Morning Musume

Morning Musume
モーニング娘。
Morning Musume ; モーニング娘。
	Morning Musume in 2016
Background information
Also known as	Momusu; 早安少女組。
Origin	Tokyo, Honshū, Japan
Genres	J-pop
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Zetima
Members	Erina Ikuta; Sakura Oda; Miki Nonaka; Maria Makino; Akane Haga; Reina Yokoyama; Rio Kitagawa; Homare Okamura; Mei Yamazaki; Rio Sakurai; Haruka Inoue; Ako Yumigeta
Past member(s)	Ayumi Ishida; Mizuki Fukumura; Kaede Kaga; Chisaki Morito; Masaki Satou; Haruna Iikubo; Haruna Ogata; Haruka Kudo; Kanon Suzuki; Riho Sayashi; Sayumi Michishige; Reina Tanaka; Ai Takahashi; Aika Mitsui; Risa Niigaki; Junjun; Linlin; Eri Kamei; Koharu Kusumi; Miki Fujimoto; Hitomi Yoshizawa; Makoto Ogawa; Asami Konno; Mari Yaguchi; Rika Ishikawa; Kaori Iida; Ai Kago; Nozomi Tsuji; Natsumi Abe; Kei Yasuda; Maki Goto; Yuko Nakazawa; Sayaka Ichii; Aya Ishiguro; Asuka Fukuda
Website	Hello! Project Japanese Official Website; Hello! Project Chinese Official Website

Morning Musume (モーニング娘。, Mōningu Musume.) is a Japanese girl group. They are what is known as an "idol group", although they have distanced themselves from the "idol" stereotype (unlike the idols, they can dance and sing well). Most of their songs are happy songs with upbeat music, but they have sad and angry songs too. The group can also be called Momusu (モー娘。, Mōmusu.). They are the most important group in the Hello! Project company. The group is managed by Tsunku, who writes all the lyrics and most of the music the songs, and even produces them. They were the best-selling female group in Japan for several years, but their sales dropped quite a lot later on, perhaps due to the loss of certain popular members, or because of decisions made by Tsunku or someone else at Hello! Project or their management company Up-Front Works. In the past couple of years, however, they have regained some of their popularity in Japan, and they have also gained more foreign fans.

History

In late 1997, in Japan, a male singer-songwriter called Tsunku, held a contest to find a girl to be the lead singer of the band Sharam Q, which he was the frontman of. A lot of young girls came to the contest, and some of them became finalists. There is where Tsunku came up with the idea of making a girl group. This new group was called Morning Musume (Morning Daughters). The group was formed by Kaori Iida, Yuko Nakazawa, Asuka Fukuda, Aya Ishiguro and Natsumi Abe. They became known as the "First Generation" of the group. There have now been twelve of these "Generations". Most of these "Generations" have a few members. But the Third, Seventh, Twelfth and Sixteenth Generations only had one member each.

From the start, the songs performed by these girls sold well. They became very famous in Japan (their fame later reached other countries too, thanks to their fans on the World Wide Web), and Tsunku formed other small groups inspired by Morning Musume. He created Hello!Project to hold them all.

Over time, when the girls become older and mature, they usually graduate from the group (but they can be kicked out for not behaving in the way that idols are supposed to behave). After that, they usually become soloists or models. New girls apply for a spot in the group whenever auditions are held. Thousands of girls apply, but very few make it in.

Members

Current members

Name	Birth date	Age	Join date	Generation	Member colour*	Position	Notes
Erina Ikuta	July 7, 1997	27	January 2, 2011	9	Yellow Green	Leader, vocalist, lead dancer, lead rapper	Former child model
Sakura Oda	March 12, 1999	25	September 14, 2012	11	Lavender	Sub Leader, Main vocalist, lead dancer	Former member of Hello! Pro Kenshuusei Currently the best at singing
Miki Nonaka	October 7, 1999	25	September 30, 2014	12	Purple	Sub Leader, Main vocalist, dancer
Maria Makino	February 2, 2001	24			Pink	Visual, lead dancer, vocalist, center	Former member of Hello! Pro Kenshuusei
Akane Haga	March 7, 2002	23			Orange	Vocalist, dancer	Former member of Hello! Pro Kenshuusei
Reina Yokoyama	February 22, 2001	24	December 12, 2016	13	Golden Yellow	Vocalist, dancer	Former member of Hello! Pro Kenshuusei
Rio Kitagawa	March 16, 2004	20	June 22, 2019	15	Sea Blue	Lead vocalist, dancer
Homare Okamura	May 9, 2005	19			Daisy	Lead dancer, vocalist	Former child model and actress
Mei Yamazaki	June 28, 2005	19			Bright Green	Lead vocalist, dancer	Former member of Hello! Pro Kenshuusei
Rio Sakurai	November 11, 2005	19	June 29, 2022	16	Milk Tea	Vocalist, dancer
Haruka Inoue	May 6, 2006	18	May 23, 2023	17	Mint Green	Vocalist, dancer
Ako Yumigeta	July 8, 2008	16	May 23, 2023	17	Red	Lead vocalist, dancer

