NEWS: Koyama Keiichiro
* Name: Koyama Keiichiro (小山 慶一郎)
* Nickname: Kei-chan, Kei (Only his mom)
* Birthday: 1984.05.01
* Zodiac sign: Taurus
* Blood Type: O
* Birthplace: Sagamihara, Kanagawa
* Education: Meiji University, major in Literature
* Siblings: Older sister
* Height: 177cm
* Weight: ~60kg
* Band colour: Purple
Childhood
On the 1st of May the Koyama family mostly consisting of women was delighted to welcome a boy into the world. Apparently his great grandfather wanted to name him Momotaro (like a famous fairy-tale hero) but in the end he was named Keiichiro. While "ichiro" basically means 'first son', 'kei' is a kanji for "delight, happiness"so I think Kei-chan is a really nice way to call someone. Keiichiro's parents ran a ramen restaurant since before he was born and he continued living there until he turned 28.
In kindergarten Keiichiro had his first kiss. But unlike Shigeaki he was the one kissed all of a sudden. While at first he protested he ended up falling for that girl. I wonder why does this story seem familiar?
Keiichiro liked to play games which he often made up himself but he wasn't very interested in studying. The boy liked to play outside and did all kinds of sports. Since elementary he played soccer, badminton as well as track and field. But he was especially keen on baseball and he was in a baseball team since kindergarten. In grade 3 he became team's captain until the end of middle school. However, he admits that he wasn't very serious about it so his team was weak and kept losing in all tournaments.
Koyama once confessed his family was not a very happy one becasue his father was a violent person. It was so bad that when Koyama was around 10 he told his father to leave and decided his parents should divorce which they soon did. He hated his father and didn't speak to him for a long time but in the end he managed to confront him and understand him to some degree.
In middle school things were going great, but the high school exams turned out to be very tough. Even though Koyama tried hard he didn't manage to enter the school he wanted and he was so upset he considered not going to high school altogether. But then his parents asked him whether he was ready to start working and that did wonders to his motivation. To enter high school of course.
Koyama tried working part-time at a supermarket but he decided he wasn't suited for it and quit. As he was struggling with school and trying to find something to devote himself to, his sister got an idea.
Entering JE and NEWS
Originally Koyama claimed his sister suggested he should try to audition to Johnny's Entertainment and he agreed. But he was probably too embarrassed to admit that he had no say in it. As far as Koyama was concerned he and his sister were just fooling around when they dressed him up and started taking pictures. She even did his make-up but apparently he ended up looking like he tried to cross-dress. Nobody told him these pictures would be used in an application form. That was in November 2000 and Koyama didn't think much of it until 2 months later.
It was snowing heavily on the January 21 and Koyama engaged in a massive snowball battle with his friends. As he came home tired from the fight he found a letter was waiting for him. It said "Come to an audition on Jan 21" so Keiichiro rushed to meet his destiny.
Koyama didn't know much about Johnny's Entertainment but somehow he had this image that popular guys should have blond hair and have pierced ears. That is why he hastily bleached his hair and borrowed his sister's ear clip before going to the audition. That day there were about 300 kids there and they were divided into about 7 groups and each of the groups had to sing to a certain song. Koyama figured that the A team was the best but since he was in team E his chances were bad. After the teams were all shown the choreography they were supposed to dance and selected based on that. That's when Koyama though he needs to figure out a way to improve his chances. He decided to play dumb and told the choreographer he couldn't remember the moves at all. Which was a lie but it allowed him to go through the routine one more time and that's how he found himself in team A. However, after Johnny came to greet the new Juniors he stopped Koyama and told him he hated his blond hair and piercing and that he should get rid of it. By next week black-haired Koyama had a photoshoot for "Fresh Juniors".
Just one week after Koyama entered the agency Johnny-san introduced him to another boy, 3 years younger and said "This is your partner". The boy's name was Kato Shigeaki and soon they became good friends.
