Kue Chans Journey of Discovery

yay we are onto the 6th gen! (to be honest i really cant wait till this is over... i might even get lazy enough to just copy and paste the rest of the profiles from wikipedia and just add photos and videos... *considers*... thats a good idea...)
All credit for the next profiles go to wikipedia authors! Thank you for your time in building these readily avaliable profiles to us all!

FUJIMOTO MIKI or mikitty

Fujimoto was originally part of the group of finalists in the fourth generation Morning Musume auditions that resulted in the induction of Ishikawa Rika, Yoshizawa Hitomi, Kago Ai, and Tsuji Nozomi. While not selected at that time, in early 2001 Fujimoto was contacted again and offered a chance to debut as a solo artist. After training for a little more than a year, she made her solo debut with her first single, "Aenai Nagai Nichiyoubi." According to her Morning Musume x Tsunku 2 interview, she worked as a receptionist at Hello! Project's agency, UP-FRONT WORKS, during her training period.

In 2002, Tsunku pooled Fujimoto along with two other Hello! Project soloists, Goto Maki (a former Morning Musume member) and Matsuura Aya, to form Gomattou. The group released one single.

After a successful performance on the Kouhaku Utagassen New Year's Eve music program, Tsunku made the surprise announcement in 2003 to add Fujimoto to Morning Musume as a part of the sixth generation, sidelining her solo career indefinitely. Fujimoto gradually became one of the main vocals of the singles. Later that same year, she was added to the Country Musume roster along with Konno Asami, going on to release three singles as a part of the group.

Fujimoto was added to the futsal team Gatas Brilhantes H.P. in February 2004.

When Yaguchi Mari abruptly resigned from the group in April 2005, Fujimoto became the subleader of Morning Musume, supporting Yoshizawa Hitomi as the new leader.

In June 2006, it was announced that Fujimoto would form a new unit called GAM along with Matsuura Aya. GAM released three singles over the coming months, and then their first album in May 2007. A concert tour began on May 26th, 2007.

On May 6th, 2007, Yoshizawa Hitomi graduated from Morning Musume and Fujimoto Miki became the new leader with Takahashi Ai taking her former place as subleader.

On May 25th, 2007, Fujimoto was revealed in Friday magazine to have been dating a boyfriend, Shouji Tomoharu, who is part of comedy duo Shinagawa Shouji. Fujimoto herself confirmed that the story is true in a radio interview within days of the story breaking. As a result, on June 1st, Fujimoto, following in the footsteps of Yaguchi Mari, quit Morning Musume. She will remain in Hello! Project as a solo artist. She continued to perform in GAM with Matsuura Aya on their 1st tour, but for now it seems that both GAM and her solo career are on hold. She did not perform in July's Hello! Project concert tour, and will not perform in January's Hello! Project tour either.

http://wiki.theppn.org/Fujimoto_Miki

SAYUMI MICHISHIGE or sayumin

Sayumi Michishige officially became a 6th generation member of the J-pop group Morning Musume, along with Eri Kamei, Miki Fujimoto and Reina Tanaka, on January 19, 2003, when the results of the Love Audition 2002 were made public. Just a few weeks later, she was placed in Morning Musume Otomegumi subgroup, when the group was temporarily divided so it could perform in smaller towns, thereby reaching out to a greater number of fans who couldn't otherwise have the privilege of watching them perform live. During the spring she—along with the rest of the sixth generation members—made her first concert appearance on the Morning Musume Concert Tour 2003 Spring "Non Stop!" during Yasuda Kei's graduation.

On July 16, 2003, the 6th generation members (with the exception of Miki Fujimoto) released their first photobook and corresponding DVD, both shot in Hawaii and part of the Alo Hello! (アロハロ!, Alo Hello!^?) series. Their musical debut came shortly thereafter, on July 30, with Morning Musume's 19th single Shabondama (シャボン玉, Shabondama^?). Although Michishige didn't get many solo lines in the song, one of those instances—in which she shouts "Shabondama"—did get her some attention on TV shows. Towards the end of 2003 Michishige began appearing in the show Revelations of M (Mの黙示録, M no Mokushiroku^?), as a regular with ex-Morning Musume member Yuko Nakazawa.

