Debut and idol career Avex created the group Tokyo Girls' Style in 2009 to capitalize on the rising demand for
Japanese idol girl groups, a trend fueled by the success of
AKB48. and launched the group's official website. The group's debut single, , was released on May 5, 2010, and peaked at 30 on the
Oricon charts. Their second single, , was released on May19. Their first album,
Kodou no Himitsu, which compiled their previous singles, and peaked at No. 25 on the Oricon charts. This version of the song was included in the album entitled
心跳的秘密 (
Xīntiào de mìmì), which was released in
Taiwan on May 4, 2011, and in
Hong Kong one week later. The group admitted that "they were worried that their singing is not good because the Chinese pronunciation is so hard [to grasp]." In 2012, they made their debut performance in
Singapore. They had their first solo performance at
Nippon Budokan on December 22, 2012, becoming the youngest female group to perform at this venue. In 2014, the group starred in two films,
Count Five To Dream Of You (directed by
Yūki Yamato) and
Kotodama – Spiritual Curse, the latter part of a Japanese horror movie series. Their first US performance took place at the 2014
J-Pop Summit festival in San Francisco.
Post-idol career On January 6, 2015, the group announced that it would cease to be an idol group from April 2015 onward. They released their last single as an idol group, "Stay with Me", on March 3, 2015. The group celebrated the fifth anniversary of their debut with the release of the compilation album
1st BEST ALBUM Kirari☆. They released their first post-idol single, "Never Ever", a month later on June 24, 2015. The title track was selected as the ending theme for the anime
Fairy Tail. Before its release, member Konishi Ayano announced that she would be taking an indefinite leave of absence to focus on treatment for her lower back pain. Tokyo Girls' Style promoted itself as a four-member group as they proceeded to release their fifth album,
Reflection, on December 23 of that year. A week later on December 30, 2015, Konishi Ayano announced her retirement from the music business, citing ongoing health concerns which she felt left her unable to fulfill her duties as a performer. The group has continued on as four members. On August 5, 2017, the group made their first appearance at the Tokyo Idol Festival in over three years despite their previous announcement that they would cease all idol activities. The girls relayed that they wanted to broaden the scope of their activities and wished to "be regarded as both an idol and an artist". On October 25, 2017, the group simultaneously released two mini-albums:
PERIOD.BEST ~Otona ni Narun Dakara~, which featured re-recordings of their previous idol hits, and
PERIOD.BEST ~Kimete Ii yo Watashi no Koto~, which featured singles released in 2016 and 2017. On May 3, 2025, the group announced it would disband with a final concert on March 31, 2026, at
Zepp DiverCity. ==Members==