Gekidan Bancho Boys are a theatre troupe under Sony Music Entertainment, who were originally formed in 2014 when they auditioned for their first members. The original members were between the ages of 15 and 24, and most were former models. Since that time, many of the original members have graduated, but the troupe continues to often audition new members.

Bancho Boys acts as an introduction into theatre for many new actors, who join the company as “trainees”. From this status, they are trained by the company and often work backstage during their events and shows as well as sometimes appearing themselves on stage. They are only made official members once their training is sufficient and usually once they have appeared in one or more of the Bancho Boys productions.

But Bancho Boys is more than just a stage troupe. Not only have they produced two musical groups (XOX and Gingadan), many of their members have also appeared on TV and radio, and Bancho Boys themselves once had their own TV show where they would audition for and perform skits written for them by comedy writers. The troupe also often holds its own live events where the members sing, dance, play games or perform short skits on stage. It’s this variety of talent amongst their members that has gained the troupe a sizeable fan base and makes them popular as a group and not only as individuals.

Bancho Boys have trained actors who have now graduated but are popular faces within the stage and 2.5d industry, including Komatsu Junya, Akira, Takamoto Gaku, and the Twin Paradox members. Graduations within the troupe happen around once a year and are usually the decision of the member themselves who wish to pursue other goals or feel like they have surpassed what Bancho Boys can do for them.

You can find more out about Bancho Boys at their website, and they also have a Youtube channel which features many videos including those from their former TV show.

At the time of posting this blog, Bancho Boys has 16 official members and 7 trainees. You may be surprised by how many of them you have seen before in popular 2.5d shows, so here is a quick introduction to the members, what they like and where you can find them on social media.

Itokawa Yojirou

• Date of Birth: May 28th 1993
• Blood Type: A
• Hometown: Shimane Prefecture
• Height: 170cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Walking, watching movies, anime, singing, basketball, soccer
• Notable performances: Akashi Seijuro (Kuroko no Basuke Stage), Titan (Show By Rock Musical), Urashima Kotetsu (Musical Touken Ranbu)
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Osumi Yuta

• Date of Birth: February 9th 1995
• Blood Type: O
• Hometown: Hokkaido Prefecture
• Height: 178cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Dance, singing, soccer, skiing, snowboarding
• Notable performances: Yagyu Hiroshi (Prince of Tennis Musical), XOX (music group)
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Oribe Yoshinari

• Date of Birth: August 18th 2000
• Blood Type: O
• Hometown: Osaka
• Height: 180cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Music, movies appreciation, games, muscle training, human observation, soccer, dance, karate (black belt)
• Notable performances: Yamaguchi Tadashi (Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu), Gingadan (music group)
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Kikuchi Shuji

• Date of Birth: November 10th, 1995
• Blood Type: A
• Hometown: Tokyo
• Height: 181cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Watching foreign movies, human observation, basketball, Tagalog
• Notable performances: Goshiki Tsutomu (Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu), Camus (Gekidan Shining)
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Kizu Tsubasa

• Date of Birth: January 7th 1998
• Blood Type: B
• Hometown: Hiroshima Prefecture
• Height: 168cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Games, hunting for clothes, Stitch Impersonation, Soccer
• Notable performances: Hakata Toshirou (Touken Ranbu Stage), Sakasaki Natsume (Ensemble Stars on Stage), XOX (music group)
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Kihara Rui

• Date of Birth: September 15th, 1998
• Blood Type: B
• Hometown: Tokyo
• Height: 175cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Music appreciation, singing, baseball, piano
• Notable performances: Kai (Show By Rock Musical), Imizu Tametomo (Mashin Sentai Kiramager), Gingadan (music group)
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Sunahara Kensuke

• Date of Birth: September 14th, 1990
• Blood Type: B
• Hometown: Tokyo
• Height: 170cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Sake, guitar, Onnagata (male actors who impersonate women), Kansai dialect
• Notable performances: Igarashi Hayato (Ochanomizu Rock stage)
• Find him at: Twitter

Tanaka Riku

• Date of Birth: May 23rd 1997
• Blood Type: O
• Hometown: Miyagi Prefecture
• Height: 171cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Playing the guitar, shopping, listening to music, back-flipping, baseball
• Notable performances: XOX (music group)
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Chiwata Yuhei

• Date of Birth: July 19th, 1991
• Blood Type: A
• Hometown: Tokyo
• Height: 180cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Scuba Diving, watching movies
• Notable performances: Nome Tatsuhiro (B-Project Stage)
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Tsubokura Kosei

• Date of Birth: January 7th 1997
• Blood Type: B
• Hometown: Tottori Prefecture
• Height: 175cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Hot Spring Tours, Marathon, Soccer
• Notable performances: Tomoe Yoh (Starry Sky on Stage)
• Find him at: Twitter

Domoto Shohei

• Date of Birth: December 12th 1993
• Blood Type: A
• Hometown: Ibaraki Prefecture
• Height: 172cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Movies, reading, sweets
• Notable performances: Jean Carlo (The Stage Lucky Dog), Kitamura Kenta (Kamen Rider Amazons Season 2)
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Nishihara Kenta

• Date of Birth: June 13th 1994
• Blood Type: O
• Hometown: Osaka
• Height: 169cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Watching movies, basketball
• Notable performances: Has almost exclusively performed in stages for Bancho Boys and Team ODAC.
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Matsumoto Taishi

• Date of Birth: May 15th 1992
• Blood Type: A
• Hometown: Miyazaki Prefecture
• Height: 177cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Movies, music appreciation, cooking, motorcycles, volleyball, touring cafes
• Notable performances: Has almost exclusively performed in stages for Bancho Boys and was a regular on the variety show PON! from 2017 to 2018.
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Miyauchi Iori

• Date of Birth: June 12th 1997
• Blood Type: A
• Hometown: Kyoto
• Height: 173cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Cooking, bouldering, karate
• Notable performances: Gingadan (music group)
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Yashiro Takuya

• Date of Birth: July 9th 1999
• Blood Type: B
• Hometown: Chiba Prefecture
• Height: 177cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Cycling, lifting (soccer)
• Notable performances: Aoi Kentarou (Musical Prince of Tennis), Gingadan (music group)
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Yasui Kazuma

• Date of Birth: February 12th 1994
• Blood Type: O
• Hometown: Aichi Prefecture
• Height: 178cm
• Hobbies & Skills: Watching movies, anime, shopping,
• Notable performances: Hibiki Wataru (Ensemble Stars on Stage), XOX (music group)
• Find him at: Twitter | Instagram

Who is your favourite Bancho Boys member? Let me know in the comments and tell me why you like them as much as you do! (by the way, my favourite is Yasui Kazuma because he’s super weird and I highly recommend him as a person).