2004 saw her first appearance on an album, Best! Morning Musume 2, and in a movie—"Star Sand Island, My Island - Island Dreamin'" (星砂の島、私の島－～Island Dreamin'～, Hoshisuna no Shima, Watashi no Shima - Island Dreamin'^?). During the summer Michishige appeared in her first solo photobook and formed a temporary group called Ecomoni together with 4th Generation Morning Musume member Rika Ishikawa. Originally, the goal of the group was to promote environmental awareness only for the duration of the "Cool Down the Hot Earth" (熱っちぃ地球を冷ますんだ, Atchii Chikyū wo Samasunda^?) festival, but their popularity led to the members of the group being cast as voice actors for the fourth Hamtaro movie—along with Hello! Project soloist Aya Matsuura, with whom they also released the main theme for the film, entitled Tensai! Let's Go Ayayamu (天才！Let's Go あややム, Genius! Let's Go Ayayamu^?)—and appear in subsequent festivals.

In 2005 she and Rika Ishikawa released a duo photobook called Angels (エンジェルズ, Angels^?). Though it has been called an Ecomoni photobook because both members appear in it, officially Angels has nothing to do with the unit. Michishige also appeared as a regular news anchor in the Japanese variety show Hello! Morning for most of the second half of 2005. That same year she was assigned to be a mentor to 7th generation member Koharu Kusumi, with whom she formed a duo called Rainbow Pink in the beginning of 2006. Introducing themselves as "Shige-pink" and "Koha-pink", the group was featured on Morning Musume's 7th album, Rainbow 7 (レインボー7, Rainbow 7^?), with the song Rainbow Pink (レインボーピンク, Rainbow Pink^?), and subsequently on the 7.5 Fuyu Fuyu Morning Musume Mini! (7.5冬冬モーニング娘。ミニ!, 7.5 Fuyu Fuyu Morning Musume Mini!^?) and Sexy 8 Beat albums, with Wa~Merry Pin Xmas! (わ～MerryピンXmas!, Wa~Merry Pin Xmas!^?) and Takara no Hako (宝の箱, Treasure Box^?), respectively. Michishige is also a member of Hello! Project's kickball team, Metro Rabbits H.P..

Following in fellow Morning Musume member Miki Fujimoto's footsteps, Michishige began hosting a radio show entitled "Hypernight - Michishige Sayumi Konya mo Usa-chan Peace" (ハイパーナイト モーニング娘。道重さゆみの今夜も♥うさちゃんピース, "Hypernight - Michishige Sayumi Konya mo Usa-chan Peace"^?) in October 2006. Running approximately 30 minutes per episode, Michishige's show consists of her answering fan mail and participating in several games, among which saying a given phrase/expression in reverse, and giving general advice to her listeners.

In early December 2006 it was announced Michishige would be given a second solo photobook, entitled Longing (憧憬, Doukei^?), released shortly thereafter on January 15, 2007. Shot in Okinawa, the book featured school uniform, swimsuit, simple one-piece and even wet yukata/bathrobe shots, in an attempt to convey a more mature image of the seventeen year old idol.

^{Michishige has also starred in "Bow30°" (「おじぎ30度」, "Bow30°"?), an original internet drama created for the purpose of advertising the Family Restaurant chain Gusto (ガスト, Gusto?), as Ruruka Chī (地井ルルカ, Ruruka Chī?), a novice waitress training under the supervision of her seniors Karin Kinoshita (木下花梨, Karin Kinoshita?) (played by Morning Musume's Ai Takahashi) and Mika Mochizuki (望月深華, Mika Mochizuki?) (Reiko Tokita).}

^{The first semester of 2007 remained rather uneventful for Michishige, though, starting the second week of June (on June 9, 2007), she began co-hosting the Young Town radio show as a result of Miki Fujimoto's Friday magazine scandal and subsequent resignation from Morning Musume. Shortly thereafter she released her first Love Hello photobook and DVD, both shot in the island of Guam.}

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayumi_Michishige}

^{Miki performing taisetsu live}

^{Sayumi dancing}

I'm sooooo sorry. I haven't written this blog for such a long time but i got caught up with school and such... as usual. Anyway, its holidays now so i have plenty of time to write my last few entries on the members. After their profiles i plan on taking it easy and writing articles on carious jpop happenings! Yay. I can't wait.