Koyama joined Johnny's Entertainment at the beginning of 2001, when he was 16 years old which is pretty late considering how some kids join at 9. But being older had its advantages and when J-Support was formed Koyama became the team's leader. The group existed for about 2 years and while they not only backdanced but often performed at Shounen Club and such there was no indication that debut was anywhere near and Koyama got a little anxious. He graduated from high school and managed to get into a good university so he thought that maybe this wasn't his thing after all, that he should quit the agency but he could never muster the courage to tell Johnny-san. While Koyama hesitated the agency included him in their plans for a new unit and once he found out about it all of his thoughts about leaving vanished. He was now both a student and an idol.
Since January Koyama with Kato and Kusano were a part of the cast of the children's show Ya-Ya-yah. In September when Masuda and Tegoshi joined them on the show Koyama went from being a participant to co-host which became a start of his hosting career. Soon after NEWS was formed and somehow he ended up doing most of the talking along with Yama Pi. Eventually Koyama became the band's main spokesman taking it upon himself to entertain the audience during the talk segments in the concerts.
In 2006 when the band went on hiatus he and Shige were very depressed. They even said they'd cried when they saw themselves on TV without the "from NEWS" next to their names. While they did eventually perform as KoyaShige it was more of a comical duo that sung ridiculous songs. Moreover Koyama was pretty close with both Uchi and Kusano so the whole thing was a shock to him.
Eventually the band got back on its feet but to Koyama another crisis came in 2009 when he turned 25. He seemed to lose his sense of direction, couldn't figure out what he really wanted. However, in August that year NEWS were chosen as hosts for the annual charity event 24 Hour TV. Each of the members had their own project and Koyama's was helping deaf children to create a shadow show. In order to communicate with the children Koyama did his best to learn sign language. After the marathon was over a producer of a news program "News Every" approached Koyama. He said he was impressed by his efforts and invited him to try working as a newscaster. Once again Koyama realized he found something he was passionate about.
Koyama directing the shadow show
Once on April 1st Shige pranked Koyama saying that YamaPi was leaving the band and believing it Koyama replied "We can't go on without YamaPi". Three years later that joke wasn't funny anymore. By 2011 NEWS have already lost 3 members but Koyama felt that as long as YamaPi and Ryo were there they can still go on. So naturally when the two announced their decision to leave it hit him like a ton of bricks. It wasn't exactly that unexpected and perhaps all 4 of them felt that this might happen one day but nobody wanted to believe it.
As the four finally gathered to discuss their fate most people in the agency seemed to think they won't be able to go on. Not knowing whether NEWS would be able to continue Koyama fell depressed. He was even worried he might lose his job as a caster but his boss told him he hired him because of his abilities and human qualities, not because he was a an idol or a member of 'NEWS'.
No matter what anyone said Koyama cherished NEWS and wanted to keep it alive but the prospects weren't good. Working as a newscaster Koyama was visiting the areas struck by the earthquake and as he talked with people many have told him they loved NEWS and were waiting for their return. That made him think that maybe there's still hope.
The first thing Koyama thought when he heard the two members were leaving was that he should have acted earlier, he should have talked to them and maybe it wouldn't come to this but at that time he was so shocked he couldn't say anything. That is why he decided that this time he has to talk to the members and the agency and do everything in his power to save NEWS. His efforts were not in vain and after thoroughly discussing the matter NEWS was given another chance.
Koyama has lost his leadership in 2003 and it was in 2011 when NEWS were planning their comeback that he finally got the chance to regain it. He decided to bring it up at the next meeting but first he called Kato and asked for his opinion so basically it was just Tegomass' approval that he needed. He invited all the members to a restaurant and told them his wish. His wish was granted but with one term: from now on he had to pay for all of the meals. Koyama agreed not expecting the members to take it seriously. But apparently he does pay every time the members go out together and Tegomass even occasionally hand him check for the meals they had without him. The funny thing is I'm pretty sure nobody else would want to be a leader anyway.
Career&Hobbies
Koyama has always been talkative and it was natural for him to assume the role of MC soon after he entered the agency. After just two years he was co-hosting the children's show Ya-Ya-yah (2003-2007) and later he co-hosted the Shounen Club along with Nakamaru from KAT-TUN (NHK, 2006-2011) and Hi! Hey! Say! (2007-2009). In Summer 2009 Koyama began to learn sign language and spent two months preparing his project for 24 Hour TV marathon. Because of his passion and dedication he was invited to try himself as an announcer.
