|
Hello!Project
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 Michishi ... [...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] |
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] |
Maki Goto
is a Japanese singer, lyricist, and former actress. Born and raised in Edogawa, Tokyo, Goto began her musical career in 1999 when she joined Morning Musume as the only third generation member. Her first single with the group, "Love Machine (Morning Musume song), Love Machine", topped the Oricon singles charts and sold over a million copies. Goto was the lead vocalist of the group up until her graduation from the group in 2002. While still a member of Morning Musume, Goto released her debut solo single, "Ai no Bakayarō", in 2001, which topped the Oricon charts. In 2003 she released her debut album, ''Makking Gold 1'', which debuted at number four on the Oricon album charts. In 2007, at her ''G-Emotion II: How to Use Sexy'' concert, Goto announced that she was graduating from Hello! Project. In 2008, Goto signed with Avex Group sub-label Rhythm Zone and returned to the music scene at A-nation, A-nation '08. In 2009, under the stage name Sweet Black feat. Maki Goto, she released ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
W (group)
W was a Japanese duo formed in 2004 by Up-Front Promotion and associated with Hello! Project. The members consisted of Nozomi Tsuji and Ai Kago, former 4th generation members of the Japanese idol, idol girl group Morning Musume. Tsuji and Kago had previously achieved fame through being in the group and the sub-group Mini-Moni. W's formation was announced at the same time as Tsuji and Kago's planned departure from Morning Musume. Prior to their official departure, they debuted with several cover versions of songs, including their debut single, "Koi no Vacance" (2004) and their first album, ''Duo U&U'' (2004). After leaving Morning Musume, W released their first original song, "Aa Ii na!" (2004), followed by "Robo Kiss" (2004). In 2005, W starred in their first musical, ''Mysterious Girl Detectives Cara & Mel: The Case of the Stolen Dangerous Violin'' (2005). They reprised the roles of their characters with the release of "Miss Love Tantei" (2005). In 2006, W's activities were ha ... [...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] |
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] |
Beyooooonds
, is a Japanese idol girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ... that formed in October 2018. They released their debut single, "Megane no Otoko no Ko / Nippon no D・N・A! / Go Waist", on August 7, 2019. History 2018: Formation On October 19, 2018, Beyooooonds was formed. The group is formed of three units, "Chica#Tetsu" led by Reina Ichioka, "" led by Kurumi Takase and "SeasoningS" led by Miyo Hirai. 2019–2020: Debut and ''Beyooooond1st'' On April 30, 2019, the group's major debut was announced for August 7, 2019. They released their debut triple A-side single, ", on August 7, as previously announced. They released their first album, '' Beyooooond1st'', on November 27. The group's first solo tour was held from December 2–17, 2019, with three performances ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ayaka Wada
is a Japanese singer and idol signed to YU-M Entertainment. She was a first generation member and the leader of Angerme as well as the leader of Hello! Project. * Biography Wada joined Hello! Project as a member of Hello! Pro Egg in June 2004. Wada continued her training and appeared at numerous Hello! Project group concerts as a backing dancer, including the Country Musume concert ''Country Musume Live 2006: Shibuya des Date''. In November 2007, Wada received a part in the musical ''Reverse! Watashi no karada doko desu ka?''. In 2008, Wada was chosen as one of the four members of the new Hello! Pro Egg unit Shugo Chara Egg! alongside Yuuka Maeda, Kanon Fukuda, and Akari Saho. On 4 April 2009, Wada was selected to debut in the Hello! Project group S/mileage along with Yuuka Maeda, Kanon Fukuda, and Saki Ogawa and was named the leader of the group. S/mileage members, including Wada, then left Hello! Pro Egg and Shugo Chara Egg! to focus on their new group activi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maimi Yajima
is a Japanese singer and actress. She was a member and the leader of Cute, a girl idol group within Hello! Project. Career Yajima first joined Hello! Project in 2002 as one of the fifteen children chosen from the Hello! Project Kids auditions after performing " Momoiro Kataomoi" by Aya Matsuura. She debuted the same year in the movie '' Koinu Dan no Monogatari'', taking on one of the main roles as an antagonist. The following year, she joined the first of the kids' groups, ZYX, which released two singles. In 2004, Berryz Kobo was formed, with the intention of rotating the girls throughout the unit. Yajima did not make the original pick, and the idea was eventually dropped. The remaining girls eventually ended up forming Cute in 2005. Despite not being the oldest, Yajima still became the group's leader, after Erika Umeda turned down the role. The group did not make its official debut until late in 2006, with their first official single released in February 2007. Aside ... [...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] |
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ... and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc. was originally set up as a subsidiary of Original Confidence and took over the latter's Oricon record charts in April 2002. The charts are compiled from data drawn from some 39,700 retail outlets () and provide sales rankings of music CDs, DVDs, electronic games, and other entertainment products based on weekly tabulations. Results are announced every Tuesday and published in ''Oricon Style'' by subsidiary Oricon ... [...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] |
