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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 since then been used to represent all female recording artists at Up-Front Promotion. Until 2014, their songs were primarily produced by Tsunku. Hello! Project's main acts consist of Morning Musume, Angerme, Juice=Juice, Camellia Factory, Beyooooonds, Ocha Norma and Rosy Chronicle. Notable acts in the past associated with Hello! Project include Aya Matsuura, Maki Goto, Mini-Moni, W, Melon Kinenbi, Berryz Kobo, Cute, Country Girls and Magnolia Factory. Artists Yuko Nakazawa was Hello! Project's leader from April 15, 2001 to March 31, 2009. Ai Takahashi became the group's leader from April 1, 2009 to September 30, 2011. Risa Niigaki then became the leader from October 1, 2011 to May 18, 2012. After her departure, Sayumi Michish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 held the longest tenure of any member in the group's history even after her graduation. She went on to hold this record until surpassed by ninth-generation members Mizuki Fukumura and Erina Ikuta in December 2022. Michishige was born in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. She joined Morning Musume in 2003 along with Eri Kamei, Miki Fujimoto, and Reina Tanaka, who all debuted with Morning Musume on the group's nineteenth single, " Shabondama". In 2005, she was assigned as mentor to seventh-generation member Koharu Kusumi, until Kusumi left the group in December 2009. Michishige was also a member of the Hello! Project unit Ecomoni, along with former Morning Musume member Rika Ishikawa. During her term in Morning Musume, she portrays a visual-focused ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Up-Front Promotion
is a Japanese holding company for various entertainment companies. Its subsidiaries include the talent agency Up-Front Promotion and Up-Front Works, a music production and sales company that manages such record labels as Zetima, Piccolo Town, and Hachama. Artists Up-Front Promotion All groups under Up-Front Promotion are collectively known as Hello! Project. Groups * Morning Musume * Angerme * Juice=Juice * Camellia Factory * Beyooooonds ** Chica#Tetsu ** Rain Forest River Ocean ** SeasoningS * Ocha Norma * Rosy Chronicle Soloists/Entertainers * Sayumi Michishige * Chinami Tokunaga * Risako Sugaya Trainees * Hello Pro Kenshūsei Up-Front Works Groups * Bitter & Sweet * Brothers 5 * Dream Morning Musume * Sharam Q * Up Up Girls Kakko Kari Soloists/Entertainers * Ai Takahashi * Airi Suzuki * Akira Inaba * Akira Kagawa * Chisato Moritaka * Chisato Okai * Eric Fukusaki * Erina Mano * Gen Takayama * Hirofumi Bannba * Jirou Sugita * Junko Yanagisawa * Kan * Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morning Musume
, formerly and commonly known as and colloquially referred to as , is 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, having 64 of them. Morning Musume was formed in 1997 by rock singer-songwriter turned record producer Tsunku, who later composed the vast majority of the group's songs over the decade. They are the lead group of Hello! Project that specialises in upbeat, pop-oriented music coupled with dance performance. The group produced several splinter groups, and often collaborates with other Hello! Project acts, including Country Musume, Berryz Kobo, Cute (Japanese idol group), Cute, Melon Kinenbi, and V-u-den. The group's name can be translated as "Morning Girls" or "Morning Daughters"; it consists of members mostly in their late adolescence and early 20s. History 1997-1998: Formation and beginnings Japanese producer Tsunku started ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most populous urban areas in the world. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of six neighboring Prefectures of Japan, prefectures, is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, with 41 million residents . Lying at the head of Tokyo Bay, Tokyo is part of the Kantō region, on the central coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island. It is Japan's economic center and the seat of the Government of Japan, Japanese government and the Emperor of Japan. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government administers Tokyo's central Special wards of Tokyo, 23 special wards, which formerly made up Tokyo City; various commuter towns and suburbs in Western Tokyo, its western area; and two outlying island chains, the Tokyo Islands. Although most of the w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yuko Nakazawa
is a Japanese pop and enka singer, and actress, best known as one of the original members of the all-female J-pop group Morning Musume. She is also a member of Japanese pop group Dream Morning Musume. Biography Yuko Nakazawa was born in Kyoto Prefecture. She was one of five runners-up in a 1997 talent contest for a new Japanese pop idol. After the contest, musician and producer Tsunku offered Nakazawa and the four other runners-up (Natsumi Abe, Kaori Iida, Aya Ishiguro, and Asuka Fukuda) the chance to be taken under his wing under one condition: they must sell 50,000 CDs of their debut song " Ai no Tane" with five days of live promotion. The quintet accomplished that task in four and thus Morning Musume was born. The group has since grown increasingly popular, it maintains a "school-like" system for their continuous line-up changes, with older members "graduating" and new, usually younger, members selected from nationwide auditions admitted to the group almost annually. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berryz Kobo