MAKOTO OGAWA or makocchan

Makoto Ogawa is no longer a part of our beloved morning musume unlike Niigaki and Takahashi also of the 5th Generation - She is currently studying english (as far as we know) in my home country, New Zealand. Too bad i haven't had the chance to get her autograph, NZ isn't as small as you may think.

Makoto was born on the 29th of October 1987 in Kashiwazaki, Niigata, Japan. She auditioned for the 2001 Love Audition 21. She breezed through the auditions according to comments from Tsunku where he named her as a greatly skilled danced and shining performer. This could be attributed to her pre-mm experiences at the entertainment school Apple Little Performers (ALP) in Niigata. She had already released a CD prior to joining mm in support of the Albirex Niigata soccer team. She had also done a small amount of advertising and modelling but as to the rules of MM auditions she was not attached to any other company.

Ogawa was often partnered up with Asami Konno (see below) but was most known for her ongoing "relationship" with Yoshizawa Hitomi of the 4th Generation. These two acted like a comedy pair often referring to their suspect activities which seemed most likened to a married couple. They were also combined in the Hello! Morning theatre skits.

Ogawa was placed in several side groups like most other mm members - Salt5, Otomi Gumi, Petitmoni (with yossui although they didn't get to release their own single) and was also a member of Gatas Brilliantes and the Metro Rabbits.

Ogawa graduated on August the 27th at the last performance of the 2006 musical performed by mm and friends, Ribon no Kishi.

Currently most dedicated fans are eagerly awaiting her return to H!P as a solo artist as her profile on the H!P website remains untouched and with no details as to when or how she will make a come back. I know i can't wait to see what she has to offer as a solo artist.



KONNO ASAMI or konkon

Much like my return to this blog Konno has just returned to H!P to perform for Gatas Brilliantes in their newly formed group Ongaku Gatas. She has also performed recently for the H!P programme Uta Doki where old songs are sung by various H!P artists. In this she has proven her standing as a singer in her own right, not just as a mm member (well atleast i think so).

Most came to know Konno as the spaced out, quiet and intelligent member of morning musume especially after the Mecha-Mecha Iketeru programme where all of Morning Musume took high school exams. Konkon ended up in first place ahead of her seniors like 1st generation Kaori and 2nd gen Yaguchi.

Konno has been a part of many extra-H!P-curricular events and groups such as her placing as the lead role in the mm annual play Morning Town. She was placed in Tanpopo with Niigaki in which they released only one single which i suppose is slightly better off then the at the time newly formed Pucchimoni. She also became an active member of country musume for 3 singles along with Miki Fujimoto of the 6th Gen. In 2003 she became an original member of the H!P Gatas Brilliantes soccer team where she and Tsuji Nozomi of the 4th Gen played as goalies.

Konno decided to graduate in order to focus more on her university studies which is before she was accepted at one of Japans highest standing private universities, Keio University. On July 23 2006 Konno graduated from Morning Musume. However less then a year later (June 18 2007) H!P announced that Asami Konno would be rejoining H!P to help out Gatas Brilliantes in Ongaku Gatas. It seems that she has found a way to manage both a difficult study load and the pressure of being a idol.

My last statement on Asami has to be that people need to stop saying that konno has a "weak" voice. She has over the years crafted her voice into a unique and outstanding tone which people should appreciate more (my sources were thoroughly annoying me with that!).


Yomako moment ^-^


3rd Gen Pucchimoni singing WOW WOW WOW


Konno Singing Totsuzen on Uta Doki!


Konkon and Makocchans Graduation comments on H!M

I've now decided that it may be easier for me to group members in to two or three. The set up for the rest of the momusu articles will be: Ai takahashi with Risa Nigaki, Makoto Ogawa with Asami Konno, Miki Fujimoto with Sayumi Michishige, Eri Kamei with Reina Tanaka, and then Koharu Kusumi with the new Mitsui Aika.

Lets hope i can keep to it!

AI TAKAHASHI or ai-chan

We all know Ai for her fantastic voice and reasonable acting skills. Tsunku is constantly putting her in the spotlight of concerts and other H!P activities (that is apart from the recent 10th anniversary group "Morning Musume Tanjo 10-nen Kinentai" - a mystery?).

