Morning Musume

Template:Infobox musical artist 2 Morning Musume (モーニング娘。, Mōningu Musume.) is a popular all-girl J-pop group from Japan that often changes its members. It is also known as "Momusu" (モー娘。, Mōmusu.). Their act revolves around singing and dancing to generally upbeat melodies. They are the lead group of the Hello! Project, masterminded by Tsunku, who writes nearly all of their song lyrics and composes nearly all of the melodies for the songs.

'Musume' means daughter or girl, hence the name 'Morning Girls'. They are meant to be the "daughters of Japan". The group is particularly well-known for its shuffled line-up, with "graduations" occurring nearly each year ("retiring" a girl from the group), and holding auditions to add new members. Along with the shuffled line-up are several splinter groups, and Morning Musume often works closely with other Hello! Project acts, including but not limited to Aya Matsuura, Berryz Koubou, Melon Kinenbi, and Country Musume.

History

1998

Promotional picture of "Morning Coffee"

Japanese producer Tsunku started the group in 1997 through a female rock vocalist audition for his band Sharam Q held on the Japanese TV show ASAYAN. The winner of the audition was Heike Michiyo, later to become a soloist part of Hello! Project. Soon afterwards Tsunku decided to form a girl group consisting of five of the runners-up: Yuko Nakazawa, Natsumi Abe, Kaori Iida, Asuka Fukuda, and Aya Ishiguro. They were issued a challenge to sell 50,000 copies of their demo single, "Ai no Tane," within 5 days. They managed the feat in four days in a very grassroots manner, and Tsunku kept on with his mission to create one of the most famous all-girl groups in Japan, giving the girls dance and vocal lessons.

In the beginning of 1998 the girls were ready to start off with their first official single, "Morning Coffee". The success of this single (hitting #6 on the Japanese pop charts) brought them three new members known as the second generation: Kei Yasuda, Mari Yaguchi, and Sayaka Ichii, bringing the total member count to eight. The second single, Summer Night Town, was the first single of the second generation. Their third single, "Daite HOLD ON ME!", hit #1 on the charts. During this time, leader Nakazawa started her solo career.

First Time was released in July 1998, featuring the singles "Ai no Tane" and "Morning Coffee", though there were also tracks by the second generation.

1999

Promotional picture of "LOVE Machine"

1999 kicked off with "Memory Seishun no Hikari", the group's fourth single, failing to hit #1 but managing to hit #2 on Oricon. This was Asuka Fukuda's last single with Morning Musume, making her currently the shortest-lived member of Morning Musume at 2 years. She graduated to focus more on her studies.

This year Tsunku also formed Tanpopo, the first subgroup of Morning Musume, featuring Kaori Iida, Aya Ishiguro, and Mari Yaguchi. Tanpopo touted slower, more mature songs.

"Manatsu no Kousen" was released in May and was a summer type tune. It went to #3 (the sales were halved from Memory Seishun no Hikari); Morning Musume's chart position was visibly lagging at this point in time, only sealing the fact with "Furusato", their fifth single. Furusato was entirely sang by Natsumi Abe, with the other members just doing discreet harmonies. This single was #5, and the sales numbers were once again halved.

Second Morning was released in July 1999, and featured the singles "Daite HOLD ON ME!", "Memory Seishun no Hikari", "Manatsu no Kousen (remix)", and "Furusato". Of these, Daite HOLD ON ME! and Manatsu no Kousen were remixed.

Apparently desperate to add some sort of new life to the group, Tsunku held auditions for the third generation of Morning Musume. Expectations for the third generation audition were to admit two new girls to the group, but ultimately, only one girl was added to the group. That girl was Maki Goto who was thirteen, making her the youngest member of Morning Musume at the time. Finally, Morning Musume's 7th single, "LOVE Machine," sold 1,646,630 copies, making it a hit: it is still their highest selling single to date. It was Maki Goto's first single and Aya Ishiguro's last. The wild success dramatically increased the idol popularity of the group.

This is furthered by placing Goto with Kei Yasuda and Sayaka Ichii to form subgroup Petitmoni (also known as Pucchi Moni). Petitmoni's first single, "Chokotto LOVE", rivaled the success of LOVE Machine, selling over 1,123,610 copies.

