Fact-Checking 'Can do! Can go!': Origins, Hidden Meaning, and Release Trivia

On Wednesday nights in the late 1990s, millions of Japanese households tuned into TV Asahi to watch dozens of adolescent boys sprint onto a studio stage in fluorescent athletic gear, executing razor-sharp formation choreography with manic precision. At the center stood a teenage Hideaki Takizawa, flanked by future superstars from Arashi, Kanjani Eight, and NEWS. The backing track was explosive: a relentless synth-bass groove driven by brass hits and an undeniable chant: "Can do! Can go!" To an entire generation of television viewers, the track was the undisputed theme song of Johnny’s Jr. and the definitive rallying cry of late-nineties teen culture.

That assumption was entirely wrong. The song was not an original trainee showstopper, nor was it composed as a television theme. It belonged to V6, tucked away on a 1998 Avex Trax release. The journey of how a non-single track was absorbed, repurposed, and transformed into the most famous audition piece in Japanese entertainment history exposes the inner machinery of the classic talent agency system and the sheer velocity of late-nineties pop production.

📌 Quick Summary:

• The Discography Reality: Composed by Koji Makaino with lyrics by Tetsuo Kudo, "Can do! Can go!" debuted on V6's mini-album SUPER HEROES in February 1998, never receiving an independent A-side single release.
• The Television Hijacking: The track became an institution when TV Asahi made it the opening theme for 8ji da J in April 1998, leading millions of casual fans to mistakenly credit Johnny's Jr. rather than V6.
• The Industry Crucible: Beyond television, the song functioned as the supreme boot-camp choreography test for Johnny & Associates trainees for more than two decades, cementing its status as an enduring rite of passage.

The Sonic Blueprint: Koji Makaino and Avex Trax

To understand the sound of "Can do! Can go!", one must look at the collision between Avex Trax and the veteran songsmiths of Showa-era pop. By 1998, V6 occupied a distinct sonic territory within the Johnny & Associates umbrella. Managed musically through a partnership with Avex Trax, the six-member group traded in aggressive Eurobeat arrangements, high-BPM synth sequences, and athletic staging. Where labelmates SMAP leaned into urban soul and retro funk, V6 delivered high-octane club pop tailored for rapid footwork.

The agency turned to composer Koji Makaino, the architectural mastermind behind decades of classic idol hits ranging from Hikaru Genji's "Yuki 100%" to KinKi Kids arrangements. Makaino understood adolescent energy better than almost anyone in Tokyo. Pairing his hook-heavy harmonic sense with lyricist Tetsuo Kudo and arranger Takao Konishi, Makaino built "Can do! Can go!" around an unrelenting 138-BPM rhythm. The production featured bright electric guitar riffs, punchy synthetic brass stabs, and a chant-along chorus designed to be shouted over loud PA systems.

The song made its official retail debut on February 11, 1998, as the opening cut on V6's mini-album SUPER HEROES. It was not promoted as a primary radio single. Instead, it sat comfortably alongside non-single cuts and specialized coupling material. V6 performed it on tour, utilizing the track's driving beat to burn energy mid-set. Yet within eight weeks of its record-store release, external media forces pulled the song entirely out of V6’s exclusive orbit.

The Television Engine: '8ji da J' and the Golden Era Boom

In April 1998, TV Asahi launched 8ji da J, a prime-time variety show broadcast Wednesdays at 8:00 PM. Hosted by comedian Hiromi alongside teenage Johnny's Jr. leader Hideaki Takizawa, the program aimed to tap directly into an exploding youth demographic. The show required a high-energy opening sequence that could showcase anywhere from 40 to 80 adolescent performers dancing in tight formations within the first 90 seconds of airtime.

Rather than commissioning a bespoke theme, producers raided V6's recent Avex catalog and plucked "Can do! Can go!". The decision altered the trajectory of the song permanently. Every week, viewers saw Takizawa, Subaru Shibutani, Ryo Nishikido, Kazunari Ninomiya, Jun Matsumoto, Masaki Aiba, and Sho Sakurai charge across the studio floor as the opening riff exploded through television speakers. The sheer broadcast frequency turned the track into an inescapable auditory reflex for junior-high and high-school audiences across Japan.

Because the song played in weekly prime-time rotation fronted solely by trainees, public perception drifted away from its original creators. A widespread urban myth emerged among young fans that "Can do! Can go!" was Takizawa’s personal single. V6 members, most notably Yoshihiko Inohara and Masayuki Sakamoto, routinely joked on variety programs like Gakko e Ikou! that the public believed they were covering a Johnny’s Jr. track whenever they performed their own song at Tokyo Dome concerts.

The Audition Gauntlet: Choreography as an Institutional Filter

The mythology of "Can do! Can go!" runs far deeper than broadcast syndication. Inside the rehearsal rooms of the agency, the song became an institutional rite of passage. Legendary choreographers like SANCHE utilized the track's physical staging as a brutal diagnostic tool during auditions and early rehearsals.

