Japanese female idol group From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Morning Musume (モーニング娘。, Mōningu Musume.) is a Japanese girl group. They are what is known as an "idol group", although they have distanced themselves from the "idol" stereotype (unlike the idols, they can dance and sing well). Most of their songs are happy songs with upbeat music, but they have sad and angry songs too. The group can also be called Momusu (モー娘。, Mōmusu.). They are the most important group in the Hello! Project company. The group is managed by Tsunku, who writes all the lyrics and most of the music the songs, and even produces them. They were the best-selling female group in Japan for several years, but their sales dropped quite a lot later on, perhaps due to the loss of certain popular members, or because of decisions made by Tsunku or someone else at Hello! Project or their management company Up-Front Works. In the past couple of years, however, they have regained some of their popularity in Japan, and they have also gained more foreign fans.
Morning Musume モーニング娘。 | |
|---|---|
 Morning Musume in 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Momusu 早安少女組。 |
| Origin | Tokyo, Honshū, Japan |
| Genres | J-pop |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels | Zetima |
| Members | Erina Ikuta Sakura Oda Miki Nonaka Maria Makino Akane Haga Reina Yokoyama Rio Kitagawa Homare Okamura Mei Yamazaki Rio Sakurai Haruka Inoue Ako Yumigeta |
| Past member(s) | Ayumi Ishida Mizuki Fukumura Kaede Kaga Chisaki Morito Masaki Satou Haruna Iikubo Haruna Ogata Haruka Kudo Kanon Suzuki Riho Sayashi Sayumi Michishige Reina Tanaka Ai Takahashi Aika Mitsui Risa Niigaki Junjun Linlin Eri Kamei Koharu Kusumi Miki Fujimoto Hitomi Yoshizawa Makoto Ogawa Asami Konno Mari Yaguchi Rika Ishikawa Kaori Iida Ai Kago Nozomi Tsuji Natsumi Abe Kei Yasuda Maki Goto Yuko Nakazawa Sayaka Ichii Aya Ishiguro Asuka Fukuda |
| Website | Hello! Project Japanese Official Website Hello! Project Chinese Official Website |
In late 1997, in Japan, a male singer-songwriter called Tsunku, held a contest to find a girl to be the lead singer of the band Sharam Q, which he was the frontman of. A lot of young girls came to the contest, and some of them became finalists. There is where Tsunku came up with the idea of making a girl group. This new group was called Morning Musume (Morning Daughters). The group was formed by Kaori Iida, Yuko Nakazawa, Asuka Fukuda, Aya Ishiguro and Natsumi Abe. They became known as the "First Generation" of the group. There have now been twelve of these "Generations". Most of these "Generations" have a few members. But the Third, Seventh, Twelfth and Sixteenth Generations only had one member each.
From the start, the songs performed by these girls sold well. They became very famous in Japan (their fame later reached other countries too, thanks to their fans on the World Wide Web), and Tsunku formed other small groups inspired by Morning Musume. He created Hello!Project to hold them all.
Over time, when the girls become older and mature, they usually graduate from the group (but they can be kicked out for not behaving in the way that idols are supposed to behave). After that, they usually become soloists or models. New girls apply for a spot in the group whenever auditions are held. Thousands of girls apply, but very few make it in.
| Name | Birth date | Age | Join date | Generation | Member colour* | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erina Ikuta | July 7, 1997 | 27 | January 2, 2011 | 9 | Yellow Green | Leader, vocalist, lead dancer, lead rapper | Former child model |
| Sakura Oda | March 12, 1999 | 25 | September 14, 2012 | 11 | Lavender | Sub Leader, Main vocalist, lead dancer | Former member of Hello! Pro Kenshuusei
Currently the best at singing |
| Miki Nonaka | October 7, 1999 | 25 | September 30, 2014 | 12 | Purple | Sub Leader, Main vocalist, dancer | |
| Maria Makino | February 2, 2001 | 24 | Pink | Visual, lead dancer, vocalist, center | Former member of Hello! Pro Kenshuusei | ||
| Akane Haga | March 7, 2002 | 23 | Orange | Vocalist, dancer | Former member of Hello! Pro Kenshuusei | ||
| Reina Yokoyama | February 22, 2001 | 24 | December 12, 2016 | 13 | Golden Yellow | Vocalist, dancer | Former member of Hello! Pro Kenshuusei |
| Rio Kitagawa | March 16, 2004 | 20 | June 22, 2019 | 15 | Sea Blue | Lead vocalist, dancer | |
| Homare Okamura | May 9, 2005 | 19 | Daisy | Lead dancer, vocalist | Former child model and actress | ||
| Mei Yamazaki | June 28, 2005 | 19 | Bright Green | Lead vocalist, dancer | Former member of Hello! Pro Kenshuusei | ||
| Rio Sakurai | November 11, 2005 | 19 | June 29, 2022 | 16 | Milk Tea | Vocalist, dancer | |
| Haruka Inoue | May 6, 2006 | 18 | May 23, 2023 | 17 | Mint Green | Vocalist, dancer | |
| Ako Yumigeta | July 8, 2008 | 16 | Red | Lead vocalist, dancer |
* All colour values are approximate
Morning Musume is still a top selling female group. In fact, its sales make it one of the best-selling girl groups in the World today, ranking around 9th - 11th place among girl groups worldwide in recent years. It has new girls and makes singles every few months, plus studio albums about once a year. These singles and studio albums often come in "limited" versions with different cover photos and photo cards or posters included. In addition, there are also many live DVD and Blu-Ray releases, as well as photobooks and DVDs featuring certain members wearing clothes that show off how attractive they are. All the girls from the group appear frequently on TV and Radio. Their TV appearances are in the morning, especially for young people. They also make music videos and perform a lot of concerts in Japan, as well as sometimes performing concerts in other countries. Their music videos also come in different versions most of the time.
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