Kimura Masaya

**Kimura Masaya** (木村 柾哉; born October 10, 1997) is a Japanese singer. He debuted as a member of the Japanese boy group INI on November 3, 2021, under the label Lapone Entertainment.

## Early life

Kimura Masaya was born on October 10, 1997 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

In 2015, he placed second in the "Mr. SOLO" category at the National High School Dance Drill Championship. After graduating from high school, he attended the Nihon Kogakuin College, where he studied dance for two years. He then worked as a background dancer for various artists, such as SEVENTEEN and Miyakawa-kun.

In 2018, he formed a dance group with Kawashiri Ren, who later became a member of JO1, as well as with two other dancers named Pistachio and KESO. In 2019, he formed a five-member unit group called PARTY PARTY with Aoi from MeseMoa, Panmen and Sasser from \*ChocoLate Bomb!!, and Ayano Ren from ReLIT, performing original choreographies on YouTube and appearing in a live performance of MeseMoa. He was also active as a hip-hop and R&B dance instructor at NOA Dance Academy from 2019 to October 2020.

## Career

### Pre-debut: *Produce 101 Japan*

In 2021, Kimura participated in the second season of the Japanese reality competition show *Produce 101 Japan*. He auditioned as part of the group DU Quintet. He received an evaluation grade of B and was re-evaluated as A. He served as the center for the show's theme song "Let Me Fly (Sono mirai e)". He ended up ranking 1st with 380,796 votes, securing him a spot in the boy group INI.

### 2021–present: Debut with INI

On September 4, 2021, Kimura was selected as the group's leader by the other members. He officially debuted as a member of INI on November 3, 2021 with the extended play *A*.

## Trivia

* His name is written with the kanji in "tree" (木), "village" (村), "straight grain" (柾), and "how" (哉).
* His hobbies are taking walks and watching movies.
* His special skill is dancing in hip hop and jazz style.
* His debut pledge for *Produce 101 Japan* was that he'd climb to the top of Mount Fuji and pray for the group's success if he debuts.
* His MBTI type is ENFP.
* He and Sano Yudai share the same birthday.
* His role model is SEVENTEEN.
* His favorite artist is Miura Daichi.
* He is a fan of Studio Ghibli movies.
* His favorite mangas and animes are *Attack on Titan*, *That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime*, and *My Hero Academia*.
* His top three foods are any sweet food, any spicy food, and curry rice.
* His charm point is his smile.
* He takes pride in being able to make good cookies and sweet potato.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 INI Official Website — Kimura Masaya's Profile
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 INI Official YouTube — INI | リーダー決定
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 *Produce 101 Japan* Official Website — Kimura Masaya's Profile
4. ↑ Dance Drill Japan — 全国高等学校ダンスドリル選手権大会２０１５　大会結果
5. ↑ Street Dance Magazine — 『SDM』 VOL.61
6. ↑ \*ChocoLate Bomb!! Official LINE Blog — パリパリ（ヨシキ）
7. ↑ MeseMoa Official YouTube — 【パリパリ（あおい・ぱんめん・さっさー・綾野れん・masaya） - ニア】パリパリじゃないズ!!!より
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 NOA Dance Academy Official Website — masaya
9. ↑ NOA Dance Academy Official Website — HIPHOP入門 masaya NOTE
10. ↑ Domani — 【INI（アイエヌアイ）】デビューシングル「A」リリース記念生配信イベント｜超詳細レポート
11. ↑ Bin Music Official YouTube — 鼓鼓 呂思緯 ( 超展開 Japanese ver. ) feat. Lead Official Music Video
12. ↑ FROG MUSIC Official YouTube — 為岡そのみ / E-S-C-A-P-E (Official Video)
13. ↑ NissyStaff Twitter — "Get You Back"MV公開
14. ↑ Stardust Digital Official YouTube — (CHOREOGRAPHY) BATTLE BOYS 'Sha na na' dance practice (Shanana)
15. ↑ \*ChocoLate Bomb!! Official YouTube — 【\*ChocoLate Bomb!!】FEEDBACK（Practice Dance Shot Ver.）
16. ↑ PARIPARI DANCE CH — 【PARIPARI】Carry on Carry on 【Bahasa Indonesia】
17. ↑ Produce 101 Japan Official YouTube — 木村 柾哉(Kimura Masaya)が「もしデビューメンバーに選ばれたら」｜PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SEASON2
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 ViVi — INIの初代センター木村柾哉は○○オタク？ 自己分析やプロフィールを直撃！
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Produce 101 Japan Official YouTube — ON:TACT SKILL CHECK\_10 QUESTIONS 10 ANSWERS【Kimura Masaya】PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SEASON2