2000

File:09 - Happy Summer Wedding.jpg

Promotional picture of "Happy Summer Wedding"

2000 first saw the release of Koi no Dance Site, which once again hit #1 and sold over a million—400,000 copies away from reaching LOVE Machine's success. The group was down to seven members because Ishiguro Aya left the group before the single was released. Her reason for leaving was to marry Shinya, drummer of rock band Luna Sea.

The second event of 2000 was the creation of "shuffle units," in which all members of Tsunku's then 16-member family, Hello! Project, were shuffled around to form three one-time groups: Akagumi 4, Kiiro 5, and Aoiro 7. The idea was to battle for the highest single sales. The highest single sales was achieved by Akagumi 4 which, by no surprise, boasted Maki Goto as the lead vocals.

In March, their third studio album, 3rd-LOVE Paradise- was released. Despite having "LOVE Machine" and "Koi no Dance Site" on its tracklist, it didn't manage to claim the #1 spot, but did sell more than 800,000 copies, making it the highest selling studio album of Morning Musume to date.

This year also brought a new generation search: fourth generation. The fourth generation consisted of Rika Ishikawa, Hitomi Yoshizawa, Nozomi Tsuji, and Ai Kago, giving the group a completely different feel by adding in the young 12-year-old duo of Tsuji and Kago. After their debut single, "Happy Summer Wedding" (continuing the legacy of #1 hits with 990,950 sold), Sayaka Ichii graduated to pursue her own music career. She became vocalist in Japanese group Cubic Cross and later married fellow group member Naoki Yoshizawa, no relation to Hitomi Yoshizawa.

With Ishiguro and Ichii gone, both Tanpopo and Petitmoni updated their membership. Hitomi Yoshizawa joined Petitmoni, and Ai Kago and Rika Ishikawa were added to Tanpopo. Meanwhile, Mari Yaguchi had started performing informally with Ai Kago and Nozomi Tsuji in concerts as Mini Moni, a group tailored towards younger audiences with members all being less than 150 centimeters (about 5 feet) tall. Mika Todd of Coconuts Musume was later added into the group and Tsunku made them official. Their debut single, "Minimoni Jankenpyon!", was a #1 hit.

As an idol group, they were extremely successful, drawing comparisons to the popularity of former girl idol group SPEED. "I WISH" and "Renai Revolution 21" (the last single of Yuko Nakazawa) continued the trend of happy pop songs, becoming a staple hit for the group. Morning Musume also began their tradition of performing in musicals each year, breaking new ground as idols with their hit musical, "LOVE CENTURY".

2001

Promotional picture of "The Peace!"

In 2001 the string of #1 hits has yet to be broken with the release of the single "The Peace!". It was a limited edition single and featured Rika Ishikawa as the center. She had a dialog in the middle of the song, and was featured in the center of the dance and the cover shot.

Group leader Yuko Nakazawa graduated in April 2001 to concentrate more on her solo career (stating her age as a factor as well, she simply couldn't keep up anymore), putting Kaori Iida and Kei Yasuda as Morning Musume's co-leaders. During this time, the popular Rika Ishikawa was "lent" out to the rather dormant group, Country Musume. She didn't officially join, but she sang with them for a short period of time.

At the end of January 2001, the best selling Hello! Project album to date with 2,259,510 copies sold, "Best! Morning Musume 1", was released. It featured 15 tracks, the only original track being "Say Yeah! -Motto Miracle Night-".

At the end of 2001, four new girls joined the group as the fifth generation through the audition "LOVE AUDITION 21": Ai Takahashi, Asami Konno, Makoto Ogawa, and Risa Niigaki, bringing the roster to 13 girls. Although their first single was "Mr.Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~" (done obviously in the style of big band), it featured Hitomi Yoshizawa as the center and main vocalist of the song.

2002

Promotional picture of "Souda! We're ALIVE"

In February, "Souda! We're ALIVE", another hit, was released. It featured Mari Yaguchi as a center and has many different styles in one song.

In July 2002, "Do it! Now" was released. This single finally broke the line of #1 hits and came in at #3. This is a surprising fact to many considering it was Maki Goto's last single.

Morning Musume's fourth studio album, 4th Ikimasshoi! was released in March 2002 after a two year wait. It is the first studio album from the group to reach #1 on Oricon. It featured the singles "Renai Revolution 21" (in a 13-person formation), "The Peace!" (in a 'full', longer version), "Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~" (in a version that had dialog at the beginning), and "Souda! We're ALIVE".

