SixTONES’ 6th Anniversary Overshadowed by Fuji TV “Poka Poka” Segment

The six-member idol group SixTONES appeared on the live daytime program “Poka Poka” (Fuji TV) on January 22. Marking the sixth anniversary of their CD debut that day, the group carried out a whirlwind media tour, appearing on multiple TV and radio programs across networks, starting with morning information shows. However, one segment on “Poka Poka” drew criticism from fans.

SixTONES have long placed special emphasis on the number “6,” reflecting both their member count and group name. This year marks their sixth debut anniversary, and on January 21 they released their first best album, MILESixTONES -Best Tracks-.

On their debut anniversary, all six members appeared together on programs such as “THE TIME,” (TBS), “Mezamashi TV” (Fuji TV), and “ZIP!” (Nippon TV), before making a surprise appearance in the “Poka Poka” studio later that afternoon.

The show featured a segment called the “Friendship Psychological Test,” designed to assess the bond between members. Psychological analyst Nijihiko Amon, who created the test, also joined the studio. The concept was to uncover the group’s true dynamics based on their answers to a series of psychological questions.

The first question asked: “On your birthday, each member gives you a present in a differently colored box. Who do you think gave you the yellow box and who gave you the blue box?” Each member wrote down their answers on flip boards.

Shintaro Morimoto (28) chose Yugo Kochi (age undisclosed) for the yellow box and Hokuto Matsumura (30) for the blue box. Explaining his choices, Morimoto said, “Kochi always thinks ahead about how things will play out on variety shows, so he’d probably give me a box in his own member color,” while admitting that his choice for Matsumura being blue was mostly intuitive.

According to Amon, the question reveals compatibility among members. Yellow represents “the member you feel compatible with,” while blue signifies the member you feel somewhat incompatible with.

As the explanation continued—“Blue represents calmness and suggests you may not have that much fun together.”—the SixTONES members forced awkward smiles. When MC Yuuki Iwai of Haraichi (39) pointed out, “Matsumura got two votes,” Taiga Kyomoto (31) muttered, “On our sixth anniversary, this is the kind of segment we get,” while Kochi added, “I wish it had been something a little kinder.”

“The second question was said to reveal how open you are with your fellow members, a kind of deep psychological test. Juri Tanaka (30), who was told his ‘openness level’ was 30%, was teased by Haraichi’s Yu Sawabe (39), who said, ‘Maybe you’re not that open,’ to which Tanaka responded with an unconvinced ‘Hmm.’ On the other hand, Jesse (29), whose ‘openness level’ was diagnosed at 60%, praised Amon, saying, ‘That’s absolutely correct.’

In the final question, it was revealed which member they place great trust in or do not trust at all, and toward the end of the segment, Tanaka and others looked visibly uncomfortable,” said an entertainment writer.

As mentioned earlier, this was SixTONES’ sixth anniversary. As a result, fans voiced harsh criticism:

“I was so uncomfortable with the psychological test on ‘Poka Poka.’ It was supposed to be a celebratory day—why make it something that isn’t fun?”

“With that extreme two-choice option of ‘trust completely’ or ‘don’t trust at all,’ everyone looked tense. Even as a joke, it felt bad.”

“The psychological test on ‘Poka Poka’ wasn’t even funny—just unpleasant! Fuji TV is outdated.”

“I was looking forward to SixTONES appearing, but what was that psychological test? Juri looked so sad, and Kyomo (Taiga Kyomoto’s nickname) looked angry. It made me feel upset. It was such an important day.”

Critical comments flooded social media.

“On the January 19 episode of ‘Shabekuri 007’ (Nippon TV), the legendary choreographer Sanchez—who played a key role in SixTONES’ career—made a surprise appearance. When he delivered a message to the six members, Jesse was moved to the point of tears. Fans online were thrilled. In contrast, this episode of ‘Poka Poka’ ended up dampening the mood of what should have been a celebratory sixth anniversary,” the same writer added.

The next time SixTONES appear together on a Fuji TV variety show, fans can only hope the content will be something they can genuinely enjoy.