In 2001 along with Risa, Makoto and Asami, Ai became a member of Morning Musume. This generation, although less publicised, released some of the most loved songs by fans in Momusu's history with songs like koko ni iruzee and Shabondama. This generation leveled MM up to 16 members until Kei Yasuda graduated a short while after leaving them with 15. With so many buzzing personalities you were always guarenteed for a great performance when seeing this group.

Ai's career really sky-rocketed in 2003 when she replaced Mari Yaguchi in Mini Moni one of the most popular MM sub-groups. Unfortunatly it wasn't quite as great a group as it had been with Mari but maintained its popularity amoung fans for a while until Mika Todd of Coconuts Musume left to persue music studies in America. The group is still on Hiatus.

She was placed in Sakura Gumi along with such members as Ai kago and Abe Natsumi and in 2004 she recorded a duet with tsunku himself. But, it was in 2005 with the release of The Manpower! that Ai really got a main part in Momusu. She took the co-lead vocals and was from here on destined for a great career with plenty of attension.

Reasonably recently (2006 ^-^) she found her way into the main part of the Musical Ribbon no Kishi, based on the Manga by Tezuka Osamu. Tsunku then decided to make H!P a part of the production giving Morning Musume and V-u-den all parts with Aya Matsuura, Tsuji Nozomi and Abe Natsumi all taking guest appearances. This Stage show was highly advertised and has now been subbed for your pleasure (the gaijins out there!) and can be found on both veoh.com and youtube.com. You can also download it from Hello-online.org.

Following Hitomi Yoshizawa's graduation Ai will take the position of deputy leader in Miki Fujimoto.




RISA NIIGAKI or gaki-san

Risa's quirky personality and subtle looks give her an advantage over the other momusu members (or atleast i think so), she seems more geniune and you tend never to get angry at her - although she doesnt have the same high density fan base as some of the other girls (no idea why!).

Risa actually has a great voice which has only recently been publicly shown off when Tsunku placed her in the new Morning Musume Tanjo 10-nen Kinentai.

Risa was also placed in a sub-group, Tanpopo (which unfortunatly couldn't stand in H!P for much longer after she joined) and along with Ai could be found in Sakura Gumi.

She has had several Photobooks (1 group and 2 solos) and participated in Ribbon no Kishi as a minor part.

Like the other members she has been seen on many television shows and heard on plenty of radio shows as well as having her own segments but it seems as if her movements have been small, BUT have all been noticable ones.

I have no prediction for her future only to hope she will always remain as great as she is and hope that as the years go on Tsunku provides her with more and more opportunities to shine!

My videos for this article:
Bokura My Asia by Morning Musume Tanjo 10-nen Kinentai

Risa's Best of Japan Interview
http://www.veoh.com/videos/e130261ESGJ3Q2Y?searchId=2658440730896645130&rank=6

Ai Takahashi Doing Osaka Koi No Uta live
http://www.veoh.com/videos/e1412823rAyXYmQ?searchId=1739425005352921856&rank=3

Ai Takahashi - Yume Kara Samete

sorry this was so long awaited! ^-^'

I decided to do these two together since i couldnt find a way to split them without mentioning the other one.

Enjoy

W or double you

Currently double you is under hiatus while Kago Ai spends time suspended for being caught smoking in public (in japan it is illegal to smoke when you are under 20).

The leader is Tsuji Nozomi being the eldest of the two. It was destined for these best friends to make a group after they graduated from Morning Musume. When they joined in 2000 they were labeled by fans and co-members as the twins because of their physical similarities and later we found their personalities were quite similar too.

Being the youngest ever members of morning musume (at the age of 12) they were also labeled the trouble-makers. They were often pulling pranks on show hosts or other mm members and had many a joke to share when they had a chance. They are known for their funny faces and their random shinanagins.

Both were also rather talented in making impressions of various people and things. Tsuji took out the best impressions while Kago was also rather good. Tsuji is able to pull of an udo face as her most famous impression (shes also rather good at imitating a chicken).

At the Mechaike Bakajo Contest to see who was the dumbest morning musume member Kago and Tsuji were placed last with Nonno getting the Bakajo Label.

It seems that whatever group these two join has great success with Morning Musume having their best period while they were members and their involvement in Mini moni making it one of the most famous H!P groups (which is also on hiatus due to the 2nd leader Mika Todd leaving to study music in her home-country America). W was also doing extremely well up until the situation with Kago.



