7 Men Samurai

Lore & Background

7 Men Samurai was created on February 26, 2018, by Johnny Kitagawa and named after Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film Seven Samurai. The group appeared regularly on the bi-monthly music and variety show The Shōnen Club on NHK. They were one of eight groups featured on the official Johnnys' Junior YouTube Channel, posting content every Friday since August 2019, and also shared vlog-style behind-the-scenes recaps, humorous vignettes, outtakes, and original skits on the Johnnys' official video site Island TV. Members appeared on Japanese variety TV programs such as the quiz show Torinikutte Nan no Nikui!? and the sports competition series Honoo no Taiikutai TV, where member Rinne Sugeta was an official part of the in-show 'Johnny's Track-and-Field Team' coached by KAT-TUN's Tatsuya Ueda. Individual members also had starring and supporting roles in stage productions and scripted television dramas.

Reader's Guide

7 Men Samurai occupied a notable position within the Johnnys' Junior system as a group that blended traditional boy-band performance with rock instrumentation and covers of older Johnnys' hits. Their first original song, 'Samu-dama' (a portmanteau of 'samurai spirit'), was announced on May 1, 2020, via a surprise prank video on YouTube, and was performed in August 2020 during the Summer Paradise 2020 livestreamed music festival. A self-shot Studio Live music video for the song was uploaded on September 11, 2020, along with a making-of vignette and an encore cover of Tokio's 'Jumbo'. A second original song, 'Siren', debuted on November 28, 2020, at the Johnnys' Jr. Island FES music festival, and a third, 'SHOUT', premiered during the JOHNNYS' IsLAND THE NEW WORLD showcase in January 2022. The group's legacy lies in its role as a bridge between traditional Johnnys' idol culture and a harder rock aesthetic, and its dissolution in February 2025 marked the end of a seven-year run within the Starto reorganization.

Did You Know?

• The group was named after Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film Seven Samurai.
• Their first original song 'Samu-dama' was announced via a surprise prank video on YouTube on May 1, 2020.
• Member Rinne Sugeta was part of the 'Johnny's Track-and-Field Team' coached by KAT-TUN's Tatsuya Ueda on the sports competition series Honoo no Taiikutai TV.
• The group has not disbanded; they continue activities under Starto Entertainment as of the latest available information.

Formation & Artistic Identity

7 Men Samurai was a Japanese boy band that operated within the trainee division of Starto Entertainment, originally brought into existence by Johnnys' Island Company, a subsidiary of the Tokyo-based talent agency Johnny & Associates. Johnny Kitagawa formally created the group on February 26, 2018, and chose a name drawn from Akira Kurosawa's celebrated 1954 epic Seven Samurai, lending the act an immediately evocative, warrior-like identity. Rather than following the polished pop formula typical of many junior acts, the six members built their stage persona around sharp choreography, band-style live arrangements, and bold rock reinterpretations of songs from the older Johnnys' catalog. Tracks like "Cinderella Girl" and "Samurai" were reimagined with heavier instrumentation and a more aggressive energy, setting the group apart within the junior roster. This blend of classical Japanese imagery and modern rock performance became the defining aesthetic that audiences recognized whenever the name 7 Men Samurai appeared.

Original Music & Signature Tracks

The group's first original composition arrived under unusual circumstances. On May 1, 2020, Johnnys' Island CEO Hideaki Takizawa surprised the members with a prank video on their YouTube channel, revealing that a new song had been written for them. The track had originally been slated for their solo segment at the annual Johnnys' Ginza spring talent showcase, but the pandemic forced that event to be cancelled. The song, titled "Samu-dama," finally reached audiences in August 2020 when the group headlined a two-day, five-show solo set at the Summer Paradise 2020 livestreamed festival on Johnny's Net Online. A hard-rock number, its title is a portmanteau of the Japanese phrase samurai damashii, meaning "samurai spirit." A self-shot Studio Live music video, a behind-the-scenes making-of clip, and an encore cover of Tokio's 2000 track "Jumbo" were all uploaded to the Johnnys' Junior YouTube channel on September 11, 2020. A second original, "Siren," debuted on November 28, 2020, at the Johnnys' Jr. Island FES festival alongside fellow junior acts HiHi Jets and Jr.SP. The third, "SHOUT," premiered during the JOHNNYS' IsLAND THE NEW WORLD new year showcase in January 2022.

Media Presence & Variety Work

Beyond the stage, 7 Men Samurai maintained a steady presence across multiple broadcast and digital platforms. The group appeared regularly as a unit on The Shōnen Club, a bi-monthly music-and-variety program on NHK. They were also one of eight junior groups featured on the official Johnnys' Junior YouTube Channel, where they committed to uploading new content every Friday beginning in August 2019. On the Johnnys' official video site Island TV, the members shared vlog-style recaps of their work and engagements, along with humorous vignettes, outtakes, and original comedy skits that gave fans a more personal look at daily life in the trainee area. Individual members frequently crossed over into mainstream variety television. They appeared on the TV Asahi quiz show Torinikutte Nan no Nikui!? and the TBS sports-competition series Honoo no Taiikutai TV, where Rinne Sugeta served as an official member of the in-show "Johnny's Track-and-Field Team" under the coaching of KAT-TUN's Tatsuya Ueda. Several members also landed starring and supporting roles in stage productions and scripted television dramas, broadening their visibility well beyond the junior circuit.

Roster & Dissolution

7 Men Samurai consisted of six members: Reia Nakamura, Rinne Sugeta, Katsuki Motodaka, Taikō Sasaki, Taiki Konno, and Rei Yabana. Together they carried the group's distinctive rock-and-dance identity from its 2018 inception through its final year of activity. The group's run came to an end in February 2025, when Starto Entertainment undertook a reorganization of its Junior trainee area. As part of that restructuring, the six members were split into two new groups, effectively dissolving 7 Men Samurai as a single unit. The dissolution marked the close of roughly seven years during which the act had built a recognizable identity through its Kurosawa-inspired naming, its hard-rock reinterpretations of classic Johnnys' material, its three original compositions, and its consistent output across television, YouTube, and live performance. Though the group no longer exists under that name, the individual members continue their careers within the reorganized junior structure, carrying forward the stage experience they developed during their time together.

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