, 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.