TSUJI NOZOMI or nono

Tsuji is Currently being kept busy as a sort of tag  along member of Hello! Project. She has her own T.V. show "Curious Nono" and is constantly on "hello! morning" also. She has just released her very own PB "Nonno 19". But we are yet to see her in a solo singing career (which is good news... i think).

Nono is well known for the hairstyle of a high-bun and her heavy white eyeliner underneath her eyes. This is a look that was coming in just before Kagos suspension and has been increased since. She also wears a "curious nono" t-shirt with overall-shorts in denim.

We see less and less of Nozomis Hilarious personality as time goes on without Kago. Its sad not to be amused by a performance from the comedians of H!P, W.

KAGO AI or aibon

Last week was the anniversary of her suspension and also a few days before that it was her birthday.

Tsuji and Kago had everything going for them but what made Kago take up smoking in the first place? Some say it was her fathers influence as he himself is a smoker and others say it was the stress she was under. Both of these suggestions seem viable but i think the most important thing is not the reason for her smoking but the reason for Tsunku holding her off for so long. This is a mystery to even the most fanatical fans. Most say that Tsunku is just trying to set an example but then it becomes confusing when you think about all the money he is wasting in doing it as Tsunku is a rather keen and clever business man. I'm sure he will surprise us one day with her return ( i hope).

There have been recent sightings of Kago but these are stalker photos which i do not support, i'd rather she had time to herself then the paparatzi hanging around  her but we can't stop the media now can we?

(that was so hard to pick out pictures... i have over 1000 )

now for the videos:
MINI CONCERT of W songs
http://www.veoh.com/videos/e148575bsnm2Yxm

Tsuji Doing a cover of Ayas song Ne~e
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v2170085pFMPzf9

Kago with Da Di Du De Do Da Di from the best shot DVD
http://www.veoh.com/videos/e1154398yGXYAdH

HITOMI YOSHIZAWA or yossui

As with Rika, Hitomi made her debut in "happy summer wedding" in 2000 which was Morning Musumes 10th single.

As time went on fans grew to love Hitomi as the cute girl turned tomboy. Her voice is deeper when singing then most of the other members so it was easier for her to take on male roles. In "Mr.Moonlight" (2001) Hitomi played the main part doing various calls and acted in a boyish character. Hitomi has always been rather funny and plays to the atmosphere around her for example on utaban she tends to make more jokes and be more open then when shes on hello! morning shows (well thats what i see).

Hitomi was also a member of Petit Moni/Pucchi Moni (whatever you want to call it). I found she gave it a lot of character and was often given lines that were spoken. Unfortunatly when the others graduated from morning musume (maki goto and kei yasuda) Yossui was placed with the new generation (as mentioned in previous article) but it didn't have the same dynamics as the last combination so sadly was denied an album.

When, in 2005, Mari Yaguchi made a sudden decision to quit morning musume it was up to Yoshizawa to take on the role of leader. Yossui fit well into this mature position taking it in her stride. It was obvious that Yossui was a born leader (or i like to think so). After years of Iida's strong leadership it was time for a new era which unfortunatly is about to end because of her graduation in May at the 2007 Spring tour in Saitama.

Hitomi was also given another leadership role before she became leader of MM; being placed as the captain of Gatas Brilhantes H!P, a hello! project soccer (football) team. With her tomboyish appearance and personality this position fit her well.

After Yossui's graduation plans have been made for her to take on a solo career but i wonder if her voice is strong enough by itself to take this on. Personally I'd like to see her team up with some other girls to form another H!P group as i love seeing her interact and perform with others by her side. I hope she doesn't lose her performing "spark". By this i mean her quirky and witty remarks among other things.

As i have mentioned in a special post Yossuis brother was killed in an accident involving his bike and some vehicles. Yossui then made the decision to perform on the day of her brothers memorial. Does this not prove to you her leadership and strength? Yossui is such a good idol ^-^


I'm sorry but once again there are links to follow if you want to see the videos i found:
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v200698mMmAkQaJ
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v200698mMmAkQaJ

I call it the "super-gen" (stupid name i know) because this is obviously the most successful and most loved generation in all of morning musume history so far. Consisting of Ai Kago, Nozomi Tsuji, Rika Ishikawa and Hitomi Yoshizawa this generation is full of character.
By the way - go here if you havn't already : www.feedofpop.com
RIKA ISHIKAWA or charmy

Along with the rest of the 4th generation in 2000 Rika made her debut in Morning Musume with the single "Happy Summer Wedding".

