&TEAM

&TEAM emerged from &AUDITION – The Howling, a HYBE LABELS JAPAN programme that combined four pre-selected participants with candidates competing for five additional places. The final line-up was announced in Tokyo on 3 September 2022. Four members had previously appeared in the Korean survival programme I-LAND.

This route made training and selection part of the public story before the first release. Editing, evaluation, mentorship and audience anticipation all shaped how individual members were introduced, while the final group still required a new shared performance identity.

The ampersand expresses the group’s stated idea that nine people with different starting points become one team and connect diverse worlds. The official Japanese reading is en-tīmu. The name is normally written with the symbol rather than expanded to And Team.

The members are EJ, Fuma, K, Nicholas, Yuma, Jo, Harua, Taki and Maki. The line-up is multinational and multilingual; official profiles and credits should be used for current roles rather than assumptions based on nationality or screen time.

The debut EP First Howling: ME arrived on 7 December 2022, led by Under the skin. A showcase at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium followed. Later releases extended the First Howling sequence and established a recurring vocabulary of connection, growth, pack identity and movement.

Narrative continuity appears across songs, videos, choreography and promotional imagery, but the group should not be treated as fictional characters alone. The public story is one layer within a professional recording and performance career.

The recordings move among dance-pop, rock-inflected tracks, electronic production and softer vocal material. Line distribution, layered group vocals and changes between Japanese, Korean and English phrases allow the same nine voices to be reorganised for different markets and concepts.

Choreography is a principal form of authorship and recognition. Large unison passages establish the group as a unit, while formations open to isolate one voice or dancer. Music video framing and stage cameras are therefore part of how the performance is designed to be read.

&TEAM is often described through both J-pop and K-pop, but neither label alone explains the organisation. The group was formed and launched in Japan within a Korean-founded corporate system, uses production teams and training practices that cross borders, and addresses audiences through several languages and platforms.

A formal Korean debut with Back to Life in October 2025 made this two-directional structure more explicit. It was not the group’s first debut overall, but a new market phase built on the Japanese releases and touring that came before it.

Television programmes, web video, social platforms, Weverse, concerts, brand campaigns and fan events form a continuous communication system around the recordings. Fans known as LUNÉ encounter members through edited documentary material as well as polished stage work, which can create a strong sense of development over time.

The current official profile continued to list all nine members in 2026. When documenting the group, dated official profiles are important because label names, tour schedules, release markets and member activities can change faster than broad genre descriptions.