Hey! Say! JUMP

I finally got a chance to write about them... Hey!Say!JUMP. My new favorite Japanese boyband! Let me guess your first impression when you saw them: They have too many members, LOL! I've already known about Hey!Say!JUMP since long ago, but I wasn't interested in getting to know them better because I thought they had too many members, and yes... I underestimated them before. Haha... Now I'm crazy about them. And that's because of Yuya Takaki. I really like Japanese dorama, and one of my favorites is Gokusen 3. Yuya is one of the main characters, and he caught my interest after watching him in it. Because of him, I tried to listen to JUMP's songs. I didn't expect their songs to be really good, and they immediately caught my heart too! And then I started searching for more information about the other members of JUMP besides Yuya, and apparently, they all are interesting people. And now, I love all of them 😁

Hey!Say!JUMP is a talented boyband under the Japanese talent Johnny & Associates (Johnny Jimusho). Hey! Say! refers to the fact that all the members were born in the Heisei period, and JUMP is an acronym for Johnny's Ultra Music Power (please don't question this name, Johnny tends to create so many funny group names LOL). The group is split into two subgroups: Hey!Say!BEST (Boys Excellent Select Team) and Hey!Say!7 (not to be confused with the temporary group of the same name), consisting of the five oldest and five youngest members, respectively. (Wikipedia)

Now, I will tell you about the members from the oldest to the youngest. Here we go...

Hey!Say!BEST are....

Kota Yabu

Birthplace: Kanagawa Prefecture, Januari 31, 1990

A former member of Ya-Ya-Yah. He is one of my favorite members. He is also a talented songwriter. Dreamer, one of the songs he wrote the lyrics, is my favorite song from JUMP No. 1 Album. His voice is one of the best in the group. Some people even call it "Angel's voice." He's good at playing guitar. Yabu is the oldest, so he's more like an older brother in the group. Yabu's position in the group is also like a leader. Although there was no leader in JUMP, I think he's the one who is regarded as a leader because Yabu is the oldest and can pull everyone together. JUMP members also called him the peacemaker 😁 When he was still junior, Yabu was very close with Jin Akanishi, his senior in Johnny (former member of KAT-TUN), and even Akanishi once said that he would love to adopt him as a little brother. Awww~

  Yuya Takaki

Birthplace: Osaka, March 26, 1990

As I told you before, he is my favorite member. He is the reason I started listening to Hey!Say!JUMP, and until now, he is still my favorite ❤ Yuya wrote the lyrics for Time in JUMP No. 1 album. His popularity has risen since he starred in Gokusen 3 as Yamato Ogata. He has a deep husky voice and sounds so good when he sings. Even though Yuya is second to the oldest; apparently, his mental age is that of the youngest in JUMP. The man who loves the ocean, basketball, and children. That's why he's very close with Chinen, one of the youngest JUMP members. From the appearance, he looks more like a bad boy, like in Gokusen, but he's actually childish and such a big softie. He's a former member of J.J Express with Inoo, Yuto, Daiki, and Ryutaro.

 Kei Inoo

Birthplace: Saitama Prefecture, June 22, 1990
The members called him Inoo-chan. The first thing I noticed about him was his cute smile and beautiful face. Inoo is really good at playing the piano. I'm amazed whenever he plays it. Inoo gave off a calm guy image in the beginning, but apparently, he's one of the funniest members of the group. He will tell the most random jokes that make everyone laugh, but he will stay in his poker face, haha. Inoo goes to Meiji University, one of the universities in Japan whose students are known as the smartest and most diligent. Inoo always reminds his fans about the importance of education. He's a former leader of J.J Express.

Hikaru Yaotome

Birthplace: Miyagi Prefecture, December 2, 1990

Hikaru is also a former member of Ya-Ya-Yah with Yabu. He's excellent at playing bass and singing rap. He often writes songs together with Yabu. Hikaru and Yabu also starred in Kinpachi Sensei drama together in high school. Yes, they are very close because they have been together since childhood. One of the songs he wrote is Infinity. Hikaru is the funniest member, often using pranks to tease other members. He can lift the scene, and it's always fun when he's around. He can make funny impersonations too, and his acting skills are one of the best in JUMP. He's a fast thinker. When he’s doing MC at concerts, he can quickly cope with it.

