NI-KI
KEY FACTS
| Stage Name | Ni-ki (니키) |
| Birth Name | Nishimura Riki (西村 力) |
| Birthday | December 9, 2005 |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Height (cm & ft) | 185cm* (6’1’’) |
| Blood Type | B |
| MBTI | ENTJ |
| Zodiac | Sagittarius (Western) / Rooster (Chinese) |
| Representative Emoji | 🐆 or 🐥 |
PRE-DEBUT
He was born in Okayama Prefecture, Japan.
He started dancing at the age of 3. He was initially self-taught, starting with jazz and imitating Michael Jackson’s dances. (source)
He used to imitate Michael Jackson for 5 hours a day when he was young. (source)
At age 5, he joined a dance academy where he first learned ballet.
Prior to traveling to Korea to become a trainee, Ni-ki hosted his own workshops at LEAD Entertainment, a dance studio owned by Ni-ki’s family. (source)
He came to South Korea on August 1st, 2019 when he was 13 (international age) by himself. From then until his participation in I-Land he lived alone in Seoul as a trainee at a home-stay.
He trained under BE:LIFT for 8 months and was a famous trainee for his exceptional dance skills.
As a trainee, before joining I-LAND, he used to send pictures to his mom every day soshe wouldn’t worry about him too much.
When he first came to South Korea, he couldn’t speak Korean. His Korean improved during I-LAND, especially with the help of his co-member Jay, who knows both Korean and Japanese.
Ni-ki was ranked 4th in the final episode of I-LAND with 1,140,718 votes.
Ni-ki auditioned two times:Once in the 2018 BIGHIT GLOBAL AUDITION with K-POP COVER DANCE FESTIVAL with ‘Sayonara Hitori’ by Taemin of SHINee. He was 12 at the time. He re-auditioned in South Korea in 2019 with the cover ‘Lie’ by Jimin of BTS, and successfully passed the audition to join Belift Lab when he was 13. (source)
He made another official cover video of ‘Lie’ that he posted on ENHYPEN official account in 2020 when he was 15.
Ni-ki has studied various genres of dance, including jazz, ballet, hip hop, b-boying, contemporary, latino, kpop, and freestyle. Ni-ki can also do acrobatics.
He has danced with and learned from well known dancers/choreographers from Japan like Maasa Ishihara, Kento Mori, Travis Payne, Yorito, Riki Maru, Rino Nakasone, f*cko Takenaka and Jumi Lite.
Ni-ki performed at the Pan Pacific Festival in Oahu, Hawaii in 2016 where he danced to a medley of Michael Jackson songs. (source)
He passed the audition for Travis Payne concert (Michael Jackson’s choreographer) as part of his dance crew when he was 9 years old, and performed ‘Smooth Criminal’ at Yokohama Arena, Japan in 2015. (minute 5:03, front row, long blond hair)
He also passed the KIDS Audition (June 1, 2014) and was chosen among hundreds of kids from all over Japan to be trained by famous Japanese choreographer and ex Michael Jackson’s dancer: Kento Mori. (source)
Ni-ki performed ‘Billie Jean’ and ‘Slave to the Rythm’ on a famous Japanese TV show with his older sister in front of Kento Mori when he was 9.
Ni-ki is also a well-known Shawol (SHINee fandom name) among Japanese fans. He was part of the SHINee KIDS when he was 11, and danced on stage with SHINee during their FIVE dome tour in Japan (Sept 24, 2017). Each of the five kids were ‘mini’ representations of the idols; Ni-ki was a ‘mini Key’ (Kim Kibum). (Video 1, 2, 3)
HOBBIES AND SKILLS
Ni-ki can memorize whole new choreographies within 10-20 minutes, as confirmed both by him and by the members in I-Land. (I-Land: episode 2; episode 12). The members have also said Ni-ki learns choreographies the fastest.
Ni-ki can play basic piano. (source)
Ni-ki has many hobbies including: dancing, photography, painting, soccer, bowling, fishing, gaming, and watching movies.
He has been praised multiple times by the filming directors for his great and natural ability to pose in front of cameras.
Ni-ki developed his MC skills as he was the radio DJ for the famous Japanese radio show ANNX for one year (2021-2022).
LIKES AND DISLIKES
Ni-ki likes playing video games, especially FIFA which he used to play a lot with Heeseung and Sunghoon till late.
Ni-ki, along with Sunoo, enjoy watching horror movies. (source)
Home Alone is his favorite movie of all time, and Itaewon Class is his favorite Korean drama. (source 1, 2)
He likes sleeping a lot. He said sleeping is what he does to relax.