* All colour values are approximate

Former members

First generation (1997)

Yuko Nakazawa (中澤裕子, graduated April 15, 2001)
Aya Ishiguro (石黒彩, graduated January 7, 2000)
Kaori Iida (飯田圭織, graduated January 30, 2005)
Natsumi Abe (安倍なつみ, graduated January 25, 2004)
Asuka Fukuda (福田明日香, graduated April 18, 1999)

Second generation (1998)

Kei Yasuda (保田圭, graduated May 5, 2003)
Mari Yaguchi (矢口真里, left April 14, 2005)
Sayaka Ichii (市井紗耶香, graduated May 21, 2000)

Third generation (1999)

Maki Goto (後藤真希, graduated September 23, 2002)

Fourth generation (2000)

Rika Ishikawa (石川梨華, graduated May 7, 2005)
Hitomi Yoshizawa (吉澤ひとみ, graduated May 6, 2007)
Nozomi Tsuji (辻希美, graduated August 1, 2004)
Ai Kago (加護亜依, graduated August 1, 2004)

Fifth generation (2001)

Ai Takahashi (高橋愛, graduated September 30, 2011)
Asami Konno (紺野あさ美, graduated July 23, 2006)
Makoto Ogawa (小川麻琴, graduated August 27, 2006)
Risa Niigaki (新垣里沙, graduated May 18, 2012)

Sixth generation (2003)

Miki Fujimoto (藤本美貴, left June 1, 2007)
Eri Kamei (亀井絵里, graduated December 15, 2010)
Sayumi Michishige (道重さゆみ, graduated November 26, 2014)
Reina Tanaka (田中れいな, graduated May 21, 2013)

Seventh generation (2005)

Koharu Kusumi (久住小春, graduated December 6, 2009)

Eighth generation (2006/2007)

Aika Mitsui (光井愛佳, graduated May 18, 2012)
Jun Jun (ジュンジュン, graduated December 15, 2010)
Lin Lin (リンリン, graduated December 15, 2010)

Ninth generation (2011)

Mizuki Fukumura (譜久村聖, graduated November 29, 2023)
Riho Sayashi (鞘師里保, graduated December 31, 2015)
Kanon Suzuki (鈴木香音, graduated May 31, 2016)

Tenth generation (2011)

Haruna Iikubo (飯窪春菜, graduated December 16, 2018)
Ayumi Ishida (石田亜佑美, graduated December 1, 2024)
Masaki Sato (佐藤優樹, graduated December 12, 2021)
Haruka Kudo (工藤遥, graduated December 11, 2017)

Twelfth generation (2014)

Haruna Ogata (尾形春水, graduated June 20, 2018)

Thirteenth generation (2016)

Kaede Kaga (加賀楓, graduated December 10, 2022)

Fourteenth generation (2017)

Chisaki Morito (森戸知沙, graduated June 23, 2022)

Morning Musume today

Morning Musume is still a top selling female group. In fact, its sales make it one of the best-selling girl groups in the World today, ranking around 9th - 11th place among girl groups worldwide in recent years. It has new girls and makes singles every few months, plus studio albums about once a year. These singles and studio albums often come in "limited" versions with different cover photos and photo cards or posters included. In addition, there are also many live DVD and Blu-Ray releases, as well as photobooks and DVDs featuring certain members wearing clothes that show off how attractive they are. All the girls from the group appear frequently on TV and Radio. Their TV appearances are in the morning, especially for young people. They also make music videos and perform a lot of concerts in Japan, as well as sometimes performing concerts in other countries. Their music videos also come in different versions most of the time.