After 15 years, countless stages, an empty CD case, and apparently one extremely well-timed flying stunt, 4U. (ふぉ～ゆ～) are finally making their CD debut.
The four-member STARTO ENTERTAINMENT group announced on August 13 that they will officially debut under Teichiku Entertainment’s Imperial Records on November 11, 2026, bringing one of the agency’s longest-running “will they ever debut?” stories to an unexpectedly emotional conclusion.
And when we say announced, we mean that quite literally — because the members themselves had no idea it was coming.
The news was revealed during “4U. One-Night-Only 15th Anniversary LIVE I♡YoU ~3939 desu~” at Tokyo’s legendary Nippon Budokan, where approximately 9,000 fans — affectionately known as Otomodachi (“friends”) — were gathered to celebrate the group’s 15th anniversary.
Dumpling Box will have more from the anniversary concert itself in an upcoming live report, but for now, there is one very important matter to discuss:
4U. are really debuting.
Naturally, this being 4U., a normal debut announcement apparently wasn’t an option—but nothing is really normal when it comes to 4U. (in the best ways possible).
The four members — Yuta Fukuda, Yudai Tatsumi, Yuki Koshioka, and Yusuke Matsuzaki — had long dreamed of incorporating flying into their performance. During the anniversary concert, they finally got their wish.
Then, while they were literally suspended above the Budokan stage during an MC segment, the screens behind them suddenly revealed another dream they had been waiting considerably longer for:
CD DEBUT.
The announcement had been kept secret even from the members themselves.
Still hovering above the stage, the four reportedly reacted in complete shock while the arena erupted into cheers and tears.
There may be more conventional ways to begin a recording career, but after 15 years of doing things the 4U. way, learning you have finally debuted while dangling over 9,000 crying fans feels strangely appropriate.
STARTO’s Latest Debut Is Also Its Oldest
The announcement also gives 4U. a rather impressive — and unusually specific — place in agency history.
Yuki and Yusuke will both be 40 years old when the single releases, while Yuta and Yudai will celebrate their 40th birthdays later in November.
That gives the group an average age of approximately 39.5 years at debut, making 4U. the oldest group to make its CD debut in the agency’s history.
It is a record that feels especially significant considering just how long the four have already been part of the entertainment industry.
Since forming in 2011, 4U. have built careers that never really fit comfortably into the traditional “trainee waiting to debut” narrative. They became fixtures of the stage, appeared in variety programming, held their own concerts, worked across television and radio, expanded into digital content, and even challenged Japan’s famous M-1 comedy competition.
Their dancing and theatrical experience have also been forged through years of supporting senior artists — to the point where the running joke is that there is practically no senior act in the agency they haven’t performed behind.
Perhaps nothing sums up the group’s relationship with the idea of “debut” quite as perfectly as one particular piece of merchandise.
During their 10th anniversary tour in 2021, 4U. sold an empty CD case.
An actual CD case. Without a CD.
It was exactly the sort of joke only a group that had already spent a decade without releasing one could confidently make — turning the elephant in the room into merchandise.
Five years later, the joke finally has its punchline. With their first actual CD arriving in November, that empty case finally has something to put inside it!
Last year’s coverage of 4U.’s 39×4=Iikoro tour captured a group already operating at full creative force — from their pun-filled tour concept to their deeply heartfelt performances and wildly inventive staging. Even then, it was clear that 4U. had long since transcended the idea of “waiting for debut” and instead built a career defined by constant reinvention, humor, and an unshakable bond with their fans. Seeing that same energy now lead them into an official CD debut only makes the journey feel all the more meaningful.
There Is, Of Course, a Catch
Alongside the announcement came their first mission as a debuted group.
To secure their recording contract beyond their debut single, the group and their fans must achieve at least one of two goals:
- Reach 1 million views on the debut song’s music video by the end of 2026
- Sell 50,000 copies of the debut single
If neither target is reached, plans for releases following the debut single will effectively return to the drawing board.
Yuki summed up the evening particularly well, admitting that his emotions were basically overwhelmed.
Between his fear of heights, his hip hurting while flying, finding out about the debut, hearing congratulatory messages from their seniors, and trying not to cry, he described the experience as “emotionally exhausting.”
“It feels like a dream,” he said, while expressing his hope that the group can continue moving forward step by step, at 4U.’s own pace.
The members’ reactions after the show were also refreshingly complicated.
After spending so many years watching younger colleagues debut before them, one might imagine the group had spent every waking moment desperately chasing the same announcement.
Instead, Yudai admitted that somewhere along the way, even he became unsure what “wanting to debut” meant anymore. Now that it had finally happened, his reaction was not simply an uncomplicated “YES! WE DID IT!”
Part of him wondered whether debuting might change something fundamental about what made 4U. special.
There are fans, after all, who found the group precisely because they existed outside the traditional debuted-idol system — people who loved the feeling of discovering performers who were somehow simultaneously industry veterans and a secret worth sharing.
Would becoming a debuted group change that relationship?
Yuki’s answer was considerably simpler: whether they debuted or not, he did not think 4U. themselves would change.
And perhaps that is the most fitting way to look at the announcement.
The CD debut itself may be new. The label may be new. The word debut may finally, finally apply. But the four people standing underneath it have already spent 15 years becoming 4U.
Now, at long last, they are simply doing it with a release date.
Check out more from 4U. on their various social media accounts!
YouTube | Line Account | X (Official English STARTO account)
Yuta Fukuda Instagram | Yudai Tatsumi Instagram | Yuki Koshioka Instagram | Yusuke Matsuzaki Instagram