Morning Musume

Morning Musume, 4th generation

Morning Musume debuted in 1997 with five members, and has gone through many lineup and style changes through its years. They are the lead group of the idol talent agency, Hello!Project, which is made up of young female artists and groups, such as Berryz Koubou, C-ute, and Mano Erina. They are all produced by Tsunku, former vocalist of Sharan Q.

Tsunku In 1997, Tsunku held an audition on the ASAYAN talent search show to choose a female rock vocalist to join Sharan Q. Heike Michiyo won the audition, but Tsunku saw greater potential in five of the remaining contestants, so he challenged them to sell 50,000 singles in 4 days. He named them Morning Musume, and they recorded the single Ai no Tane and succeeded in selling 50,000 copies on the final day. He gave them a record deal and the rest is history.

Morning Musume quickly became one of Japan's top groups with their fresh faces and girl-next-door personalities. The group originally started as a 5-member group, but by their second single, three more members were added. This began a series of additions and graduations which have seen members come and go, some remaining in Hello!Project as solo artists or in other units.

In April 2000, the group began hosting a television variety show called Hello! Morning (Haromoni), which further increased the group's popularity. They became a household name and were ubiquitous in Japan: they dominated the music charts, were regularly seen promoting their new singles on popular music shows, and have a lot of merchandise available, such as photobooks and DVDs.

The number of members generally remain around the 10-14 mark - the highest was 16 for a short time in 2003. Morning Musume members often participate in sub-groups and shuffle units within Hello!Project, releasing additional singles and albums.

As of December 6, 2009, the leader is 5th generation member Takahashi Ai, and the subleader is Niigaki Risa from the same generation. Currently, there are 8 members from Generations 5-8.

Members

Graduated

    1ST GENERATION
    • Nakazawa Yuko
    • Iida Kaori
    • Abe Natsumi
    • Ishiguro Aya
    • Fukuda Asuka
    2ND GENERATION
    • Yasuda Kei
    • Yaguchi Mari
    • Ichii Sayaka
    3RD GENERATION
    • Goto Maki
    4TH GENERATION
    • Kago Ai
    • Tsuji Nozomi
    • Ishikawa Rika
    • Yoshizawa Hitomi
    5TH GENERATION
    • Konno Asami
    • Ogawa Makoto
    6TH GENERATION
    • Fujimoto Miki
    7TH GENERATION
    • Kusumi Koharu

Current

    5TH GENERATION
    • Takahashi Ai
    • Niigaki Risa
    6TH GENERATION
    • Kamei Eri
    • Michishige Sayumi
    • Tanaka Reina
    8TH GENERATION
    • Mitsui Aika
    • Junjun
    • Linlin

Leadership

Leaders

#NameDates
01Nakazawa Yuko 1997 - 2001.04.15
02-03Iida Kaori & Yasuda Kei 2001.04.16 - 2003.05.05
02Iida Kaori 2001.04.16 - 2005.01.30
04Yaguchi Mari 2005.01.31 - 2005.04.14
05Yoshizawa Hitomi 2005.04.14 - 2007.05.06
06Fujimoto Miki 2007.05.07 - 2007.06.01
07Takahashi Ai 2007.06.01 - present

Sub-Leaders

#NameDates
01Yaguchi Mari 2003.05.05 - 2005.01.30
02Yoshizawa Hitomi 2005.01.31 - 2005.04.14
03Fujimoto Miki 2005.04.14 - 2007.05.06
04Takahashi Ai 2007.05.07 - 2007.06.01
05Niigaki Risa 2007.06.01 - present