V6

Overview

V6 (ブイシックス) was a six-member Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates in 1995 and signed to avex trax. They debuted on November 1, 1995, and disbanded on November 1, 2021. The group sometimes split by age into 20th Century (Masayuki Sakamoto, Hiroshi Nagano, Yoshihiko Inohara) and Coming Century (Go Morita, Ken Miyake, Junichi Okada). Sakamoto was the leader. V6 sold more than 13.5 million albums and singles, and in June 2021 set an all-time record of 27 consecutive years with a top-10 single since debut.

The "V" stands for volleyball, victory, visual, versus, veteran, vitamin, value and more; the "6" refers to the six members.

Career

Formation and debut

In 1995 it was announced that a new group would be created as image characters for the Fuji TV-hosted Volleyball World Cup. It was first written as "Vsix" with candidate members. Morita and Miyake joined, Okada was chosen, and the six-man lineup was finalized. A debut press conference was held on September 4 at Velfarre in Roppongi, and the group debuted on November 1 with "Music for the People", followed by the debut event "SING FOR THE PEOPLE" outside Yoyogi National Gymnasium. They also appeared in the tie-in drama Vの炎 and became image characters for the All Japan High School Volleyball Tournament from 1996.

1990s

Their first four singles were Eurobeat cover versions by Italian producers, and they received songs from avex artists such as DJ KOO and motsu. They shifted to a pop direction in 1997 with "Ai nanda". On December 31, 1996 they held the charity event V6 COUNT DOWN '97 in Kobe for earthquake relief, and also performed the opening of Ultraman Tiga, "Take Me Higher". In 1997 they began hosting Gakkō e Ikō, which ran for 11 years until September 2008. That December they formed J-Friends with TOKIO and KinKi Kids for Hanshin earthquake charity, active until March 2003. In 1998 Morita ran 100 km as the charity marathon runner on 24 Hour Television.

2000s

In 2000 they hosted 24 Hour Television and performed the opening concert at Saitama Super Arena. In 2001 they became the first Japanese act to hold three consecutive nights in Taipei, and in 2002 the first Japanese act at Korea's Dream Concert. Coming Century starred in the 2003 film COSMIC RESCUE, and V6 starred in Hard Luck Hero, selected as a special invited work at the Tokyo International Film Festival. In 2004 they received an Asian cultural exchange award and performed the theme song and Japanese dub voices for Thunderbirds.

For their 10th anniversary in 2005 they held a commemorative event, the tour V6 10th Anniversary Concert 2005 musicmind, handshake events, a museum, and the film Hold Up Down. The 2006 summer tour took their total attendance past five million. Their 10th original album Voyager (September 2007) debuted at No. 1 on Oricon, the 1000th No. 1 album in the chart's history. In 2009 they won an Asia Special Award in Seoul and toured Korea and Taiwan in November.

2010s

They made their first appearance on the 65th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen in 2014. For their 20th anniversary in 2015 they toured with LIVE TOUR 2015 -SINCE 1995~FOREVER-, the first tour by a Johnny's act broadcast on WOWOW, and co-hosted 24 Hour Television. In 2016 they joined TV Asahi Dream Festival, their first domestic music festival. In 2017 they held LIVE TOUR 2017 The ONES, and on May 3 released the double A-side single "COLORS/Taiyou to Tsuki no Kodomotachi", the former used for Inohara's drama and the latter for NHK's Minna no Uta.

2020s and disbandment

In 2020 they joined the 75-member unit Twenty★Twenty for the Smile Up! Project, and on November 1 held their first streaming concert for their 25th anniversary. On March 12, 2021 it was announced that V6 would disband on November 1 and that Morita would leave the agency, after he said he wanted to pursue acting outside it. They held their final tour LIVE TOUR V6 groove from September 4 to November 1, released the album STEP and the final best album Very6 BEST, and made their last TV appearance on Gakkō e Ikō 2021 on October 26. The final concert was streamed live. They also opened the virtual space V-Land and planted an olive tree in Edogawa.

Coming Century ended with the disbandment, while 20th Century continues. Miyake left the agency on May 2, 2023 and Okada on November 30, 2023. On October 26, 2025 it was announced that the full discography would arrive on streaming and download platforms on November 1, and that 20th Century would open Cafe 20th Century in Jiyugaoka.

Musical style

They began with avex-style Eurobeat before moving to pop in 1997. Most singles were rearranged for albums, and they never released a remix album. They performed anime themes including InuYasha ("Change the World", "Brand New World"), Eyeshield 21 ("Breakthrough" and "Innocence" as subunits), Fairy Tail ("Break Out") and One Piece ("Super Powers"), and were active across drama, film, stage, variety and solo work.