Disney+'s Travis Japan 'Summer Vacation!! In The USA

STARTO Entertainment / Disney+

Japanese pop group Travis Japan has a long and rich history with the United States.

Formed in 2012 as trainees with the guidance from legendary American choreographer Travis Payne (they named the group after Payne), the septet – Chaka, Umi, Shime, Noel, Shizu, Genta, and Machu – debuted in 2022, and has grown into one of the biggest acts in Japan. It was all thanks to the training and work in the U.S. that prepared them to be artists, blending modern, jazz, and hip-hop into electrifying performances. The group found international fame with appearances on World of Dance and America’s Got Talent, leading to them signing with Capitol Records/UMG. Their debut single, “JUST DANCE,” made history as the first Japanese act to hit the Top 5 on Billboard’s Global Chart, surpassing 10 million views. Since then, their albums and singles have hit multiple charts (their debut album, Road To A, had three consecutive No. 1s on Billboard Japan’s Top Album Sales, Hot Albums, and Download Albums charts). Their sophomore album, VIIsual (2024), featured several chart-toppers, including “BO$$Y.” Their single, “Say I do / Tokyo Crazy Night,” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard JAPAN’s Top Singles Sales chart. Even their most recent album, ‘s travelers, released in December 2025, debuted at No. 1 across Billboard Japan’s charts. Recently, their single, “KAGENIMO-HINATANIMO,” became No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart.

The group has been nonstop recording music and doing several concerts and world tours. They’re currently on their national tour, Travis Japan Concert Tour 2026 's Travelers,’ and plan to record and release more music soon.

It was surprising to learn they are releasing a 10-part docuseries of their well-deserved vacation, Travis Japan Summer Vacation!! In the USA, which was done last summer after they completed the North American leg of their VIIsual World Tour. Now on Disney+, Noel, who was on hiatus from December 2024 to May 2025, planned the entire trip to help members bond and reconnect with themselves after their World Tour concluded.

“I just wanted to make the most out of the very limited time we had,” Noel says through Zoom, with members Chaka and Machu, from their Starto Entertainment offices in Japan. “All of us are extremely busy. Not just being an active part of the group, but each of us has different pursuits, like acting and stage careers. So the ability to carve out time when we could actually do all of this together was a rare experience. We wanted to make the most of it.”

The members only had 10 days to spare for their time off, so they decided to divide and conquer by splitting into three teams: Team A: Umi, Chaka, and Shizuya, who took an RV; Team B: Shime, Genta, and Machu, in a car; and Team Noel, who traveled with the staff for his own self-reflection on his return. The group took a road trip across the Rocky Mountains, visiting places such as Sedona and Monument Valley.

Noel continues, “We were actually able to do more by dividing into teams and then coming back together to share our experiences. The whole attitude really is because the crux of why I wanted to do this and really give Travis Japan a summer vacation to actually relax.”

Many were curious about why America was chosen as the destination, but Noel says they wanted to return to where they started. They had trained and studied in the U.S. before their debut and formed the group that they are now. He says, “Having spent a large amount of time here, we really wanted to get to know it even further. During our vacation, we focused on where we wanted to go next by getting to know the country that meant so much to us on a deeper level. That’s why we chose America.”

Below, the three members of the group – Chaka, Noel, and Machu – talk about their music, how they’ve grown so much, and how the travel docuseries really made them stronger.

This interview was edited for length and brevity.

LAURA SIRIKUL: Congrats on “KAGE NIMO HINATA NIMO” being No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart! You’re currently on your Japan Tour, playing Shizuoka last night. And, your Disney+ travel docuseries comes out soon. It feels like you guys have been nonstop. How are you guys feeling? Are you going to take a break after this tour?

NOEL: After the tour, we want to actually keep staying busy. [laughs] We don't have time to rest. We want to keep pushing forward and promoting Travis Japan – not only throughout Japan but also around the world.

