Wentz was born in Tokyo in 1985 from a German-American father and a Japanese mother. Although his father and brother are fluent in English, Wentz is only fluent in Japanese and considers himself Japanese. Before meeting Teppei in 2002, he had already made various appearances in several variety television shows which often included music and comedy skits, and in one television drama, "Kyuumei Senshi Nano Seibaa."
Teppei was born in Osaka in 1986 and moved to Tokyo in 2002. Unlike Wentz, Teppei didn't make his acting debut until 2002 with the television drama "Tentai Kazoku."
The two met in 2002 and started holding street performances in the Yoyogi Park area in Tokyo as an acoustic guitar duo. When they formed together, they created the name WaT. At first, hardly anyone gathered to see them perform, but as summer approached they were able to gather 300 spectators. Along with these street performances, they also continued with their acting in television dramas. By December 2003, the duo was able to gather a large audience consisting of about 1,000 people, which caused mayhem in the area and was the end of their street performances.
In February 2004, they released their indies debut single titled Sotsugyou TIME. To commemorate the release of the single, WaT had an event in Ikebukuro and in spite of the event being on a weekday, roughly 5,000 people attended. That May, they had their first live broadcast called "WaT Entertainment Show Vol.1" in the Yokohama Bay Hall, which consisted of three shows. In October, they had two performances in Roppongi for their "WaT Entertainment Show Vol.2."
In the most part of 2005, Teppei continued with his acting in various television dramas such as "Gokusen 2" and "Dragon Zakura," and he also received his first role in the movie "Taga Tameni." Meanwhile Wentz continued with variety shows and was a host for the variety show "Pretty Kids."
After signing a major label contract with Universal Music Japan in November 2005, WaT released their first major single titled Boku mo kimochi that same month. The following year was a very busy year for the duo as they released four singles (with various editions), one album and two DVDs. Teppei also received his first leading role in the popular manga-made-movie "Lovely Complex" as Otani Atsushi.
The year 2007 was not an active one for WaT, but was instead a year for the two young men to work on their own solo projects. Wentz Eiji released two singles in the early part of 2007 with Happy de Lucky in February and Awaking Emotion 8/5 in April. He also received the leading role in the movie "Gegege no Kitaro." Koike Teppei released two singles, Kimi ni okuru uta and my brand new way, around the same time as Wentz. He also released his full-length album titled pieces in June.
WaT regrouped in 2008 and released two singles in the spring. Beginning in May, the duo began a nationwide tour, which was the first after two years.
The year 2009 seems to be another quiet year for the duo with Teppei working on his solo career: a single, an album, and a solo tour.
Wentz Eiji and Koike Teppei are showing their talent across the entertainment industry through their acting and their music. Considering how young and fresh the duo are, they're definitely a group worth keeping an eye out for.
