Howie Mandel barely at the start of their performance.[11][12][13] This time, though, it was different, because they received praises from all the judges, especially from former Spice Girls member Mel B, who was their coach. Unfortunately, the group did not make it past the qualifying round.[14][15]
Current members
Former members
| Year | Title | Details | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Travis Japan no JUST! Shin Nihon Isan | Two members of Travis Japan embark on a journey each week to uncover Japan's lesser-known treasures, while facing unexpected challenges. | [17] |
| Travis Japan discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 2 |
| EPs | 1 |
| Singles | 7 |
| Music videos | 10 |
| Title | Details | Peak positions | Sales | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN [18] |
JPN Cmb. [19] |
JPN Hot [20] | ||||
| Road to A |
|
1 | 1 | 1 |
|
|
| Viisual[23] | 1 | 1 | 1 |
|
| |
| Title | Details | Peaks | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Cmb. [19] | |||
| Moving Pieces – EP |
Track listing
|
5 |
|
| Title | Year | Peak positions | Sales | Certifications | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN [27] |
JPN Cmb. [28] |
JPN Hot [29] |
WW [30] | |||||
| "Just Dance!" | 2022 | — | 7 | 4 | 28 | Road to A | ||
| "Moving Pieces" | 2023 | — | 4 | 3 | — | |||
| "Candy Kiss" | — | 4 | 2 | — | ||||
| "T.G.I. Friday Night" | 2024 | — | 7 | 2 | —[A] | Viisual | ||
| "Sweetest Tune" | — | 5 | 2 | — | ||||
| "Say I Do" | 2025 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — |
|
|
TBA |
| "Tokyo Crazy Night" | 24 | — | ||||||
| "Would You Like One?" | — | 12 | 9 | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | ||||||||
| Title | Year | Peaks | Sales | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Cmb. [28] |
JPN Hot [29] | ||||
| "Level Up" | 2023 | — | 68 | Road to A | |
| "Crazy Crazy" | 2024 | 6 | 10 |
|
Viisual |
| "Fly Higher" | 65 |
| |||
| "Bo$$y" | — | 71 | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||
| Title | Year | Peaks | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Hot [29] | |||
| "Still on a Journey" | 2023 | 65 | Road to A |
| "Burning Love" | 2025 | 80 | Lilo & Stitch (Japanese Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
| Title | Lyrics by | Music by | JASRAC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yume no Hollywood （夢のHollywood）[35] |
Ma-saya | Josef Melin | 1L0-3418-9 |
| Dance With Me 〜Lesson 1〜[36] | Komei Kobayashi | Figge Boström Josef Melin |
1L4-1272-8 |
| Happy Groovy[37] | Aya Harukazu | Takarot Didrik Thott |
1L7-0920-8 |
| Lock Lock[38] | Mine | O-Bankz Erik Lidbom Christofer Erixon |
1L9-7780-6 |
| VOLCANO[39] | Satoru Kurihara | Hikari
Geek Boy / Al Swettenham |
1M9-3827-8 |
| Talk it! Make it![40] | Komei Kobayashi | Josef Melin | 1N1-9560-1 |
| Namida no Kessho （Namidaの結晶）[41] |
Susumu Kawaguchi | Takashi Tsushimi Susumu Kawaguchi |
249-4116-6 |
| Unique Tigers[42] | Travis Japan | A. K. Janeway | 249-4117-4 |
| FREE YOUR MIND | Komei Kobayashi | Josef Melin | 1N8-4094-8 |
| BLUE MASQUERADE | Komei Kobayashi | José Manuel Moles Paula Guasp Roger Argemí Tutusaus |
1N8-6975-0 |
| Together Now[43] | Komei Kobayashi | Kenichi Sakamuro Figge Boström |
1N8-3838-2 |
| GET ALIVE[44] | Funk Uchino | Susumu Kawaguchi Steven Lee Drew Ryan Scott Jimmy Andrew Richard |
1O4-8163-1 |
| The Show[45] | Hikari | Hikari Samdell[46] |
1P3-4645-2 |
| BIG BANG BOY | Yui Mugino | Peter Ants Nord | 1P9-6630-2 |
| To the Top | Komei Kobayashi | Ronnie Icon Willie Weeks |
1Q1-5898-6 |
| Bring Back | Shun Kusakawa | Erik Lidbom Gustav Mared Michael Lee Cheung / MLC |
1Q1-5900-1 |
| Party Up Like Crazy[47] | Steven Lee | Steven Lee Takuya Harada |
1Q6-3994-1 |
| Title | Year | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Namida no KESSHO | 2019 | [48][49] |
| Big Bang Boy | 2021 | [50][51] |
| Just Dance | 2022 | [52][53] |
| Moving Pieces | 2023 | [54][55] |
| Candy Kiss | [56][57] | |
| Level Up | [58][59] | |
| Okie Dokie! | [60][61] | |
| T.G.I. Friday Night | 2024 | [62][63] |
| Sweetest Tune | [64][65] | |
| Crazy Crazy | [66][67] |
{{cite web}}: External link in |title=| International | |
|---|---|
| Artists | |
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