SIRIKUL: You released a refreshed version of last year’s “Say I do / Tokyo Crazy Night [Special Edition] in February, with all seven of you with Noel’s return from hiatus. How great was it to be reunited to do this project together?

NOEL: Ever since returning, there's been a real sense of completion. I’ve been able to see all the things that have happened since then – all the performances, the clips, and hear the releases we’ve made. There's a real sense of pride in what we’ve been able to achieve. And I’m really proud to be part of that. We have that perfection that Travis Japan really aspires to be. I will continue to push forward toward completion, perfection, and greatness that we can achieve as a group of seven. It’s natural for us, and I want to continue to push that and really develop as we go forward.

SIRIKUL: Your last album, ‘s travelers, was produced by Machu. With the tour and everything else, are you guys finding time to explore your next sound or concept for the next album or single?

MACHU: I took the lead on the production of our third album. Before that, Umi did, and before that, we all contributed to the first album. Noel took the lead on directing the performance. The next one will be led by someone else. We can’t share who just yet, but please, look forward to it. It’s a little secret still, but one thing that is really important to us is that each album is a reflection of what that particular individual thinks of Travis Japan. It's a reflection of their perspective on what the group means to them and how they personally interpret the group, what their style brings to the completion of us. Each of us takes a different approach. The next person will take over the fourth album. What they bring to the table makes up the overall sense of who Travis Japan is. We are excited to share what with everyone once more details are announced.

SIRIKUL: Chaka, as leader, we’ve seen so much growth from the group when you first established it as a group, America’s Got Talent, multiple albums, World Tours, No. 1 on the charts, and more. How do you guys keep evolving as a group?

CHAKA: For me, this growth is very natural for us. It’s something that we’ve taken on for a long time, and is part of the fabric of our DNA and their identity. Travis Japan is self-produced, and we really go into refining our music. What is it that we’re personally interested in, and what is it in our personal backgrounds that really brought all of us together and resulted in where we are today? It goes into every aspect of how we create and define ourselves in all aspects of our performance, not just music, but also our stage presence and group activities, individual efforts, and how we can bring all of that together to create what makes Travis Japan. It really focuses on the natural element of how we’re developing as people. Travis Japan and who we are now will be different than how we’re going to be in the future. It’s different than how we were in the past, just as any person is different now than how we used to be and how we might be in the future.

SIRIKUL: You guys were divided into three groups: Team A: Umi, Chaka, and Shizuya, who took an RV; Team B: Shime, Genta, and Machu, who took a car; and Team Noel, with the staff. Can you explain to me the separation of this group?

NOEL: The reason for the breakdown of the groups was to orient the experience around the people in the individual teams. Team A is known as “The Old Guard.” They’re the ones who have really been together for a much longer time than even the group has existed, before the formation of Travis Japan. They’ve been together for a long time and have a really deep personal history in the entertainment industry and in this group, but they haven’t had a chance to do something like this in this length of time that they’ve been together. Team B was obviously Shime and the famous Matsu-Matsu (Genta and Machu trained together since their junior days). The funny thing is that they like to bicker like an old married couple. It’s like putting two fire ants together and watching what will happen. [laughs] It’s an experience to see what kind of chemistry results from this. And I, by myself, was able to see what I wanted for the overall experience and why it all came together.

SIRIKUL: Is there a scene or moment during the trip you’re excited for people to watch?

NOEL: Everything was recorded. I’m curious to see, along with the audience, what got included and what didn’t.

SIRIKUL: Do you have a favorite memory?

CHAKA: My personal favorite was the sense of surprise at having this experience that was just so different from anything I’ve ever been able to experience in Japan. Japan has highways, countryside, and nature, but the scale is incredibly different from that of the United States. Once you leave the city, driving in the United States, there’s absolutely nothing, not even trees. There’s just this sense of absolute nothingness, then suddenly there would be a mountain or a city or a little town or a McDonald’s – something like that. That sense of nothingness and then the sense of relief, being able to see something again, was a very unique experience. When you leave the city in Japan and go into the countryside, you don’t have that sense of scale. That can only be found in the United States.

