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Kaori Iida
is a Japanese pop singer and actress, associated with Hello! Project and best known as a founding member of the girl band Morning Musume. She has also recorded with the Morning Musume side project band Tanpopo and is currently a solo artist. During her time in the group, she was the tallest member (168 cm), earning her the nickname "Kaorin" & "Kao-tan". She is currently a member of Dream Morning Musume. Biography Kaori Iida was born in Hokkaidō. She was one of 10 runners-up in a 1997 talent contest for a new Japanese rock idol. After the contest, musician and producer Tsunku offered Iida and four of the other runners-up ( Natsumi Abe, Yuko Nakazawa, Aya Ishiguro, and Asuka Fukuda) the chance to be taken under his wing on one condition: that they sell 50,000 CDs of their song "Ai no Tane" in 5 days. The quintet accomplished that task in four and, thus, in 1997, Morning Musume was born (and their first official single "Morning Coffee" was released in 1998). The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hokkaido
is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The largest city on Hokkaido is its capital, Sapporo, which is also its only cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, ordinance-designated city. Sakhalin lies about to the north of Hokkaidō, and to the east and northeast are the Kuril Islands, which are administered by Russia, though the four most southerly are Kuril Islands dispute, claimed by Japan. The position of the island on the northern end of the archipelago results in a colder climate, with the island seeing significant snowfall each winter. Despite the harsher climate, it serves as an agricultural breadbasket for many crops. Hokkaido was formerly known as ''Ezo'', ''Yezo'', ''Yeso'', or ''Yes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Pop
J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in traditional music of Japan, and significantly in 1960s in music, 1960s pop music, pop and rock music. J-pop replaced ''kayōkyoku'' ("Lyric Singing Music"), a term for Japanese popular music from the 1920s to the 1980s in the Japanese music scene. Japanese rock bands such as Happy End (band), Happy End fused the Beatles and Beach Boys-style rock with Japanese music in the 1960s1970s. J-pop was further defined by New wave music, new wave and Crossover music, crossover Jazz fusion, fusion acts of the late 1970s, such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Southern All Stars. () Popular styles of Japanese pop music include city pop and technopop during the 1970s1980s, and Eurobeat#J-Euro, J-Euro (such as Namie Amuro) and Shibuya-kei during the 1990s and 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enka
is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, popular during the Interwar period, prewar years. Modern ''enka'', as developed in the postwar era, is a form of Sentimental ballad, sentimental ballad music. Some of the first modern ''enka'' singers were Hachiro Kasuga, Michiya Mihashi, and Hideo Murata. The revival of ''enka'' in its modern form is said to date from 1969, when Keiko Fuji made her debut. The most famous male ''enka'' singers are Shinichi Mori and Kiyoshi Hikawa. Etymology The term ''enka'' was first used to refer to political texts set to music which were sung and distributed by opposition activists belonging to the Freedom and People's Rights Movement during the Meiji period (1868–1912) as a means of bypassing government curbs on speeches of political dissent – and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minimoni
was a sub-unit of the Japanese idol girl groups Morning Musume and Coconuts Musume. It was formed by Up-Front Promotion in 2000 and associated with Hello! Project. The group was founded by Morning Musume members Mari Yaguchi, Nozomi Tsuji, and Ai Kago, with Coconuts Musume member Mika later added as a member. After Yaguchi's departure in 2002, Morning Musume member Ai Takahashi was added into the group. Throughout their career, Mini-Moni appeared in media aimed at children, having two animated series from 2001 to 2002, variety shows, as well as a 2002 film based on their stage personas titled ''Mini-Moni the Movie: Okashi na Daibōken!''. In addition to that, they also appeared in several ''Hamtaro'' movies, performing the theme songs under the name . The group later disbanded in 2004, after Todd left Hello! Project and Tsuji and Kago left Morning Musume to debut in W (duo), W. In 2009, Mini-Moni was revived as a Hello! Project Shuffle Unit and concert-only unit under the name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Petitmoni
was a sub-unit of the Japanese idol girl group Morning Musume and associated with Hello! Project. It was formed by Up-Front Promotion in November 1999 as the second sub-group of Morning Musume. Members First generation * Kei Yasuda * Sayaka Ichii * Maki Goto Second generation * Kei Yasuda (Leader) * Maki Goto * Hitomi Yoshizawa Third generation * Hitomi Yoshizawa (Leader) * Makoto Ogawa * Ayaka Kimura (from Coconuts Musume) Legacy In 2009, Petit Moni was revived as a Hello! Project Shuffle Unit under the name . Its new lineup consisted of Cute members Saki Nakajima and Mai Hagiwara; and Erina Mano is a Japanese idol singer and actress formerly associated with Hello! Project. She joined in 2006 as a member of Hello Pro Egg, as a trainee. In 2007, she became a member of the Hello! Project futsal team Gatas Brilhantes H.P. and its musical .... The "V" in its name is for "victory." The group released songs for Hello! Project's compilation albums ''Champ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rika Ishikawa