Late 2002 was marked by the graduation of Maki Goto and a mass re-shuffle of the sub-units. Tsunku removed Kaori Iida, Mari Yaguchi, and Ai Kago from Tanpopo, adding in Asami Konno, Risa Niigaki, and Ayumi Shibata of Melon Kinen-Bi to join Rika Ishikawa. Tanpopo only released one single with this line-up before the group was put on an indefinite hiatus status. Makoto Ogawa and Ayaka Kimura of Coconuts Musume joined Hitomi Yoshizawa in Petitmoni to replace Kei Yasuda and Maki Goto, but the group did not even release a single, only performing in concerts. Their song "Wow Wow Wow" was later released on the Hello! Project's compilation CD Petit Best 4. In Mini Moni, Mari Yaguchi was replaced with Ai Takahashi and the new line-up went on to make several singles and a 2nd album until member Mika Todd graduated in May 2004, adding Mini Moni to the "indefinite hiatus" subgroups.

In October "Koko ni Iruzee" was released, which was #1 on Oricon.

2003

Promotional picture of "AS FOR ONE DAY"

The unique child-like tune "Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyoutanjima" was released in February of 2003 as the group's 17th single. This is significant because this song was a cover song, and the first time Tsunku did not write the lyrics.

The notably successful single AS FOR ONE DAY (released in April) sold 129,893 copies and hit #1 in Oricon charts, and was the last time a Morning Musume single got #1 until "Aruiteru" (released late 2006). This single was the last one of Yasuda Kei, which is arguably the reason for its success.

Before the sixth generation auditions were held, the group released the album No.5 (Number Five). It was unique in a few ways. It was the last studio album to feature Kei Yasuda and Natsumi Abe as full members of the group. It is also the first Morning Musume studio album to feature a former member as a returning guest artist, as Maki Goto guests on "Yes! POCKY GIRLS" and "Sotsugyou Rouko". It only featured two singles: "Do it! Now" and "Koko ni Iruzee!".

In mid 2003, three new girls were added as the sixth generation: Eri Kamei, Sayumi Michishige, and Reina Tanaka. After a successful appearance on the New Year's music program "Kōhaku Uta Gassen" with several Morning Musume members dancing as backup, Tsunku also added in Miki Fujimoto (originally an up-and-coming solo singer under Hello! Project) as part of the sixth generation. Their debut concert was also Kei Yasuda's graduation concert, and Tsunku said that this one-time 16-member group is the largest Morning Musume will ever be.

The fourth generation's first single was "Shabondama", which featured "break-up" lyrics (a rarity) and a seemingly spontaneous dance routine. In the song, some of the fourth generation girls rolled their "r"s, leading some to believe that it was how they spoke (later disproved; it was just the style of the song).

Mari Yaguchi became Morning Musume's sub-leader after Kei's graduation and was also put in charge of training and assisting the up and coming group of Hello! Project Kids, eventually forming a group with 5 of them, known as ZYX.

Later in 2003, Morning Musume was split into two subgroups so that it could tour more cities (especially smaller cities that cannot support a 15-member troupe). Morning Musume Sakuragumi, which focused on slower and more traditional love songs, included Natsumi Abe, Mari Yaguchi, Hitomi Yoshizawa, Ai Kago, Ai Takahashi, Risa Niigaki, Asami Konno and Eri Kamei. Morning Musume Otomegumi, which had more upbeat pop songs instead, featured Kaori Iida, Rika Ishikawa, Nozomi Tsuji, Makoto Ogawa, Miki Fujimoto, Sayumi Michishige, and Reina Tanaka. Sakuragumi released two singles: "Hare Ame Nochi Suki" and "Sakura Mankai", and Otomegumi released two singles as well: "Ai no Sono ~Touch my Heart!~" and "Yuujou ~Kokoro no Busu niwa Naranee!~".

The last single of Morning Musume in 2003 to feature the entire group was "Go Girl ~Koi no Victory~" which had a huge lineup.

2004

Promotional picture of "Ai Araba IT'S ALL RIGHT"

In January 2004, Natsumi Abe (known as "the face of Morning Musume" to the general public) graduated to pursue a soloist career. Her last single was "Ai Araba IT'S ALL RIGHT", a song with uplifting lyrics.

The group released another single, "Roman~MY DEAR BOY~". This was followed by followed by their 23rd single, "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari", which is unique in that each member got a little verse about their personality. This song has been remade several times as "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari 2" and "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari 3". This single also marked the graduation of 4th generation Nozomi Tsuji and Ai Kago in August. They graduated to focus on "W (Double U)", their new duo group.

