Japanese girl group NiziU makes Korea debut with 'Press Play'

Girl group NiziU [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

Japanese girl group NiziU dropped its first Korean single “Press Play” Monday, kicking off its official debut in Korea.

The lead track “Heartris” is a combination of the words heart and Tetris, describing the perfect synergy when two different people come together like blocks in a game of Tetris, according to the band's agency JYP Entertainment. The song was written by Park Jin-young, the chief producer at JYP Entertainment.

The group was formed as part of JYP Entertainment's “Globalization by Localization,” a project to localize the K-pop system in overseas markets, through a joint audition program “Nizi Project” with Sony Music Entertainment in June 2020. The band made its debut in Japan in December of the same year. The girl group is known for its tracks “Make you happy” (2020), “Chopstick” (2021) and “Take a picture” (2021).

“We would like to thank our fans, WithU, for supporting our Korean debut,” Mako of NiziU said in a press release. “We believe our Korean debut will be a huge opportunity for us and we hope to give some positive energy through our performances.”

The group consists of nine members: Mako, Rio, Maya, Riku, Ayaka, Mayuka, Rima, Miihi and Nina, who are all Japanese.

One of the biggest difficulties of the Korean debut came with language barriers, which was overcome through teamwork and support from the producers, according to the members.

“The Korean pronunciation was an obstacle to overcome while recording the song,” Rio said. “But we all worked hard and it was fortunate that we landed such a good song.”

Park also gave affectionate advice.

“He taught us a lot, like how to address the song and how to deliver good vocals,” Miihi said. “He also often told us that the most important thing is us getting along.”

The group's aim is to bring a positive vibe to the listeners.

“[We] Hope that [NiziU] will be remembered as a group that brings a smile to people,” Mayuka said.

NiziU recently wrapped up its second tour "'NiziU Live with U 2023 'COCO! nut Fes.'” after holding 17 performances in eight cities around Japan and meeting with 185,000 fans around the country.

To find out more about NiziU, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]