The choreography demanded three distinct skills: rapid syncopated arm movements, constant spatial awareness within massive group formations, and aerobic stamina. New recruits had mere hours to memorize the routine after watching a senior trainee demonstrate it once or twice. Those who hesitated or failed to catch the count on the chorus transition were promptly sent to the back rows or dropped entirely from weekend concert lineups.

Countless debuted artists, including members of KAT-TUN, Hey! Say! JUMP, and Snow Man, have recounted near-identical memories of auditioning to those opening four bars. The routine was designed so that every movement accentuated uniform angles. When eighty trainees executed the chorus shoulder-bounce in synchronization, the visual impact was overwhelming. It taught teenagers the baseline reality of the talent agency: individual ego mattered far less than collective visual precision.

Lyricism and Cultural Subtext in Late-Nineties Japan

Looking back at Tetsuo Kudo's lyrics reveals why the track resonated so intensely against the backdrop of late-1990s Japanese society. The country was navigating the protracted fallout of the asset price bubble collapse, alongside deepening economic uncertainty. Popular culture swung between nihilistic fashion trends and bursts of hyperactive escapism.

The lyrics of "Can do! Can go!" reject irony entirely. Lines like "Try it again, sweat pouring down, you don't need a map" and "There are no walls you cannot overcome" presented an aggressive, almost militant optimism. For V6, who balanced variety show slapstick with intense acrobatic staging, it was standard pop vocabulary. But when filtered through the faces of twelve- to sixteen-year-old trainees battling for professional survival on national television, the text took on an entirely different weight.

The phrase "Can do! Can go!" became a literal directive. In a business where dozens entered each week and only a tiny fraction ever debuted as contracted recording artists, the performance of pure, unhesitating drive was mandatory. Audiences recognized the real-life stakes unfolding behind the studio smiles. The song stopped being mere corporate entertainment; it became documentary audio.

The 2018 Reunion and the Climax of Agency Canon

The definitive proof of the song's transcendent status arrived in late December 2018. TV Asahi mounted a one-night-only revival of 8ji da J to mark the retirement of Hideaki Takizawa, who was stepping away from performing to assume management duties. The broadcast gathered debuted stars who had spent fifteen to twenty years at the top of the Japanese entertainment industry: members of Arashi, Kanjani Eight, Yamashita Tomohisa, and Toma Ikuta.

They opened the special by recreating the exact choreography of "Can do! Can go!". Grown men in their late thirties performed the teenage routine with muscle-memory perfection, devoid of rehearsal scripts. A week later, at the annual Johnny's Countdown 2018, 2019 concert inside the Tokyo Dome, the track served as the grand finale centerpiece for Takizawa and Tsubasa Imai’s farewell performance, backed by dozens of senior artists and current trainees alike.

The moment highlighted a rare phenomenon in commercial J-pop. A song had outgrown its original recording artists, transcended its humble origin as an album cut, and transformed into the symbolic bloodline connecting disparate generations of performers. V6 had supplied the vehicle, but the agency's collective labor force had turned it into a cultural sacrament.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was "Can do! Can go!" ever released as an official A-side single by V6?
No. The track never appeared as an independent 8cm or 12cm single A-side. It debuted as the lead track on V6’s mini-album SUPER HEROES on February 11, 1998, and was later collected on retrospective greatest-hits compilations, including Very best in 2001.

Why do so many fans still believe it is a Johnny's Jr. song?
Because TV Asahi used the song as the opening theme for 8ji da J starting in April 1998, where it was performed weekly by dozens of trainees led by Hideaki Takizawa. For casual viewers who did not buy V6's mini-albums, the track was visually and emotionally paired exclusively with the trainees.

Who wrote and composed "Can do! Can go!"?
The music was composed by Koji Makaino, one of the most prolific hitmakers in modern Japanese pop music history. The Japanese lyrics were written by Tetsuo Kudo, with arrangements handled by Takao Konishi.

The Living Archive of a Transformed Agency

The modern idol industry looks radically different from the media landscape of 1998. V6 disbanded peacefully on November 1, 2021, closing out a twenty-six-year career with an immaculate final performance at Saitama Super Arena. The talent agency that built the Golden Era underwent sweeping corporate restructuring, rebranding as Starto Entertainment following historic industry reckonings. The era of television-controlled monopoly power has largely given way to digital streaming, global auditions, and decentralized fan spaces.

Yet "Can do! Can go!" refuses to fade. When younger trainee units rehearse in Tokyo dance studios today, the opening synth lines still sound through the floorboards. The track remains a primary historical artifact from a period when television, aggressive Eurobeat production, and raw teenage ambition combined to create an untouchable cultural phenomenon. It stands not as a forgotten B-side, but as the enduring, sweat-soaked anthem of an entire era.