This article is about the Japanese boy band. For the type of sculpture made of snow, see Snowman. For the Australian band, see Snowman (band). For other uses, see Snowman (disambiguation).
Snow Man made their official debut on January 22, 2020, at the same time as SixTones. The groups' simultaneous debut marked the first time for two groups to debut on the same day in the company's history.[3] "D.D."/"Imitation Rain" became the best-selling debut release in Asian history with more than 1.8 million physical copies sold, making Snow Man the best selling debut group since KAT-TUN in 2006.
It is also the first male idol single in 17 years to remain in the top 100 of the Oricon chart for more than 100 weeks. Since their debut in 2020, the group has sold over 20 million physical copies in Japan. In 2021, their debut studio album, Snow Mania S1, sold in its first week more than 841k physical copies, and became in the best selling first week for a boy group studio album in Japanese history, and the second best week for a debut album in the country's history. Their single "Grandeur" was the best-selling release of 2021 in Japan with more than 1 million physical copies sold. With this, Snow Man became the first male artist since L'Arc-en-Ciel in 1999 to have multiple releases sell more than a million copies in two consecutive years.
In January 2022, Snow Man moved from label Avex Trax to MENT Recording. MENT Recording is a joint label between Avex Entertainment and Starto Entertainment. Kis-My-Ft2, another group from the same company and under Avex Trax, also moved to MENT Recording.[4][5]
History
The group was preceded by Mis Snow Man, a unit formed in 2009 that consists of 9 people.[6] The group has been active in stage play series Takizawa Kabuki since 2010.[2] Among them, a unit consists of Tatsuya Fukazawa, Daisuke Sakuma, Shota Watanabe, Ryota Miyadate, Hikaru Iwamoto, and Ryohei Abe was later formed on May 3, 2012.[7] The group's new name, Snow Man, was first announced when the six men stood in the stage of Takizawa Kabuki 2012, when letters suddenly appeared on the big screen behind them. The group's name was officially announced both to them and audience as a surprise.
While active as back dancers for Tackey & Tsubasa, Kis-My-Ft2, A.B.C-Z, and other senior groups, they also regularly appeared in stage plays such as Dream Boys and Takizawa Kabuki, and from 2015, Shonen-tachi and its movie version. Since all of them are good at acrobatics, they are sometimes referred as "a group of highly talented and dedicated performers" and are often nominated by seniors in the company as "Junior members they want to have as back dancers."[6] While they have been described as "the best dancer among Junior" since their formation in 2012, and despite their appearances in theater, the group couldn't get the chance to get a debut, making the members think about leaving.[8] In January 2019, Raul from Shonen Ninja, Ren Meguro from Uchuu Six, and a member from Kansai Junior, Koji Mukai, were added as new members. While the original 6 members accepted the decision as "wanting to protect the group," they also felt that "even if whole group (as original Snow Man) was gone, we just want to realize our dream as Snow Man," and "the only way to get rid of this problem (off my head) is this."
In March 2019, Island TV, a website made to provide exclusive video streaming content from Johnny's Jr. members was released.< Individual concerts were streamed for a fee.[9] Snow Man, along with 11 other Johnny's Jr. groups (SixTones, Travis Japan, HiHi Jets, Bi Shonen, 7 Men Samurai, Shonen Ninja, Jr.SP, Uchuu Six, Naniwa Danshi, Lil Kansai, and Ae! Group) held their first "solo" concert In August 8, and was streamed via the site.[10]
The group's debut was first announced by Takizawa, who is told by Johnny Kitagawa in his hospital bed in June 2019.[11] Debuting at the same time as SixTONES, the announcement was officially made in Johnny's Jr. 8.8 Matsuri 〜Tokyo Dome kara Hajimaru〜 concert on August 8, 2019.[12] They also "graduated" from Johhny's Jr. official YouTube channel and officially opened their own YouTube channel on December 25, 2019.
In March 2020, the group received their own television show titled Sore Snow Man ni Yarasete Kudasai (それSnowManにやらせて下さい; lit. Leave It to Snow Man). The show's was revealed as a surprise to Snow Man through their YouTube channel in February 2020.[16] The show's first episode aired on March 25, 2020, on TBS.[17]
Hikaru Iwamoto was reported in March 2020, to be taking a break from group's activities, after the Japanese magazine Friday published a report of him drinking at love motel in 2017. Through Johnny's apology post, it was written that Iwamoto confirmed that an underage girl was among those present.[18] The other 8 members also made their apology in their appearance at the live music program CDTV Live! Live! on the same day as the reported news. On July 1, Johnny's net and Johnny's web announced that Iwamoto would return to resume his activities.[19]
In April 2020, the group performed the 11th opening theme song for the anime Black Clover, titled "Stories".[20][21]
In May 2020, Snow Man was announced to be a part of Twenty★Twenty, a temporary unit consisting of 75 talents that have debuted in Johnny's, to perform a charity song.[a] The unit was formed to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The song, titled "Smile," is written by Kazutoshi Sakurai and is produced by Hideaki Takizawa.[22]
A movie version of stage play Takizawa Kabuki called Takizawa Kabuki Zero The Movie (滝沢歌舞伎 ZERO The Movie) was released on December 5, 2020, starring the members of Snow Man in the main roles. This marks Snow Man's post-debut first main role in a movie.[23]
In December 2020, it was announced that Ryota Miyadate had tested positive for COVID-19.[24] Their New Years performance was canceled as a result.[25]
On January 5, 2021, Snow Man's song "Grandeur" debuted as the 13th Opening for Black Clover.[26]
In April 2021, it was reported that Daisuke Sakuma would voice the male lead of Chinese animated movie White Snake, Ah Xuan, in its Japanese dub version. This is Sakuma's second voice acting role after he debuted in Black Clover.[27] The Japanese version of the movie also features a theme song by Snow Man, "Yuan" (縁 -YUÁN-).[28]
In August 2021, Snow Man was announced to star in the live action movie adaptation of anime series Mr. Osomatsu. Six of them played as the Matsuno sextuplets while the rest, Ryōta Miyadate, Shōta Watanabe, and Ryōhei Abe, as the movie's original character, each named Period, End, and Close respectively. The film premiered on March 25, 2022.[29] The group also provided the film's theme song "Brother Beat."
In the same month, the group announced their first album release titled Snow Mania S1. The album released on September 29, 2021. The first edition A of the album contains the highly requested group's pre-debut original songs, including "Make It Hot!" and "Owaranai Memories."[30][31]
On October 1, 2024, member Shōta Watanabe was chosen as the Swarovski jewelry brand's first ambassador in Japan.[32] In the same month, the group performed the ending theme song for the second season of the anime Blue Lock, titled "One".[33]
On January 22, 2025, Snow Man released their first greatest hits album, The Best 2020–2025, marking the fifth anniversary of their debut. The album sold over 1.1 million copies on its first day on sale, topping the Oricon Daily Album Ranking chart for January 21, 2025. Its first-week sales hit 1,395,000 copies, setting a new record for the highest first-week sales of Japan’s Reiwa Era.[34]
It was reported that Snow Man would have 2 concerts in Japan National Stadium in 2025, making it the third group from the former Johnny & Associates's debuted groups (after SMAP and Arashi) and the first of Starto Entertainment to perform there. The tour "Snow Man 1st Stadium Live Snow World" will take place on April 19 and 20 at the National Stadium and at Nissan Stadium in Kanagawa on June 7 and 8.[35]
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