In mid-2004, Morning Musume's second best album, Best! Morning Musume 2 was released and featured YAH! Aishitai as the only new track. It only had a lukewarm reception compared to their first best album.

7th generation auditions (named "Lucky 7" to commemorate the 7th generation, 7th year of Morning Musume, and 7 auditioning locations across Japan) were held in various Japan cities in late 2004, resulting in 6 finalists. However, on January 9, 2005, Tsunku surprised everyone by announcing that no one in the Lucky 7 audition would be added onto Morning Musume, adding that he had set his expectations extra high this year in hopes of finding an "ace". This was the first time he'd ever not picked someone from an audition.

In November 2004, Tsunku released "Namida ga Tomaranai Houkago", which featured the notably weak singers Sayumi Michishige and Asami Konno.

Following this single Morning Musume EARLY SINGLE BOX was released. It was a 9-CD set containing their first eight singles with a bonus track on each one, as well as a karaoke CD of some of their more popular tunes from the early years.

Finally, at the end of 2004, the group's yearly album was released. Their sixth studio album, named Ai no Dai 6 Kan, hit stores in December. It contained three singles: "Roman ~MY DEAR BOY~", "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari", and "Namida ga Tomaranai Houkago". This was Ai Kago, Nozomi Tsuji, Kaori Iida, Mari Yaguchi, and Rika Ishikawa's last credited studio album.

2005

Promotional picture of "Iroppoi Jirettai"

On January 30, 2005 - then-leader and last 1st generation member Kaori Iida graduated to pursue a solo singer/artist career, with Mari Yaguchi taking on leadership role and Hitomi Yoshizawa as subleader. Her last single was "THE Manpower!!!", which was also the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles theme song. The beginning of 2005 also saw the beginning of Musume Document 2005, which covered behind-the-scenes material, historical footage, and interviews.

In February 2005, Tsunku started another audition for Morning Musume's 7th generation. He noted that he was still intent on finding an "ace". This audition resulted with Koharu Kusumi finally being chosen as the sole "miracle" member of the new generation.

On April 10, 2005, photos were taken of Mari Yaguchi with a male actor (scheduled to be published in a gossip magazine "Friday!" on the 15th). On April 14, 2005, Yaguchi announced that she had retired from Morning Musume and would continue on with solo activities. In her public statement, Yaguchi said she could no longer sustain an "idol" image befitting of Morning Musume. Because of the nature of her departure (resignation rather than graduation), Yaguchi did not receive a graduation concert like other former members when they "graduated". Subleader Hitomi Yoshizawa took over as the leader of Morning Musume, and Miki Fujimoto became sub-leader as of July 15, 2005.

Just days after Yaguchi resigned, on April 27, 2005, the group's 26th single, "Osaka Koi no Uta" was released. The final version featured Yaguchi still, presumably because they did not have enough time to rerecord and remix it. The song has features Ai Takahashi, who is from Osaka, and is entirely sang in an Osaka dialect. This single was also Rika Ishikawa's last. She graduated on May 7, 2005 to assume full-time leadership of the Hello! Project trio known as v-u-den.

Kusumi's first single with Morning Musume was "Iroppoi Jirettai", released in July 2005, which was considered to be the biggest hit of the year because it sold around 80,000 compared to the rest of the singles this year, which sold around 60,000. A 3 city handshake event was organized for the promotion of this single.

Morning Musume's last single of 2005 was "Chokkan 2 ~Nogashita Sakana wa Ookiizo!~", which was a remake of a previous album-only song. The B-side, Koi wa Hassou Do The Hustle!, was going to be the title track for the album but got changed and became the coupling track.

On December 31, 2005, graduated Morning Musume members Mari Yaguchi, Kaori Iida, Natsumi Abe, Mari Yaguchi, Yuko Nakazawa, Ai Kago, Nozomi Tsuji, Rika Ishikawa, Maki Goto, and Kei Yasuda joined the current lineup of Morning Musume to perform the band's signature hit "LOVE Machine" on the 2005/2006 edition of Kōhaku Uta Gassen. The performance was Yaguchi's first since leaving Morning Musume eight and a half months earlier.

2006

Promotional picture of "Aruiteru"

On January 16, 2006, it was announced that Morning Musume had won a Kanagawa Image Up Award in recognition of Hello! Project's support of an anti-pollution campaign. Yoshizawa, Fujimoto, and Takahashi represented the band to accept the award.

