, is a four-member Japanese boy band consisting of Keiichiro Koyama, Takahisa Masuda, Shigeaki Kato and Yuya Tegoshi. The group's name is an acronym based on the cardinal directions (North, East, West, South) and the members locations. Formed in 2003 by Johnny Kitagawa as a nine-member group under the label Johnny's Entertainment, NEWS released a promotional single , which was used for the World Cup of Volleyball Championships. In 2004, Takahiro Moriuchi left the group and the remaining eight members released their debut single, , which debuted atop the Oricon charts.