Ni-ki really loves bungeoppang. He also likes warmed up strawberries and salted watermelons. He dislikes pork.
He enjoys photography. On music video sets, he will often borrow professional cameras from the staff to take pictures of the members. (source)
He likes it when his parents send him parcels from Japan. They often send him Japanese snacks that can’t be found in Korea as well as gifts for the other members. His parents gifted all seven of them personalized wooden chopsticks with their names in Japanese.
He dislikes bugs and waking up in the morning.
Ni-ki loves amusem*nt parks. When he was a kid he used to go every year to Disneyland, Sealand, and Universal Studios.
Ni-ki loves Ichiran ramen. He likes both the restaurant chain and the cup ramen.
His favorite color is black.
PERSONALITY
Ni-ki is charismatic on stage and playful off stage. He is the maknae who loves to tease and play pranks on his hyungs, but he is also very warm and caring towards his members.
His love language to the members is giving his attention and spending time with them.
Ni-ki is known to be very engaging with fans during performances and concerts. He loves to make eye contact and give attention to as many fans as he can during shows.
He often jokes around, but can also be very serious when it comes time to practice or perform.
His motto is “Dance is life.” Jay said in an S cawaii interview, “Ni-ki’s passion for dancing could not be compared to anyone. His willingness to contribute to the group through dancing is very dependable and cool.”
He is a perfectionist when it comes to delivering performances. He pays close attention to the details of their performances, and will often stay until late at night to practice.
Ni-ki is rarely satisfied with himself and always wants to improve and show an even better version of himself to the fans. Jungwon said, “Ni-ki is usually never satisfied. So ‘not bad’ means really good.” (source)
He likes hearing compliments, and hearing others say things like “you’re doing well” cheers him up. Despite that, he also gets very shy when others compliment him a lot.
He is considered more mature than his age and very independent by the members.
He loves animals. His family has a dog named Bisco. Ni-ki was also seen playing with kittens the staff found on the set of a shoot. (source)
RANDOM FACTS
Ni-ki is often known as the “4th Generation Dance Prodigy” and is regarded as one of the best dancers of his generation.
Ni-ki contributed to the choreography of “Bite Me.”
Ni-ki’s official nicknames (given by fans) are: ‘dance prodigy’, ‘legendary maknae’, ‘Nishimura-Manimura’, ‘Jjang-gu’ and ‘mandu’.
His Korean nickname given by ENHYPEN members is “Nishimura Chulsoo". (source)
Ni-ki is ambidextrous. He can write with both hands.
Ni-ki and Jay have the duo name “Brotherz” because they are close like brothers.
Ni-ki (along with Jungwon) were selected as Enhypen’s representatives for the first ever Mix & Match collaboration by Studio Choom. (source)
Ni-ki is the second male idol in the 4th generation of Kpop with the most streamed fancams, with a total of 9 fancams that has surpassed over 1 Million Views on YouTube (as of November 2022). Ni-ki also dominated 5 spots out of Top 10 Male Idol Fancams ranking released in 2021. (source)
Ni-ki was mentioned by Modelpress as one of the 5 emerging Japanese kpop idols who are well known for their amazing facial expressions, they described him as someone who “used his whole body flexibly, and skillfully performed highly artistic expressions that set themselves apart from conventional pop idol images.” (source)
His favorite superhero is Spider Man.
Ni-ki’s movie of a lifetime is The Dark Knight. He enjoys Heath Ledger’s expressive skills as the Joker.
His favorite animated character is Shin Jjangu, who he often draws.
His favorite food is bungeoppang (fish-shaped pastry) and mandu (dumplings).
His favorite dessert is ice cream. His favorite flavor is vanilla ice cream.
His favorite beverage is milk through a chocolate straw.
He really loves hot springs and wants to visit one again once he gets back to Japan.
Ni-ki prefers warm strawberries.
Pre-debut Ni-ki was once asked the question, “I would like to dance battle with you”, and he responded, “I don’t like battles. I think dance is not a competition but a connection.”
Ni-ki loves the movie “Your Name” and watched it to get into vocal character and practice for his Japanese narrations for the Manifesto Day 1 album.
Ni-ki was ranked #9 on TC Chandler’s The 100 Most Handsome Faces of 2022
Ni-ki was ranked #18 on TC Chandler’s The 100 Most Handsome Faces of 2021
Ni-ki was ranked #24 on TC Chandler’s The 100 Most Handsome Faces of 2020
Ni-ki was the Artist of the Month for Studio Choom for May 2024. His performance was the 5th most viewed AOTM with 1,745,633 views in the first 24 hours.
FANCAM PLAYLISTS