, is a Japanese actress and model associated with Hello! Project and best known as a former member of the pop group Morning Musume. 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 member of Dream Morning Musume. Biography Career Rika Ishikawa was born on January 19, 1985, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. Ishikawa joined Morning Musume as a fourth generation member along with Hitomi Yoshizawa, Nozomi Tsuji, and Ai Kago, 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 Hello! Project pop group Country Musume and a second-generation member of Morning Musume's first subgroup, Tanpopo. She also participated in her first shuffle grou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ai Kago
is a Japanese actress and 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 departed from Morning Musume and became part of the duo W with Nozomi Tsuji. In 2006, Kago was suspended from her agency for underage smoking and subsequently dismissed in 2007, forcing her to leave W and Hello! Project. In 2008, she returned to entertainment as an actress, appearing in '' Kung Fu Chefs'' (2009), '' Ju-On: Black Ghost'' (2009), and '' Battle of Demons'' (2009). In 2009, Kago returned to music as well, releasing her debut solo single, "No Hesitation" (2009), followed by her jazz album, ''Ai Kago Meets Jazz'' (2010). She also formed her own girl group, Girls Beat!!, in 2013, of which she remained a member until 2016. Career 2000–2004: Morning Musume and Mini-Moni At age 12, Kago won the 4th National Audition of Morning Mus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mari Yaguchi
is a Japanese singer, actress, and television personality. She joined the girl group Morning Musume in 1998 as a second generation member and was the leader of subgroups within Hello! Project, such as Mini-Moni, Morning Musume Sakuragumi, and ZYX (pop group), ZYX. After leaving Morning Musume in 2005, Yaguchi has continued to appear on television in dramas and variety shows. Career 1998-2005: Morning Musume Yaguchi became a member of Japanese idol girl group Morning Musume during the second generation auditions in 1998. In 1998, she also became a member of Tanpopo, one of Morning Musume's sub-groups. During her time with Morning Musume, her solo line "Sexy Beam" from their 2000 single "Koi no Dance Site" became a media phenomenon and became closely associated with her. In late 2000, Yaguchi founded Mini-Moni, a sub-group of Morning Musume and Coconuts Musume featuring members who are 150 cms. and shorter, as their leader. She left the group in 2002 after the release of ''Mini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asuka Fukuda
(born December 17, 1984) is a Japanese pop singer, and she was a member of Japanese girl group Morning Musume from 1997 until April 18, 1999. Her only album with the group is the 1998 release '' First Time''. She was the first ever Hello! Project member to graduate. Overview In 1997, Fukuda joined Morning Musume along with Yuko Nakazawa, Aya Ishiguro, Natsumi Abe, and Kaori Iida. Although she was the youngest member at that time, she was the first to graduate in April 1999. Her last single with Morning Musume was Memory Seishun no Hikari. In 2005, she was working as an assistant at her father's nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ... "Philippine" in Tokyo. On November 9, 2011, her long-awaited comeback album ''Double Fantasy'', as a part of Peacestone, wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aya Ishiguro
This page consists of all current and former members of the Japanese girl group Morning Musume. The group is known for their ever-fluctuating line-up, with "graduations" and auditions held nearly every year. Current members 9th generation (2011) * (Will graduate in July 8, 2025) 11th generation (2012) * 12th generation (2014) * * * 13th generation (2016) * 15th generation (2019) * (Hiatus) * * 16th generation (2022) * 17th generation (2023) * * Former members 1st generation (1997) * Yuko Nakazawa * Aya Ishiguro * Kaori Iida * Natsumi Abe * Asuka Fukuda 2nd generation (1998) * Kei Yasuda * Mari Yaguchi * Sayaka Ichii 3rd generation (1999) * Maki Goto 4th generation (2000) * Rika Ishikawa * Hitomi Yoshizawa * Nozomi Tsuji * Ai Kago 5th generation (2001) * Ai Takahashi * Asami Konno * Makoto Ogawa * Risa Niigaki 6th generation (2003) * Miki Fujimoto * Eri Kamei * Sayumi Michishige * Reina Tanaka 7th generatio ... [...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] |
Natsumi Abe
is a Japanese singer and actress, a former member of Morning Musume, and a member of Dream Morning Musume. Biography She was born in Muroran, Hokkaidō, Japan. Career On August 13, 2003, she released her first single, "22 Sai no Watashi," which means "Me, 22 years old," just a few days after her 22nd birthday. Her first full-length album, ''Hitoribotchi'', was then released on February 4, 2004, containing many solo versions of Morning Musume songs. In August 2005, her fifth single, "Koi no Hana," which means "Flower of Love," was released, and she also became a member of the Hello! Project special unit Def.Diva together with Maki Goto, Rika Ishikawa and Aya Matsuura in October. The single "Takaramono" was also released in November credited as "Sen", who is the main character of the drama "Takaramono", played by Abe. In the spring of 2006, Abe released a new single, "Sweet Holic", together with a new album, "2nd ~Shimiwataru Omoi~". June 2006 saw Abe release " The Stres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
