, is a Japanese actress and model associated with Hello! Project and best known as a former member of the pop group

Morning Musume , formerly simply and colloquially referred to as , are a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon, Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top ten singles ...

. She was the leader of the Japanese pop idol trio v-u-den until June 2008. She has performed as a solo singer, as a member of the Japanese pop idol group Ongaku Gatas, in the pop duo Hangry & Angry as Angry, and as a current member of Dream Morning Musume.

Biography

Career

Rika Ishikawa was born on January 19, 1985, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. Ishikawa joined

as a fourth generation member along with

Hitomi Yoshizawa is a Japanese former singer and actress. In 2000, Yoshizawa debuted as a 4th generation member of the idol girl group Morning Musume and became their leader in 2005 until leaving the group in 2007. Following her departure, Yoshizawa continued to ...

Nozomi Tsuji , known professionally by her birth name (born June 17, 1987) is a Japanese media personality, singer, and blogger. In 2000, she began her career as a singer for Japanese girl band Morning Musume. Tsuji later found success with related groups ...

, and

Ai Kago is a Japanese actress and former singer. In 2000, Kago debuted as a 4th generation member of the idol girl group Morning Musume. During her time in the group, she was also part of Mini-Moni and other Hello! Project sub-groups. In 2004, Kago de ...

, and made her debut in 2000 along with the rest of the fourth generation on the band's tenth single, " Happy Summer Wedding". In 2001, simultaneously with her Morning Musume obligations, Ishikawa became a featured member of the then-semi-dormant Hello! Project pop group Country Musume and a second-generation member of Morning Musume's first subgroup,

Tanpopo was a sub-group of the Japanese idol girl group Morning Musume and associated with Hello! Project. It was formed by Up-Front Promotion in November 1998 as Morning Musume's first sub-group. While the main group Morning Musume features predomin ...

. She also participated in her first shuffle group, 3-nin Matsuri, with fellow Morning Musume/Tanpopo member

and solo singer

Aya Matsuura is a Japanese actress and pop singer, from Himeji, Hyogo, Japan. Career 2000–2009: Hello! Project Aya auditioned in 2000 for the fourth Morning Musume & Heike Michiyo Protegee Audition and was selected along with Sheki-Dol to become a part o ...

(previously, she had acted as a replacement member in the 2000 shuffle group Aoiro 7). One of Ishikawa's most referenced vocal parts during her Morning Musume days was a frantic spoken-word piece in the middle eight of their 2003 single " Shabondama". She also performed a spoken-word piece at the end of the song "

The Peace! is the twelfth single of J-pop idol group Morning Musume and was released July 25, 2001. It sold a total of 682,320 copies and reached number one on the Oricon Charts. This song is also a personal favorite of ex-Morning Musume member, Rika Ishika ...

", which she has said was one of her favorite Morning Musume moments. In September 2004, her new trio, v-u-den, released their debut single. She graduated from Morning Musume on May 7, 2005, and after five singles, v-u-den finally released their debut album, '' Suiteroom Number 1'', in November 2005. Ishikawa has starred in a Hamtaro movie with her

Ecomoni is a Japanese musical collective consisting of all female recording artists and groups under Up-Front Promotion, a subsidiary of Up-Front Group. The name was initially used as Michiyo Heike and Morning Musume's fan club name in 1999, but has ...

partner,

Sayumi Michishige is a Japanese singer, actress and model. She is a former sixth-generation member and former leader of the J-pop group Morning Musume. Following the departure of fifth-generation member Risa Niigaki on October 12, 2013, Michishige has the long ...

