As another year comes to a close, we at Dumpling Box want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible journey we’ve shared with you.
Just like 2024, the year 2025 has been a year filled with even more memorable performances, groundbreaking announcements, and stories that have left lasting impressions. From concert stages to drama sets, Japanese entertainment has continued to inspire and captivate us.
2025 was not just busy. It was meaningful.
We covered live performances and tours that reminded us why the stage still matters. We followed MV releases that rewarded close attention, spotlighted artists at turning points in their journeys, and sat down—sometimes literally, sometimes in spirit—for conversations that went beyond promotion and into intention.
There have been events all over the world promoting and celebrating the love we have for Japanese entertainment, and it shows!
Dumpling Box also continued to grow outward. We expanded our international reach, our artist network, covered events and perspectives across borders, and welcomed more voices on the site, more readers, and more shared enthusiasm into the space.
And while numbers are never the goal, they can still tell part of the story.
In 2024, Dumpling Box reached just over 106,000 views on the website alone. With about a day left of 2025, we’re closing the year at approximately 115,000 views. All thanks to YOU♥
That growth belongs to you.
Every click, every share, every message, every quiet read late at night shaped what Dumpling Box became this year. What we chose to cover, how deeply we went, and which stories we stayed with were guided not by trends—but by the people reading: YOU♥
That’s why Dumpling Box has always been, and will remain:
By you. For you. With you.
Here are some of the highlights that shaped this year!
Travis Japan: Continuing the Journey
The seven members—Kaito “Chaka” Miyachika, Kaito “Umi” Nakamura, Ryuya “Shime” Shimekake, Noel Kawashima, Shizuya “Shizu” Yoshizawa, Genta Matsuda, and Kaito “Machu” Matsukura— inspire and bring light to our lives, and show us that beyond their sparkling aura are seven humans. They’re seven individuals who have the same goal in mind—to share their entertainment with the world.
Travis Japan has long held a special (and biased) place at Dumpling Box, and 2025 only deepened that connection. Through not only live reports, dance-focused analysis, and reflective pieces on their performances, we continued to follow a group whose strength lies not just in precision—but in trust, resilience, and shared history.
This year allowed us to explore their artistry with more nuance: how dance remains their truest language, how individuality and unity coexist, and how their global path continues to influence the way they perform and communicate. Writing about Travis Japan in 2025 felt less like coverage and more like ongoing conversation.
More Travis Japan on Dumpling Box!
![Travis Japan’s [Silent Dance] We achieved perfect synch even without sound!? | English Subtitles](https://dumplingbox.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-58.png)
![Travis Japan’s [Xmas Gift Exchange] Necessary items from a 100 yen shop! | English Subtitles](https://dumplingbox.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-53.png)
![Travis Japan’s [Prep School Prep] Just reading the questions makes us panic! | English Subtitles](https://dumplingbox.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-44.png)
Ae! group: Pride in Motion
If one word defined Ae! group’s presence in 2025, it was momentum.
From performances charged with raw emotion to articles that traced their identity beyond debut headlines, this year allowed Dumpling Box to document a group growing into their sound, their confidence, and their place within the industry. Even with another change—a devastating one—in the group, Ae! group remains a steady prescence at Dumpling Box.
Covering Ae! group has always meant writing about effort as much as outcome. In 2025, that effort crystallized into something unmistakable—pride, earned and carried forward.
More Ae! group on Dumpling Box!
![Ae! group’s [Debut First Night Thoughts] Five heartfelt messages⁉️ | English Subtitles](https://dumplingbox.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-59.png)
![Ae! group’s [Food Fighter👊Revenge] Let’s eat 100 plates of super-fancy sushi! | English Subtitles](https://dumplingbox.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-57.png)
at the Table: Interviews & Reflections
Our interview and feature work in 2025 continued to focus on one core idea: letting artists speak in their own rhythm.
This approach allowed us to reflect alongside artists such as Matori Hayashi, Kenta Hino, MindaRyn, and Travis Japan—engaging with their words not as soundbites, but as lived experience. Whether through long-form interviews, reflective spotlights, or pieces built around previously shared thoughts, Dumpling Box aimed to create space rather than extract answers.
These articles were shaped as much by what was said as by what was left unsaid—by pauses, context, and personal history—and they remain some of the most read and most revisited pieces on the site this year.
They remain some of the most read and most revisited pieces on the site this year.
More At the Table on Dumpling Box!
![[Exclusive Interview] Movement and Stillness: Matori Hayashi on Finding Rhythm in Every Form | At the Table](https://dumplingbox.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1280x720.jpeg)
Taisei Fukumoto: Continuing to Follow the Light
Following the 2024 exclusive interview with Taisei Fukumoto, where he opened up about his experiences starring in his first live house tour Yonmoji, Dumpling Box has continued to highlight and support his steady growth as a solo artist.
Throughout 2025, our coverage has traced Taisei’s development with the same care that defined that initial conversation: paying attention not just to milestones, but to how his confidence, expression, and relationship with the stage continue to evolve. Rather than treating his activities as isolated events, we approached them as part of a longer journey—one shaped by sincerity, persistence, and a clear love for performance.
Taisei’s path remains closely tied to what Dumpling Box values most: artists who grow in public without losing their sense of self. As his career continues to unfold, we remain committed to following and sharing the moments that matter most along the way.
More Taisei Fukumoto on Dumpling Box!
Looking Ahead to 2026
As we turn toward 2026, we do so with gratitude—and intention.
Dumpling Box will continue to prioritize thoughtful fandom, international perspectives, and writing that values feeling as much as information. We will continue to sit with stories instead of rushing them.
To everyone who read even a single article this year: thank you. To everyone who stayed, shared, commented, or reached out: thank you.
Dumpling Box exists because of you.
By you. For you. With you.
Over the coming days, we’ll be sharing a series of highlighted articles from 2025 over on our X account—revisiting interviews, live reports, spotlights, MV pieces, and moments that defined the year for Dumpling Box.
If you’d like to walk back through the year with us, keep your eyes on X, join the threads, and revisit the stories that shaped this space.
The table is still set.
Stay seated—and we’ll see you in the year ahead!