Artist Profile
- Full Name: Katsumura Maya
- Native Name: 勝村摩耶
- Nicknames: White swan, Cowl Chan
- Birthday: Apr 08, 2002 (23 years old)
- Blood type: O
- Height/Weight: 159 cm (5’3") / N/A
- Gender: Female
- Zodiac Sign: Aries
- Debut: Dec 2, 2020
- MBTI: ENFP (The Campaigner)
- Birthplace: Hakusan, Ishikawa, Japan
- Nationality: Japanese
- Profession: Singer, Dancer
- Languages: Japanese, Korean
- Group: NiziU
- Current Agency: JYP Entertainment
- Years Active: 2020–present (6 years)
Maya, born Katsumura Maya on April 8, 2002, in Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese singer and dancer signed under JYP Entertainment. She is a member of the girl group NiziU, serving as a sub-vocalist and main dancer.
Early life
Maya is the youngest child in her family and has an older brother. She attended Hoku Elementary School and Hikarino Junior High School in Hakusan. During her school years, she was a member of the track and field club. To pursue her goal of becoming a trainee at YG Japan, she relocated to Tokyo and underwent training for one year. Subsequently, she joined JYP Entertainment as a trainee.
Career
Maya was a trainee at YG Japan from 2017 to 2018 before departing the company to seek new opportunities at JYP Entertainment in 2019. During her time at JYP, she underwent rigorous training focused on enhancing her dancing and singing skills while maintaining personal discipline. While living independently in Tokyo, she spent nearly a year building a solid foundation before pursuing larger-scale opportunities.
In 2019, Maya participated in the audition for Nizi Project, a joint survival program by JYP Entertainment and Sony Music. During a group performance of “Heart Shaker,” she received praise from Park Jin-young for her harmonious coordination with other members and her gentle yet distinct eye expressions. Her ability to convey emotions through subtle gestures earned high marks from both judges and fellow contestants.
In June 2020, Maya ranked fifth in Nizi Project and officially debuted with NiziU as a sub-vocalist through the digital mini-album Make You Happy. In December 2020, she made her official Japanese debut with the single “Step and a Step,” which reached number seven on the Billboard Japan charts.
In 2021, Maya released the second single “Take a Picture” in March and the debut studio album U in November. In 2022, she continued her activities with the singles “ASOBO” (April), “CLAP CLAP” (July), and “Blue Moon” (December).
In 2023, Maya released the second studio album COCONUT in July and embarked on the “Coco! Nut Fes.” tour. In October 2023, she debuted in South Korea with the single album Press Play and its lead single “Heartris,” which earned its first music show win on Show Champion nine days after release.
In 2024, Maya released the digital singles “Memories” in January and “Sweet Nonfiction” in March. In July 2024, she released the first EP Rise Up, featuring the title track of the same name in both English and Korean versions. In November 2024, she began the “NiziU Live with U 2024-2025: Awake” tour in Fukui and Sapporo to promote her upcoming mini-album.
In February 2025, Maya released her first mini-album Awake with the title track “Yoake,” which peaked at number one in Japan with 225,200 physical copies sold. In March 2025, she made a Korean comeback with the second single album Love Line, containing the tracks “Love Line” and “What If,” selling 168,636 copies in South Korea.
From September to November 2025, Maya conducted the largest tour of her career, “NiziU Live with U 2025: NEW EMOTION – Face To Face,” consisting of 32 performances across 23 venues in 21 cities. In November 2025, she released the third studio album New Emotion with the title track “♡Emotion,” which included the Japanese version of “What If” previously released in September.
Fun facts
- Maya is nicknamed “Cowl-chan” due to her warm vocal quality.
- Fans refer to her as the “Swan of NiziU” because of her graceful aura.
- She is highly skilled at cooking tamagoyaki and is famous for her catchphrase: “Welcome to Maya’s kitchen!”.
- She is known as the “mother of the group” because she constantly takes care of the other members.
- Maya was voted as the funniest member within NiziU.
- Her hobbies include painting and collecting skincare products.
- She made appearances in the music videos for “God’s Menu” and “Back Door” by Stray Kids.
- She is recognized for her signature performance technique of tilting her head and looking affectionately while dancing.
- She greatly admires Mako‘s dancing skills and wishes she could exchange talents with her teammate.
- She expressed a desire to appear on the program I Live Alone if she has the opportunity to live by herself.
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