When tsunku realised how much fans loved Rikas cute, clumsy and attractive personality he decided to put her into some sub-groups including Country Musume (where she released Hajimete no Happy Birthday) and Tanpopo. Though Rikas voice was not out-standing her appearance was and that is partly why she did so well later on. She was put into the 3-nin matsuri with matsuura aya and kago ai as part of the shuffle group project set up by tsunku. Other then being in these sub-groups her part in morning musume was very little.

It was only when Rika left morning musume in 2005 that she began to do well. In 2004 she had begun to lead her very own group called Vi-yu-den. She also picked up the position as host of Hello! Morning from Abe Natsumi. Vi-yu-den has done extremely well since releasing several singles. They try to give a "sexy"er feel to their movements and singing.

She was also placed in DEF.DIVA a group for "ultimate" singers. But in an Eric Kamezo episode (part of hello!morning) Rika was told she was out of place in an "ultimate" singers group.

I feel i must be the last to make a comment on this incident but for those who dont know Yoshizawa Hitomi of Morning Musumes brother (at only 16years old) died in a traffic accident. He was riding his bike and a car hit him unfortunitly doctors could not save him.

My heart followed by millions of other hearts of yossui's fans go to her and her family right now.

Just a quick other note, i am saddened by the media response... an article shows a close up of road on the blood, supposedly her brothers blood. No one needs to see that.

GOTO MAKI or gomaki or gottsuan

Goto Maki became Tsunku's favourite member after she was accepted in Morning Musume in 1999. She was an instant star and became the idol of many. At the age of 13 (though the other members were surprised at her age 1. because they had never worked with someone so young and 2. because her dye job and physical attributes made her seem older.)

She was given lead solos in almost all of Morning Musumes songs and in 2001 started her very own solo career which she is still working on presently. She took part in many hello! project sub-groups such as Petit Moni and DEF.DIVA. Her first single was called "Ai no Bakayarou". In 2002 she graduated from Morning Musume to persue her solo career with her full attension in working as a soloist of H!P with tsunku.

She has participated in many concerts and is regularly found in the acting business doing some television show or another. Currently she has 16 singles under her belt and 4 albums. Her last single was "Some Boys! Touch" (doesn't tsunku! love putting! exclamation marks in weird! places?!)

Goto's fans are mainly perverted business men and foreigners (as with most H!P artists these days). She was also well known for being utabans host, Takaki's favourite (I'm not saying he's perverted... i love utaban).


For some reason livejournal doesnt want to use its spiffy new embeded video tool so the link is once again here for you to follow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa8kGQ5qX9c

PERSONAL NOTE

So this means i'm up to almost everyones favourite generation (the 4th) i'll try to pack it with tons of pictures and videos as well as plenty of information. ^-^

I decided to finnish off the 2nd generation today. Yesterday i thought no lets have a rest but i think it will be better if i get it over and done with. Who knows you may see the 3rd generation done tomorrow and i might be onto the 4th by friday!

MARI YAGUCHI or marippe

Mari started off with the other two in the 2nd generation and became the most outgoing and most active members ever to be in morning musume. She was also the shortest. Mari's presonality and physical traits made her the most noticable member at the time. She then had her hair dyed blond making her a total individual. Tsunku, i believe, noticed this and gave her quite a lot of freedom.

Yaguchi is well known for her part in "happy summer wedding" where she shouts and jumps across the stage but also for her part in "koi no dance site". This line is "sexy beam" and the action belonging to this i something i feel i couldnt describe well enough so i'll put a video of it at the end for you.

Mari has been a part of many mm groups the most popular being Tanpopo (one of the first mm groups) and she was also the founder of Mini Moni (a group where you had to be 150cm or under, members were Tsuji and kago from the 4th gen and Mika Todd from coconuts musume who then took over leader of the group when mari left. Also after mari left Ai takahashi from the 5th gen). She was leader of Sakura Gumi when Abe graduated and formed ZYX as well as being part of ROMANS. She also became leader of MM, after 2 years of sub-leadership, in 2005 when Kaorin left but soon after graduated herself at the age of 22.