In February, the group released their 7th studio album, Rainbow 7. It was the first album for Kusumi, and the last for Konno and Ogawa. The album features "THE MANPOWER!!!", "Osaka Koi no Uta", "Iroppoi Jirettai" and "Chokkan 2 ~Nogashita Sakana wa Ookiizo!~" (in a remixed form). Kaori Iida, Rika Ishikawa and Mari Yaguchi are not credited anywhere in the liner notes though their vocals appear. Three of the songs on the album are performed by smaller clusters of several group members, and are credited in the liner notes to the featured members involved, rather than to the entire group.

In March 2006, "SEXY BOY ~Soyo Kaze ni Yorisoutte~" was released. It featured an easy-to-learn dance and a parapara style. It was considered to be a relative success.

On April 28, 2006, it was announced by Tsunku from his official website that 5th Generation members Asami Konno and Makoto Ogawa are going to graduate. Konno graduated on July 23, 2006 to go to University, and Ogawa graduated on August 27, 2006 to study abroad. Both have left Morning Musume, but only Konno has left Hello! Project entirely; Ogawa intends to return to H!P after completing her studies and is still pictured as a soloist on Hello! Project's official website.

Konno and Ogawa's last single was "Ambitious! Yashinteki de Ii Jan", which, yet again, featured a parapara type arrangement. It was the group's 30th single, and a limited edition CD of all past 30 singles mixed into a 10 minute track was included on the first pressing.

In mid-2006, the group performed the musical Ribon no Kishi. Ai Takahashi had the main role, and the secondary role was played by alternating members. There was also a mini concert at the end of each performance, which served as Ogawa's real "graduation concert" because Wonderful Hearts was initially intended for Konno but at the last minute, Ogawa was added. As for Ribon no Kishi, an album with a selection of songs was released: Ribon no Kishi The Musical Song Selection.

Also in mid-2006, the 8th generation audition for Morning Musume was announced by Tsunku, called Morning Musume Happy 8 Audition. The audition started on August 27, 2006 and ended in Tokyo on October 22, 2006. On December 10, 2006's Hello! Morning, it was announced that the only 8th generation member would be Aika Mitsui. The show had a piece of audition footage each week leading up to December 10th.

The last single release of 2006 was "Aruiteru", which was a huge hit. It was the first single at the #1 spot after 3½ years (since "AS FOR ONE DAY"). The song's lyrics were very uplifting, with lines like walking, you're not alone because everyone's here with you, praying for peace. It was a bit of a turn from the parapara type singles the group had been releasing. Tsunku's group, Sharan Q, also made a rock cover of this song.

Their first mini-album, 7.5 Fuyu Fuyu Morning Musume Mini!, was released in December. It featured five tracks by solo and or smaller combinations of band members, the second Morning Musume non-single release since Rainbow 7 to do so. It also featured the single "Aruiteru".

2007

Promotional picture of "Egao YES Nude"

In early 2007, Morning Musume Tanjō 10 Nen Kinentai (モーニング娘。誕生10年記念隊), a unit celebrating Morning Musume's 10th anniversary was made, consisting of Kaori Iida, Natsumi Abe, Maki Goto, Risa Niigaki, and Koharu Kusumi. They will release a commemorative single called Bokura ga Ikiru MY ASIA (僕らが生きる MY ASIA). The members chosen symbolize the grassroots beginning of the group; how they had five members ranging in age from 13 - 24. Additionally, each member was from an odd generation (Kaori Iida and Natsumi Abe from the 1st generation, Maki Goto from the 3rd generation, Risa Niigaki from the 5th generation, and Koharu Kusumi from the 7th generation).

In February, the first single of Aika Mitsui was released, "Egao YES Nude". This was the first PV of Morning Musume to appear on the dohhhup site (a streaming site of Hello! Project media). The single featured tougher competition than Aruiteru, which only landed them a #2 spot although it sold relatively the same amount. The song is reminiscent of the older songs of Morning Musume (first and second generation songs).

On January 2, 2007, an announcement was made during Hello! Project's 2007 winter concert that the group's current leader, Hitomi Yoshizawa will graduate from Morning Musume on May 6, the last day of Morning Musume's 2007 spring tour. The location for that concert is the Saitama Super Arena, where Yoshizawa's hometown is. Miki Fujimoto will take her place as leader and Ai Takahashi will replace Fujimoto as sub-leader.

