INI

INI is a Japanese male group composed of eleven members who are from Japan and China. It was formed from the survival audition program called "Produce 101 Japan Season2". This audition is the Japanese version of a popular audition program from South Korea. It released the debut single called "A" and debuted on November 3, 2021. It is managed by Lapone Entertainment, a joint company between Yoshimoto Kogyo and CJ ENM.
Name
"INI" means connecting members (I) and you (I) with network (N). This name was chosen from the votes by fans and announced in the last episode of the audition program. The official fan name is "MINI : Me + INI". In addition, there are some meanings in this name, for example, "We want to "see"(in Japanese, see is mini) INI", "M (memory), I (me), N (network), I (you)" and "We will make memories together."
History
Formation through Produce 101 Japan Season2:
INI is a Japanese male group formed through the reality competition "Produce 101 Japan Season 2". A total of 6,000 people auditioned for the show. The show started with 101 trainees passing the audition, and 11 members were chosen through this program. After the end of Produce 101 Japan Season2, INI flew to South Korea to prepare and produce their debut single.
Debut:
The debut single was released on November 3rd, and it sold over 500,000 copies in its first week and reached the top in the "Oricon Weekly Single Ranking". INI won the "Favorite Asian Artist Award" at "2021 MAMA (Mnet ASIAN MUSIC AWARDS)", one of the largest music award ceremonies in Asia, held on Saturday, December 11. Also, their debut single "Rocketeer" was nominated for "The Rookie of the Year Award" of "The Japan Record Award" (affiliated with TBS Television).
Members
Name / Birthday / Nation
Fujimaki Kyosuke (Teng Mu Jing Jie ) / August 10, 1999 / Japan
Gotou Takeru (Hou Teng Wei Zun ) / June 3, 1999 / Japan
Ikezaki Rihito (Chi Li Ren ) / August 30, 2001 / Japan
Kimura Masaya (Mu Cun Jiu Zai ) / October 10, 1997 / Japan
Matsuda Jin (Song Tian Xun ) / October 30, 2002 / Japan
Nishi Hiroto (Xi Guang Ren ) / June 1, 1997 / Japan
Ozaki Takumi (Wei Qi Jiang Hai ) / June 14, 1999 / Japan
Sano Yudai (Zuo Ye Xiong Da ) / October 10, 2000 / Japan
Tajima Shogo (Tian Dao Jiang Wu ) / October 13, 1998 / Japan
Takatsuka Hiromu (Gao Zhong Da Meng ) / April 4, 1999 / Japan
Xu Fengfan (Xu Li Fan ) / June 12, 1998 / China
Discography
Events
*Concert
*Festival
*Award Ceremony
References
Other websites
1. "[PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SEASON2] debiyugurupuMing ha[INI(aienuai)] ". modelpress(in Japanese). June 13, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
2. LAPONE entertainment official site(in Japanese). Retrieved January 20, 2022.
3. "INInohuannemugaJue Ding ". Natalie Music(in Japanese). September 8, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
4. "11/15Fu Zhou Jian shingururankingu1Wei haINIno[A(Rocketeer/Brighter)] ". ORICON MUSIC(in Japanese). November 12, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
5. 2021 Mnet Asian Music Award official site(in Japanese). Retrieved January 20, 2022.
6. Japan Record Award official site(in Japanese). Retrieved January 20, 2022.
7. "Profile". INI official site(in Japanese). Retrieved January 20, 2022.
8. "Discography". INI official site(in Japanese). Retrieved January 20, 2022.
9. INI FIRST FAN MEETING official site(in Japanese). Retrieved January 20, 2022.
10. KCON official site(in Japanese). Retrieved January 20, 2022.
Japanese musical groups