about Ya-Ya-yah

Ya-Ya-yah (2002 - September 2007) was a junior group of Japanese talents under the management of the entertainment company Johnny’s Entertainment (J.E.). The group's name derived from the initials of the original members surnames.

[2002] 7 members Ya-Ya-yah: Yabu Kôta, Akama Naoya, Yamashita Shoon, Ayukawa Taiyô, Yoshida Yûki, Andô Yasuhiro and Hoshino Masaki
[2002] 5 members Ya-Ya-yah: Yabu Kôta, Akama Naoya, Yamashita Shoon, Ayukawa Taiyô and Hoshino Masaki 
[2003] 6 members Ya-Ya-yah: Yabu Kôta, Yaotome Hikaru, Yamashita Shoon, Ayukawa Taiyô, Akama Naoya and Hoshino Masaki
[mid 2004-September of 2007] 4 members Ya-Ya-yah: Yabu Kôta, Yaotome Hikaru, Yamashita Shoon and Ayukawa Taiyô

From 2002 to 2007, Ya-Ya-yah became regulars in the NHK channel TV music show The Shônen Club (The Boys Club) and from 2003 to 2007 they got their own variety show on TV Tokyo, that bore the group's name.

The 4 members Ya-Ya-yah (Yabu, Hikaru, Taiyô and Shoon) remained active until September of 2007, when Johnny's Entertainment announced the creation and debut of a new group, Hey!Say!JUMP. Two of the members of this new group were Yabu and Hikaru, which meant the disbandment of Ya-Ya-yah. Taiyô stopped working for J.E. shortly after, while Shoon stayed, working solo, until March of 2010, when he stopped working for J.E. too. 

In 2011 Shoon went back to the entertainment business together with his younger brother Leon as the "Yamashita Bros." under the management of another company, Sky Corporation. He continued working as a talent until April of 2015.
[CLICK HERE for more information on Shoon Yamashita's career as a talent and actor (2002-2015)]

Taiyô went back to the entertainment business as well in 2011 and up to the present has been working as an actor and voice actor with different talent agencies and as a freelancer. [For more information, please check his official website and his Wikipedia page.]

Yabu and Hikaru both continued to work for J.E. until 2024, when their new group, Hey!Say!JUMP, went under the management of a new company, STARTO. [For more information, please check the company's site and their Wikipedia pages.]

The original 7 members Ya-Ya-yah 

name	name in Japanese	birthdate
Yabu Kôta	薮宏太	1990 Jan. 31st
Akama Naoya	赤間直哉	1991 April 5th
Yamashita Shoon	山下翔央	1988 Dec. 20th
Ayukawa Taiyô	鮎川太陽	1991 Jan. 18th
Yoshida Yûki	吉田雄基	1987 Oct. 10th
Andô Yasuhiro	安藤靖浩	1987 Jan. 21st
Hoshino Masaki	星野正樹	1987 Nov. 16th

The 5 members Ya-Ya-yah 

(from left to right: Hoshino, Akama, Yabu, Shoon, Taiyô - cover of the CD with 2 singles [Yuuki 100%, and Sekai ga hitotsu ni naru made] released in 2002) 

The 6 members Ya-Ya-yah 

(from left to right: Akama, Taiyô, Yabu, Hikaru, Shoon and Hoshino) 

The 4 members Ya-Ya-yah 

(from top to bottom and left to right: Shoon, Taiyô, Hikaru, Yabu) 

name	name in Japanese	birthdate
Yabu Kôta	薮宏太	1990 Jan. 31st
Yaotome Hikaru	八乙女光	1990 Dec. 2nd
Yamashita Shoon	山下翔央	1988 Dec. 20th
Ayukawa Taiyô	鮎川太陽	1991 Jan. 18th