On March 21, 2007, the group's 8th studio album, SEXY 8 BEAT will be released. It will be the first album for Aika Mitsui and the last album for Hitomi Yoshizawa. It will also contain group songs like the previous two albums, and feature the singles "Aruiteru", "Egao YES Nude", "SEXY BOY ~Soyokaze ni Yorisotte~" and "Ambitious! Yashinteki de Ii Jan".

Members

As of January 2007, the following 9 members are in the group

• Hitomi Yoshizawa (吉澤ひとみ)
• Ai Takahashi (高橋愛)
• Risa Niigaki (新垣里沙)
• Miki Fujimoto (藤本美貴)
• Eri Kamei (亀井絵里)
• Sayumi Michishige (道重さゆみ)
• Reina Tanaka (田中れいな)
• Koharu Kusumi (久住小春)
• Aika Mitsui (光井愛佳)

First generation (1997)

• Yuko Nakazawa (中澤裕子, graduated April 2001) - Nicknamed Yuu-chan
• Kaori Iida (飯田圭織, graduated January 2005) - Nicknamed Kaorin / Johnson
• Aya Ishiguro (石黒彩, graduated January 2000) - Nicknamed Ayappe
• Natsumi Abe (安倍なつみ, graduated January 2004) - Nicknamed Nacchi
• Asuka Fukuda (福田明日香, graduated April 1999) - No nickname

Second generation (1998)

• Kei Yasuda (保田圭, graduated May 2003) - Nicknamed Kei-chan
• Mari Yaguchi (矢口真里, "retired" April 14, 2005) - Nicknamed Marippe
• Sayaka Ichii (市井紗耶香, graduated May 2000) - Nicknamed Ichii-chan / Ka-san

Third generation (1999)

• Maki Goto (後藤真希, graduated September 2002) - Nicknamed Gocchin

Fourth generation (2000)

• Rika Ishikawa (石川梨華, graduated May 2005) - Nicknamed Charmy
• Hitomi Yoshizawa (吉澤ひとみ, will graduate in May 2007) - Nicknamed Yossui
• Nozomi Tsuji (辻希美, graduated August 2004) - Nicknamed Nono
• Ai Kago (加護亜依, graduated August 2004) - Nicknamed Aibon

Fifth generation (2001)

• Ai Takahashi (高橋愛) - Nicknamed Ai-chan, Takitty, Tettekete
• Asami Konno (紺野あさ美, graduated July 2006) - Nicknamed Konkon
• Makoto Ogawa (小川麻琴, graduated August 2006) - Nicknamed Mako
• Risa Niigaki (新垣里沙) - Nicknamed Gaki-san

Sixth generation (2003)

• Miki Fujimoto (藤本美貴) - Nicknamed Mikitty
• Eri Kamei (亀井絵里) - Nicknamed Eririn or Kame-chan
• Sayumi Michishige (道重さゆみ) - Nicknamed Sayumin or Sayu
• Reina Tanaka (田中れいな) - Nicknamed Tanakacchi (by chiefly Risa Niigaki)

Seventh generation (2005)

• Koharu Kusumi (久住小春) - Nicknamed Miracle-chan

Eighth generation (2006)

• Aika Mitsui (光井愛佳) - Nicknamed Mittsī

Group Leader

A member of Morning Musume - usually the oldest member of the band according to Hello! Project tradition - is appointed as the group's leader. The next oldest in the generation is appointed sub-leader. Here are the list of the leaders in chronological order:

• 1st - Yuko Nakazawa (Formation - April, 2001)
• 2nd - Kaori Iida and Kei Yasuda (May, 2001 - May, 2003)
• 3rd - Kaori Iida, subleader: Mari Yaguchi (May, 2003 - January, 2005)
• 4th - Mari Yaguchi, subleader: Hitomi Yoshizawa (February, 2005 - April 14, 2005)
• 5th - Hitomi Yoshizawa, subleader: Miki Fujimoto (April 15, 2005 - May 6, 2007) Current
• 6th - Miki Fujimoto, subleader: Ai Takahashi (May 7, 2007 - Onwards)

Milestones

• Oricon Singles CD Chart #1 ranking: 12 times
• Exceeded 10 Million CD sales with their 19th single Shabondama
• Oricon Music DVD #1 ranking: 10 times
• Kōhaku Uta Gassen (紅白歌合戦) youngest participant: 12 year old Ai Kago (51st Kōhaku - 2000)
• Oricon - Only female group to release 32 consecutive single that have ranked in the top 10.
• Oricon - All of their singles except for the first, Morning Coffee, have ranked in the top 5.
• Oricon - First female group to release singles ranked in the top 10 for ten consecutive years.

