The 5Stars A.B.C-Z

Members: Goseki Koichi, Totsuka Shota, Tsukada Ryoichi, Kawai Fumito & Hashimoto Ryosuke

Top: Tsukada Ryoichi, Hashimoto Ryosuke & Goseki Koichi
Bottom: Totsuka Shota & Kawai Fumito

A.B.C-Z’s roots can be found in the Junior group A.B.C. that was formed in 2000. There have been four members that have been the mainstays of the line-up for this group over the years; Goseki Koichi, Totsuka Shota, Tsukada Ryoichi & Kawai Fumito.

A.B.C. stood for Acrobat Boys Club as the members specialized in acrobatics, such as flips, cartwheels and back flips with their performances. As other Junior groups they mainly back danced for other groups and performed on the Junior program Shounen Club.

In 2008 Hashimoto Ryosuke, who had been a member of the then disbanded Junior group J.J. Express, was added to the group. With his addition A.B.C. was renamed A.B.C-Z but the focus on acrobatics did not change.

Late in 2008 they had a joint concert with Kis-My-Ft2 at Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo. After that they went on to continue with their regular Junior activities such as back dancing while Kis-My-Ft2 began to do more. In 2010 though A.B.C-Z were given the chance to produce concerts for the Juniors and in the second half of 2011 received a huge push in activities, with most of them centered around stage work.

In early September of 2011 Johnny Kitagawa announced that the group is being set up to debut but said that they would possibly debut as a seven member unit and have the group name changed to A.B.C-xyZ. Thi did not happen though as later that year it was announced that A.B.C-Z would debut as the current five man unit sometime in 2012.

When faced with debuting finally the members of the group asked that they have their debut release be a DVD, so they could showcase their strength, their performances. Johnny’s agreed and on February 1st they released their debut DVD, which will make them the first Johnny’s group to debut with a DVD.

Focusing on being a performance group A.B.C-Z has only released DVDs since their debut. With Sexy Zone they were given their own section on Johnny’s net in mid-2012 confirming their debut being for the long term.


Next Entry >  International Ventures


Directory >
Introduction
Johnny’s Juniors, full of rising stars and heartbreak
The Early and Rocky Path to Fame
Kondo Masahiko: Singer, Dancer, Actor, Professional Race Car Driver
Giving a New Meaning to Playzone, Shounentai
Hikaru Genji, Shining the Brightest and Crashing the Hardest

Otokogumi, Rocking It Old School
The Living Legend of SMAP
TOKIO, From Spaceships to the Over 30s World
Victory, Volleyball, Vegetable, Vicylce? V6
KinKi Kids, It's Not What You Think
Arashi, Storming to the Top
The Inseparable Duo, Tackey & Tsubasa
North, East, West, South ... It's big NEWS
Kansai Underdogs,  Kanjani∞
Cartoon? KAT-TUN!
Jumping to Their Dreams, Hey! Say! JUMP
Johnny's Black Sheep, Akanishi Jin
How to Debut Without Even Trying, Ikuta Toma
Kis-My-Ft2, Everybody Go (Roller Skating)!
Yamashita Tomohisa, Johnny’s Golden Boy
Entering the Sexy Zone
The 5Stars A.B.C-Z
International Ventures
Johnny's and Charity 
Odds & Ends