Daiki Arioka

Birthplace: Chiba Prefecture, April 15, 1991

His nickname is Dai-chan. From the appearance, he has a natural, childlike face, very innocent, that's what I thought at first. But, contrary to his face, he's unexpectedly daring. Dai-chan is the ace/center in Hey!Say!BEST. Dai-chan arranged the music for the song Time while Yuya wrote the lyrics. He hates English and Math (well, same here for Math LOL). Dai-chan starred in Scrap Teacher and Sensei wa Erai with Yuto, Ryosuke, and Chinen as the main characters. His favorite music is Hip Hop, and I think he is one of the best dancers in JUMP.

Hey!Say! 7 are...

Keito Okamoto 

Birthplace: Tokyo, April 1, 1993

His father is a former member of a famous rock boyband, Kenichi Okamoto, and his mother is a former model, Nishi Katsue. No wonder he's such a handsome son, hehe. For about five years, Keito lived in Suffolk, England, so he's fluent in English. He's one of my favorites. Keito is great at playing guitar and melody; he gets to play guitar along with Yabu and Hikaru in concert. He also thinks that education is very important. If he wasn't an Idol, Keito would love to continue his school in London and be an entrepreneur. Keito's is afraid of the sound of a balloon's burst, hahaha.

Ryosuke Yamada

Birthplace: Tokyo, May 9, 1993

You can tell once after you look at his face: he is the most popular member of JUMP. He is the ace. He can be cute and cool at the same time, and seriously, he's got the most charming smile! His voice is one of the best in JUMP. He has a soft and deep voice. Plus, you can't underestimate his acting skills. Yamada often plays drama, which usually reaches high ratings, like Tantei Gakuen Q and Hidarime Tantei Eye. He always gets the lead role. Besides JUMP, Yamada and Chinen are also members of the subgroup NYC with Yuma Nakayama.

Yuto Nakajima

Birthplace: Tokyo,  August 10, 1993

He prefers to be called Yuto by everyone than Nakajima-kun. I saw him for the first time when he sang Dash while playing the drum along with Yuya and Daiki in Shonen Club. And he was awesome. Playing the drum is one of his hobbies, and he's so good at it that it immediately made an impression on me. Yuto also wrote the lyrics in Dash. He has a lot of hobbies and talents, such as dance, tap dance, photography, drums, etc. His acting is one of the best in JUMP. He has been playing drama since he was a kid. I watched Yuto when he was around 9/10 years old in Nobuta wo Produce, with Kazuya Kamenashi and Tomohisa Yamashita. He was (and still is) so adorable. Yuto is the most cheerful person in the group and also the tallest. It's like he's always happy in any situation ❤

Yuri Chinen

Birthplace: Shizuoka Prefecture, November 30, 1993

One of the cutest. Chinen's interesting point is his acrobatic skill. He can do a backflip nine times, maybe because his father was the Olympics gymnastics bronze medalist. He can reach high notes, and he's also one of the group's most popular members. Chinen's body is the smallest in JUMP, so he loves to sit on people's laps. He is really spoiled hehe. He's the biggest fanboy of Ohno Satoshi from Arashi. Despite his cute face and childlike persona, he's actually mature in character and very perfectionist, especially in dancing.

Ryutaro Morimoto 

Birthplace: Kanagawa Prefecture, April 6, 1995

Here comes the youngest member of the group. Ryutaro-kun. He admires Hideaki Takizawa. Since he is the youngest in the group, Ryutaro is constantly teased by other members (mostly BEST members). Ryutaro once was stalked by one of his fans, even threatened with a knife. Because of that, Johnny started to strengthen the security of his artists. Ryutaro is also the first one in Johnny who started his debut at the youngest age: 12. His height increases very fast, although he's the youngest member.

What I love about this boyband is the relationship between every member. They are very close to each other and more like family. Plus, their characters are different, yet they still get along well. I watched some videos of them backstage, and their interaction with each other was hilarious. They always do silly things together or tease each other. So amusing to watch. I also read their interviews in magazines, and they always praise each other. Although they often make fun of each other too. All Hey!Say!JUMP members are more like comedians. They all are very funny when they're together. They are such mood-booster! I love them so much.

Their debut song, "Ultra Music Power", was used as Japan's Volleyball World Cup Relay 2007 theme song. "Your Seed" was used as the image song for the Japanese release of the animated film Kung-Fu Panda. Btw, their song "Arigatou (sekai doko ni itemo)", there is a lyric which says Terima Kasih. They sing 'Thank You' in many languages including Bahasa. It is so cool. From now, I'll post more about them. I'll see you later. Jaa nee... =)