was a Japanese idol girl group formed by Up-Front Promotion in 2004 and associated with Hello! Project. The group's members consisted of Hello! Project Kids members Saki Shimizu, Momoko Tsugunaga, Miyabi Natsuyaki, Chinami Tokunaga, Maasa Sudo, Yurina Kumai, and Risako Sugaya; Maiha Ishimura left the group in 2005. Berryz Kobo debuted with their first single in March of the same year. In 2007, Berryz Kobo became the youngest act ever to give a solo concert at Saitama Super Arena. In 2008, the group received the Best Asian Newcomer Award at the Asia Song Festival and a Cable Music Award at the 41st Japan Cable Awards ceremony. As of December 2014, the group had released 36 singles, nine studio albums, one EP and one compilation album. Berryz Kobo's combined CD and DVD sales exceeded one million copies in Japan alone. History 2002–2003: Hello! Project Kids All of the group's members were initially selected during the audition for Hello! Project Kids in 2002 a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cute (Japanese Idol Group)
, was a Japanese girl group associated with Hello! Project and produced by Tsunku. Cute consisted of Maimi Yajima, Saki Nakajima (singer), Saki Nakajima, Airi Suzuki, Chisato Okai, and Mai Hagiwara, who were all members of Hello! Project Kids prior to the group's formation. The original member line-up also consisted of fellow Hello! Project Kids members Megumi Murakami and Erika Umeda, as well as Kanna Arihara (a member of Hello Pro Kenshusei, Hello Pro Egg, Hello! Project's trainee group), prior to their departure. After releasing a string of independent hits, Cute made its major label, major debut in 2007 with "Sakura Chirari" and that year won the Japan Record Award for Best New Artist. In 2008, the group was nominated for the main Japan Record Award, the Grand Prix, its song being named one of the year's best songs. All of the group's major label, major-label single (music), singles debuted in the top 10 of the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. History 2002–2004: Formation an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Country Girls (band)
was a Japanese female idol music group that is a part of Hello! Project. On November 5, 2014, Country Musume was rebooted and renamed with new members.『カントリー娘。』改め『カントリー・ガールズ』について " (in Japanese). November 5, 2014. History Country Musume era Country Musume was formed in 1999 and was termed as "Country Girls from ." The initial group consisted of native members of Hokkaidō, Rinne Toda, Azusa Kobayashi, and Hiromi Yanagihara. Before the release of their first ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnolia Factory
was a Japanese girl Japanese idol, idol group, formed by Up Front Group under the umbrella of Hello! Project in January 2015. The group was initially composed of eight girls who were members of Hello Pro Kenshusei. Their sister group was Camellia Factory. They disbanded on March 30, 2020. History 2015-2016: Formation and debut On January 2, 2015, during the Hello! Project 2015 Winter concert series, it was announced that a new unit consisting of Rio Fujii, Ayaka Hirose, Minami Nomura, Rena Ogawa, Ayano Hamaura, Natsumi Taguchi, Sakurako Wada, and Rei Inoue, was formed. On February 25, Up Front Group announced that the name of the new unit would be Magnolia Factory. On March 8, it was announced that the leader and the sub-leader of the unit were determined as Ayaka Hirose and Rio Fujii respectively. On September 2, the group released their debut single, "Dosukoi! Kenkyo ni Daitan / Rāmen Daisuki Koizumi-san no Uta / Nen ni wa Nen (Nen'iri Ver.)". On November 20, it was announce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Risa Niigaki
is a Japanese actress and singer. She was a fifth-generation member of the Japanese pop group Morning Musume. She joined Morning Musume in 2001 along with 3 others- Ai Takahashi, Asami Konno and Makoto Ogawa. She grew up in Yokohama after moving there at the age of six. She was one of the longest serving members of Morning Musume, and was the leader of the group from October 2011 to her graduation on May 18, 2012. Biography History Niigaki was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa. She was the runner-up for the 'Kiss Girl Audition' in becoming the Tomy image girl before joining Morning Musume. She appeared with the winner Ai Hasegawa in a Tomy Karaoke Machine commercial. In 2001, Niigaki joined Morning Musume as the fifth generation along with Ai Takahashi, Asami Konno, and Makoto Ogawa. Morning Musume producer Tsunku said he chose Niigaki because she "shined during the final studio recording" for the audition song that all the finalists had to sing. She debuted and lead on the gro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ai Takahashi
(born September 14, 1986) is a Japanese singer and actress formerly associated with the Hello! Project and is best known as the leader of Morning Musume and Hello! Project until 2011. She is also a former member of its popular subgroup Mini Moni. Biography Morning Musume career (2001–2011) In 2001, Ai Takahashi joined the Japanese idol group ''Morning Musume'' as part of the group's fifth generation of performers, along with Makoto Ogawa, Asami Konno, and Risa Niigaki. Her audition involved a three-day training camp where participants were expected to learn a new song, a dance routine and a script. Takahashi was one of nine applicants selected out of 25,000 for the camp. Her debut with the group was on their single " Mr. Moonlight: Ai no Big Band", and her first appearance on a Morning Musume full-length release was their fourth studio album, ''4th Ikimasshoi!''. Her first appearance within a Hello! Project shuffle unit release was on the 2002 single "Shiawase Beam! Su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