Auditions

Morning Musume Tsuika Audition (2nd Generation Audition)

• Application Requirements: Not specified
• Total Applicants: 5,000
• Broadcasted on ASAYAN in 1998
• No training camp and theme song
• Result: Kei Yasuda, Mari Yaguchi, and Sayaka Ichii passed the audition.

Morning Musume 2nd Tsuika Audition (3rd Generation Audition)

• Application Requirements: Female, minimum of 7th grade student
• Total Applicants: 11,000
• Broadcasted on ASAYAN in 1999
• Training camp, theme song: "Summer Night Town" (Morning Musume's 2nd single)
• Kumi Koda (倖田來未) participated in this audition.
• Result: Maki Goto passed the audition.

Morning Musume 3rd Tsuika Audition (4th Generation Audition)

• Application Requirements: Female, minimum of 7th grade student
• Total Applicants: 25,000
• Broadcasted on ASAYAN in 2000
• Training camp, theme song: "Akai Nikkichou" (Akagumi 4's single)
• Miki Fujimoto, and Mai Satoda (里田まい) participated in this audition
• Result: Rika Ishikawa, Ai Kago, Nozomi Tsuji, and Hitomi Yoshizawa joined Morning Musume.

Morning Musume Love Audition 21 (5th Generation Audition)

• Application Requirements: Female, minimum of 7th grade student
• Total Applicants: 25,827
• Broadcasted on muSix! in 2001
• Training camp, theme song: "LOVE Namida Iro" (Aya Matsuura's 3rd single)
• Result: Asami Konno, Risa Niigaki, Makoto Ogawa, and Ai Takahashi passed the audition.

Morning Musume Love Audition 2002 (6th Generation Audition)

• Application Requirements: Female, 7th-12th grade
• Application Song: "Do it! Now"
• Total Applicants: 12,417
• Broadcasted on muSix! in 2002
• Training camp, theme song: "Akai Freesia" (Melon Kinenbi's 8th single)
• Result: Eri Kamei, Sayumi Michishige, Reina Tanaka passed the audition.

Morning Musume Lucky 7 Audition (7th Generation Audition)

• Application Requirements: Female, minimum of 9th grade and under 20 years of age
• Application Song theme: A capella
• Total Applicants: N/A
• Training camp and theme song: "Haru no Uta" (from Morning Musume's 6th album, Ai no Dai 6 Kan)
• Broadcasted on Hello! Morning starting September, 2004. Audition result aired on January 9, 2005
• Result: NO ADDITIONAL MEMBERS

Morning Musume Audition 2005 (7th Generation Audition)

• Application Requirements: Female, minimum of 9th grade and under 22 years of age
• Total Applicants: 21,611
• No training camp and theme song
• Broadcasted on Hello! Morning starting February 9, 2005. Audition result aired on May 1, 2005
• Result: Koharu Kusumi passed the audition.

Morning Musume Happy 8 Ki Audition (8th Generation Audition)

• Application Requirements: Female, Junior High or under the age of 21
• Total Applicants: 6,883
• Training camp and theme song: Ambitious! Yashinteki de Ii Jan (dance) and Aruiteru (voice training) (Morning Musume's 30th and 31st single)
• Broadcasted on Hello! Morning starting September 2006. Audition result aired on December 10, 2006.
• Result: Aika Mitsui passed the audition.

Discography

See Morning Musume discography.

Appearances

See Morning Musume appearances.

Subgroups

Not to be mistaken with shuffles units or other separate groups of Hello! Project.

• Tanpopo
• Petitmoni
• Minimoni

Splinter Groups

• Morning Musume Sakura Gumi
• Morning Musume Otome Gumi

External links

• HelloProject.com Official Site
• ThePPN:Morning Musume
• Ikimasshoi News
• Hello!Online Morning Musume & H!P NewsFeeds

Miscellaneous resources

• NHK紅白歌合戦 (Kōhaku Uta Gassen) entry at Japanese Wikipedia
• オリコン (Oricon) entry at Japanese Wikipedia