Yugo Kochi (髙地優吾, Kochi Yugo, born March 8, 1994), is a Japanese idol, actor, and singer. He is currently a member of Johnny & Associates unit SixTONES.[1]
. . . Yugo Kochi . . .
‘Yugo’ was a name given by his grandfather, with the hope of him growing up to be a kind person.[2] He was in football club during the Primary and Junior High School, while even becoming a candidate for his regional team of Yokohama during Junior High School.[3][4] Though he could not continue with football in high school, he created a Futsal team with his university friends and even reached the top 16 of Kanto Tournament.[5]
Kochi is known to love visiting different hot springs during his free time, and it was revealed that he got his ‘Hot Spring Sommelier’ qualification in 2019.[6]
Kochi, who had no plans of entering the entertainment world joined Johnny & Associates after winning the audition program held in “School Kakumei!“, whose application was sent in by his friend.[7] He won the regular spot on the program beating more than 1300 contestants.[8]
On June 4, 2009, Kochi became a member of Yuma Nakayama w/B.I.Shadow along with Nakayama Yuma, Nakajima Kento, Kikuchi Fuma and Matsumura Hokuto.[9] Three days later on June 7, Hey!Say!JUMP’s Yamada Ryousuke and Chinen Yuri were added to the group to form a limited-time unit “NYC Boys” with whom Kochi made CD-debut on June 15, 2009.[10]
On March 29, 2011, B.IShadow’s members Kikuchi Fuma and Nakajima Kento announced their debut as a member of Sexy Zone on the November of the same year, leading to the de facto dissolution of B.I.Shadow.[11]
Kouchi made his debut as an actor on April 14, 2012, in “Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou” in the role of Makoto.
Beginning from July 2019, he has a regular spot “Egao no YouGo!” in the “Yokohama Walker” magazine.[12] On August 8, 2019, during the “Johnnys Junior 8.8 Matsuri~ Tokyo Dome kara hajiramu”, it was announced that he will be making CD debut with his group SixTONES in 2020.[13]
. . . Yugo Kochi . . .