Since April 2010 Koyama has been working as a newscaster for 'news every'. It was challenging but he really enjoyed meeting new people and experiencing new things. His speciality is working on locations and after the 2011 earthquake he regularly visits the affected areas and delivers reports on the recovery progress there. Sometimes he also uses his ability to communicate via sign language. In 2014 he was promoted to main caster so now he can be seen there every evening Monday to Thursday.
Since 2005 Koyama has a weekly radio show, "K-chan news". He is the host while other members visit him in a rotation system. The show survived all of the band's crises and is still going strong.
Early in his career Koyama received a lot of letters from overseas fans and realized he didn't know that much about other Asian countries so he decided to devote himself to studying Asian history and culture. Thankfully he was able to enter Meiji University and though it was hard he really enjoyed learning. He graduated in 2007. Koyama takes particular interest in Korea and learns Korean language.
Koyama didn't have many roles in films and dramas but he did have some notable plays. He was in the Japanese version of 'High School Musical' (2007) and in 2009 he played the main role in stage play called 'Call' which was very challenging since he had to spend the entire play in a telephone box talking non-stop.
Koyama and Kato are known as Johnny's "intellijohnnys". In 2012 became hosts of a show called Mirai Theatre. Every week they invited guests to the studio and show 2 inspiring stories about interesting people who can be considered 'revolutionists'. Since 2016 they became regular hosts of a show "NEWS na Futari" (the two from NEWS) where they discuss all sorts of social issues giving a platform for Japan's youth to bring up important issues. They covered many difficult and important topics, including single mothers, eating disorders, LGBT, people of mixed race, and social media.
Koyama spends a lot of time working out though he has yet to catch up with Masuda. He started doing karate in 2009 and he's seems to be a good student. Koyama doesn't have many hobbies but there is one thing he really loves. He has a sweet tooth and can't live without sweet things. He's especially fond of eclairs. He also has a section in magazine where he introduces recipes of various cakes and pastry and tries to make them. Too bad none of the other members like sweets. He also adores cats. He had a cat called Nyanta and when he died in 2017, Koyama dedicated his solo song to him. Later that year he brought a female cat Milk.
Personality
The first thing anyone would say about Koyama is that he's nice. Probably too nice for his own good. Because of his nurturing caring personality Koyama has always been looking after the other members, especially the younger ones. So much that fans began to call him "Koyamama". When Tegoshi came along all awkward and cute and a little lost Koyama 'adopted' him and has been taking care of him ever since. But basically Koyama loves all of his band members and often complains that he's forever living an unrequited love. He is also considered to be the one to come up with the term "Member Ai" which is the name of his jweb blog.
Koyama says he is often used by people, but no one more than Tegoshi. The youngest often asks him to recommend him restaurants, make appointments for him and treat him to dinners. Koyama says he's helpless against him and would do anything he asks. Even if he gets frustrated by Tegoshi's antics a simple "Kei-chan, thank you!" will appease him in a moment. By the way, it was Tegoshi who began to call him "Kei-chan".
Koyamama and his two kids
Koyama is best friends with Shige. They were paired up as soon as Koyama entered the agency and have been very close ever since. They hang out a lot and often go on trips together. They're actually so close that they often joke they're a lot like a married couple. Koyama is also Shige's biggest fan and supporter. When Shige's first book came out Koyama read it 3 times and praised him a lot.
Kei-chan is very friendly and gets along with people well. He is very agreeable and is always ready to help those in need. However, his bandmates say that sometimes it almost seems like he doesn't have his own opinion as he always supports everyone else's ideas and is easily swayed. Members even used to call him "Yes Man" since he can't say "No" to anything.
Koyama is somewhat naive and never really gets angry and that is probably the reason why the members prank him so often. Though earlier it was Shige who got bullied the most after NEWS became 4 this role went to Koyama. Tegoshi and Shige often play pranks on him and make fun of him in every way. The most popular topics are his naivety, his meekness and his single eyelids. But of course it's all out of love.
Koyama might not be the image of a perfect leader. Members say he's air-headed, clumsy and often messes up words. But he's also hard-working, caring and dedicated. He's the one who fought hard to keep NEWS alive, the one who looks over the members and brings them together.
He's also simply fabulous~