, and soloist

. She was a Pocky Girl (for Morning Musume's

Pocky is a Japanese sweet snack food produced by the Ezaki Glico food company. Pocky was first sold in 1966, and was invented by Yoshiaki Koma. It consists of coated biscuit sticks. It was named after the Japanese onomatopoeic word , which is suppos ...

commercial), and also plays for Gatas Brilhantes H.P. Ishikawa graduated from Morning Musume on the last day of the Morning Musume Concert Tour 2005 Haru ~Dai 6 Kan Hit Mankai!~, on May 7, 2005. During this concert, 7th generation member Kusumi Koharu was officially introduced into Morning Musume and replaced her spot. After her graduation, she replaced Nakazawa Yuko as the host of Hello!Morning till it ended in 2007. Ishikawa starred in Sukeban Deka: Codename = Asamiya Saki, the fourth live-action adaptation film of Sukeban Deka opposite Aya Matsuura, released September 30, 2006. In line with Mari Yaguchi's involvement in the Japanese 2007 adaptation of the popular 1955

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

play, "

Damn Yankees ''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., dur ...

", Rika will be double cast with fellow 4th Generation ex-Morning Musume member,

, in in 2007 at the Nissei Theatre in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and the

Osaka City Center is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2.7 ...

. In mid-2007, Ishikawa joined the Japanese idol group Ongaku Gatas along with fellow members of Gatas Brilhantes H.P.. On October 12, 2008, it was announced that she is paired up with fellow ex-Morning Musume member

in the new unit Hangry & Angry in collaboration with a

Harajuku is a district in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Harajuku is the common name given to a geographic area spreading from Harajuku Station to Omotesando, corresponding on official maps of Shibuya ward as Jingūmae 1 chōme to 4 chōme. In popular refere ...

fashion store of the same name. Hangry & Angry will be making their first United States performance at Sakura-Con in Seattle, Washington in April 2009. It was announced on October 19, 2008, on the official Hello!Project website, that Ishikawa will graduate from Hello! Project along with the rest of Elder Club on March 31, 2009. Ishikawa joined the newly formed group, "Dream Morning Musume" in 2010 alongside other former Morning Musume members. On January 1, 2010, Ishikawa opened up an official blog.

Personal life

On March 13, 2017, she married a professional baseball player, Ryoma Nogami and has also announced her pregnancy with her first child. She gave birth to a baby boy sometime in late April 2018.

Groups

Hello! Project

* Ongaku Gatas (2007 – present) *

(2004 – present) * v-u-den (2004 – June 2008) *

DEF.DIVA Def.Diva (often stylized as DEF.DIVA) was a "special group" formed in 2005 from the Hello! Project idol umbrella, and consisted of Aya Matsuura, Maki Goto, Natsumi Abe and Rika Ishikawa. The band's name is an abbreviation of the phrase "Defin ...

(2005–2006) *

(2000–2005) ** Morning Musume Otomegumi (2003–2004) *

(2000–2003) * Country Musume ni Ishikawa Rika (Morning Musume) (2001–2003) *

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

(2003) * Shuffle Groups ** 3-nin Matsuri (2001) ** Sexy 8 (2002) ** 7Air (2003) ** H.P. All Stars (2004)

Non-Hello! Project

* Hangry & Angry (2008 – present) * Dream Morning Musume (2011–present) * Abcho (2012–present)

Releases

Photobooks

DVDs

Acts

Television

Radio

Movies

* 2000 – Pinch Runner * 2002 – Tokkaekko * 2003 – Koinu Dan no Monogatari * 2003 – 17sai ~Tabidachi no Futari~ * 2004 – Tottoko Hamtaro Hamu Hamu Hapa Radaicho! * 2006 –

Yo-Yo Girl Cop ''Yo-Yo Girl Cop'', known in Japan as is a 2006 Japanese live-action feature film, the third to be based on the manga ''Sukeban Deka'', directed by Kenta Fukasaku. The film stars Aya Matsuura in the lead role of Saki Asamiya and Rika Ishikawa as ...

Commercials

* Eeruseeme * 2003 – J Beef "Oniku Suki Suki"

References

External links

Official blog

Profile
at UP-FRONT AGENCY (archived on 18 October 2004)
Official Hangry & Angry website
(archived on 8 February 2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ishikawa, Rika 1985 births 7Air members Country Musume members Def.Diva members Japanese women pop singers Japanese child singers Japanese female models Japanese female idols Dream Morning Musume members Living people Morning Musume members People from Yokosuka, Kanagawa Tanpopo members V-u-den members Japanese stage actresses Japanese radio personalities Musicians from Kanagawa Prefecture