WAT

WaT serves as one vehicle among several for Eiji Wentz and Koike Teppei, two accomplished actors and singers/songwriters who rank among the most popular figures with legions of young Japanese women. The folk-pop pair came together in 2002. Half-German-American Wentz already possessed experience as a model, theater performer, and television personality, while Osaka-born Teppei entered the partnership without substantial prior involvement in entertainment. After crossing paths in Tokyo, the two discovered immediate rapport and launched acoustic park performances under the WaT name, shorthand for “Wentz and Teppei.” Attendance at those outdoor sets reached 1,000 by late 2003, outgrowing street-level presentation yet providing enough momentum to enter the recording studio. The duo issued its indie debut single “Sotsugyou Time” in 2004; the accompanying promotional appearance drew 5,000 weekday spectators. Multiple television and film roles accumulated by 2005, after which their acting paths diverged while the musical project endured; Universal signed WaT that same year. Their first major-label single, “Boku No Kimochi,” reached number two and moved 170,000 copies, securing an invitation to Kohaku Uta Gassen, Japan’s premier New Year’s broadcast, where the act has appeared regularly ever since. WaT consolidated its standing in 2006 by issuing four singles inside twelve months—two of them chart-toppers, “Ready Go!” and “Bokura No Love Story”—alongside the full-length Sotsugyou Time Bokura No Hajimari, which peaked at number two and surpassed 170,000 units. The members paused collective activity in 2007 to pursue acting and individual releases; each delivered several singles, and Teppei additionally released the album Pieces, before rejoining in 2008 for three further Top Five singles. Teppei returned to solo work the following year with his second album, Jack in the Box.