It’s been an exciting and busy time for J-pop group JO1.
Group members Sho Yonashiro and Keigo Sato are sitting in a conference room at The Hollywood Reporter’s L.A. office. The pair, dressed casually before they depart for a flight to Las Vegas for a stop at the iHeartRadio Music Festival, are the only two members of the 11-person J-pop group who have made the trip from Japan to the U.S.
The 11-piece outfit — comprised of members Yonashiro, the group’s leader, Ren Kawashiri, Ruki Shiroiwa, Junki Kono, Sato, Takumi Kawanishi, Syoya Kimata, Shosei Ohira, Sky Kinjo, Shion Tsurubo and Issei Mamehara — was formed through the Japanese spin-off of popular Korean music competition series Produce 101 Japan. In the five years since their 2020 debut, the group’s been busy.
The group is back with a new single, “Handz in my Pocket,” from a single album that features three additional new songs. The nearly three-minute song is catchy and fun. Sato says that as the group has expanded globally this past year, the idea of a signature JO1 song was on the mind. “Handz in my Pocket” seems to be that for the group. “That’s something that really helped influence us when we were deciding which song to choose,” the 27-year-old explains through a translator.
For the first time, all members of the J-pop group came together to decide on their next single. “It was hard,” Yonashiro jokes. The 29-year-old, the group’s leader, says it was a good opportunity to all contribute in this way. “Actually, we didn’t have any problems,” he later adds.
JO1 also picked the best parts of two different choreographers’ work to create the dance. “It [was] really fun and really difficult sometimes because [it was a] little bit harder,” Yonashiro says. He says it wasn’t that the choreography itself was particularly, but “getting into the right mindset” was a hard needle to thread at times.
In 2025, JO1’s main goal seemed to be a push into global markets, less common in the world of J-pop, particularly in the U.S. They embarked on their first U.S. tour, attended U.S. award shows and music festivals and have released English-language variations of their last two singles, “Be Classic” and “Handz in my Pocket.” The group has come to the Los Angeles area four times in the last year alone. “Next year, I think we’ll do the same thing,” says Yonashiro about the group’s global future.
“We want to go around the world to perform. We want people in every country to know our name,” the leader adds. The singer notes that he thinks it’s important that the group doesn’t give up on promoting their music globally. Sato says he wants the group to officially debut in America, saying charting on Billboard is an aspiration for the group. He also adds that he wants to perform at Coachella. The group also took part in the U.S. show, KPOPPED, from Apple TV, which paired K-pop and J-pop groups with western artists for a special collaboration performance.
Yonashiro says the L.A. date of JO1’s 2025 world tour has been a standout moment for him. The tour helped the group realize what a large fanbase they had abroad. “Everyone was waiting for us. I couldn’t believe that,” he says. “Everyone remembered our Japanese lyrics and [were] singing [them].”
For Sato, getting the chance to perform at the Dodgers’ Japanese Heritage Night was a highlight. “Obviously performing at the Dodgers is such a big deal, but what made it extra special is the fact that the Dodgers have a lot of Japanese players,” he explains.
“Being able to see Japanese people performing on the global world stage and just dominating makes us feel like we need to be like them,” Sato continues. “It’s very inspiring to us.”