MACHU: My most memorable experience was getting the chance to drive. I have a driver’s license in Japan, but this is the first time I've ever driven overseas. It was very thrilling but a little scary, since from a Japanese perspective, Americans drive on the wrong side of the road, and I had to be more aware of myself. I had to unlearn how I drove back at home and teach myself how to drive in different locations. It was scary, but I really enjoyed being someplace that’s so different. It’s the wild west of the United States.

There’s one moment I hope is included in the docuseries: Genta being harassed by a donkey. A donkey appeared in front of the car, and we tried to get it to move. It would still come up to us. [laughs] That sort of wildlife and those experiences are not something that they’ve ever been able to encounter here in Japan.

NOEL: Just the overall experience of being able to share with each other what we had individually done when we split up into three different teams, because not everyone had the same experience. That was part of the fun: we were all able to come back together at the very end and share what we had done. The act of sharing and being able to reaffirm their experiences and articulate them to people who didn’t have them was special to us as a group. It really made everything fulfilling. So that final episode, when we all come back together and share our relevant experiences, is particularly memorable to me.

SIRIKUL: How does this trip differ from your other trips together as a group, whether on tour or while living in Los Angeles, training?

CHAKA: The biggest difference between this trip and the things we’ve done similarly in the past was that the trip was lacking a goal. Everything that we’ve done here has had a purpose in mind - whether it be a tour or studying abroad in the United States. The goal was to learn to do these specific things. This trip was simply to experience something, have fun, and see what happens along the way. The absence of a specific purpose was so new and fresh, and it contributed to a different way we interpreted the experience and how we wanted to enjoy everything we did. That was a huge differentiating factor compared to everything that came before.

SIRIKUL: Was there ever a moment on the trip where you felt inspired to write music?

NOEL: Absolutely, yes. In fact, it’s already affected certain elements of how we – either intentionally or unintentionally – interpreted our most recent single. There's a B-side track called “As We Are.” There’s a section in the song that talks about going on a journey for miles and miles. You don’t really have this mind’s eye if you’ve only experienced it in Japan. So that really hit home for me: being on the road for miles and miles, seeing nothing. That really impacted me, how I perform the song, and how I think about the lyrics. I recall these experiences that we had in the United States. There's definitely been a very tangible influence on our music.

SIRIKUL: Maybe a song about a donkey blocking the car?

MACHU: [laughs] Yeah!

SIRIKUL: Do you guys plan to do these types of trips often? Where would you want to go next?

MACHU: London! Definitely, yes. We would love to do something like that again. As to where, it’s hard to answer. We were debating about that among ourselves. We experienced a worldwide debut, so we want to consider how we can move forward in a unique way. We would really love to go anywhere.

SIRIKUL: What do you want fans to take away from this documentary?

NOEL: The question itself is really difficult to answer because we really think deeply about it. One thing we want people to take away is a deeper understanding of who we are. We were constantly filmed over those 10 days, which really shows a deeper side of Travis Japan than you might see if you only know us from their concerts and that sort of thing. With the docuseries, you really get a sense of who we truly are. The tears you see on the screen are a more vulnerable side of us.

I do have two requests for everyone before they start watching the docuseries. One is for [the fans] to have a towel to wipe away the tears for the very emotional moments that will definitely be there. Two, get your smartphone ready to share your thoughts on social media as soon as you watch each episode.

[CHAKA and MACHU nod, pretending to cry, and then grab their phones to mimic posting on social media. NOEL laughs with them.]

Check out Travis Japan’s Summer Vacation!! In The USA, out today, on Disney+.

Corrections 5/1/26: NOEL, not CHAKA, answered the question regarding the moment on the trip.