Rumours are that she was told she no longer fitted into Morning Musume as she had a boyfriend but the official statement was that Mari believed she needed to get on with her "adult-life" and that she had "betrayed her position as an idol".

Mari has not released any solo singles after morning musume but has done collaborations with Berryz and been on a concert tour in Hawaii with Tsuji Nozomi. She has hosted a few television shows and has taken part in a j-drama (dorama) called "Gyarusa". Yaguchi also has her own show "Yaguchi Hitori". She has also taken part in several H!P concerts and will be a part of the 10th Anniversary concert this year.

I look forward to her first solo release.

Furusat by Mari Yaguchi (released while still in mm)

Sexy Beam Collection (rather famous video amoung mm/yaguchi fans actually... i have a copy myself ^-^)

http://www.veoh.com/videos/e143898BffXPsZh

(i'm afraid you'll have to follow the link)

KEI YASUDA or kemeko

Kei was the oldest of the second generation (the other members being 3 years younger). She is well known for being the "old lady" of morning musume as nicknamed by Tsuji and Kago of the 4th generation. When Asuka Fukuda left morning musume it was Kei who took over her lines. Kei also co-wrote and co-sang with Abe Natsumi the song "Sanpo" for a radio competition but was never released officially despite a petition.

When kei and Sayako sang a duet (Girls Psychology) for their 2nd Album Tsunku decided to add 3rd generation (Maki Goto) so that sub-group, Petit Moni in 2001 was formed. "Chokotto Love" sold over 1 million singles as their first release. Then to replace the graduated Sayaka, Hitomi of the 4th generation was added making Kei the new leader. Petit Moni continued to make 3 successful singles and an album. It is now known as one of the best MM sub-groups to exist.

When Yuko, the leader at the time, graduated in 2001 Kei was appointed sub-leader with Kaorin as the leader. Kei was the oldest but since she was in the 2nd generation her sempai's were considered the 1st generation so that she could not reach the main position of leader.

In 2003 kemeko graduated from MM leaving the 6th generation (4 members) to fill her place. It was during this concert (kei's graduation concert) that the group could be called 16nin with the 4 new members becoming full time members. Tsunku commented that this would be the only time MM would reach that many members but the 16-15nin period is regarded by fans as the best group of members ever, full of personality and spark (sorry for the random word i just couldnt think of anything else to describe it). Kei was "spoilt" by tsunku at her graduation as he gave her a special rock version of "Never Forget" and allowed her special solo version of "As for One Day" to be released as her last single with MM.

Things seemed to go fine with MM when kei graduated with Mari taking over her position of sub-leader but Petit Moni went down the toilet when Maki Goto was removed leaving Hitomi as the leader and adding Makoto Ogawa of the 5th generation and Ayaka Kimura of Coconut's Musume (also known for Ayakas english lessons with MM members being surprised and then taught a sentence in English). There was no new single or album released although some of their new songs were added to compilations.

Kei is still very much active in Hello! Project, participating in concerts and doing back ups such as for Maki Gotos single "Daite Yo! Please Go On". She also hosted Hello! Projects television show Hello! Morning for a little while and was part of the H!P all stars project "All for One and One for All". She was also placed in Puripuri Pink which was a group for ex-mm members who weren't usually placed in sub-groups.

This is "never forget" from Kei's Graduation concert


Well i told you i would write a lot for that one ^-^

The second generation is composed of 3 members who joined in 1998 -  a year after MM was formed. The first member i will write about is the first to leave since i dont particularly feel like writing too much today (LAZY!) and i'd rather be in a better mood to write about either yaguchi and yasuda (them being some of the most stand out mm members ever). I didnt actually realise sayaka was ever a part of morning musume since i didnt seem to notice her on any shows i've seen... sad i know.

SAYAKA ICHII or sayarin

Born 31st december 1983, Sayaka Ichii was 15 when she joined morning musume to form the 2nd generation with Yaguchi Mari and Yasuda Kei.

She was placed in a few extra groups being Pucchi Moni/Petit Moni and Aoiro 7 (from hello! project summer shuffle groups) and also recorded a folk album with Yuko from the 1st generation.

In 2000 Sayaka left after their single Happy Summer Wedding (the same year the 4th generation was added to morning musume).

The year following this she formed the group Cubic-Cross for which she wrote 2 of its songs until 2004 when the group separated and Ichii announced her pregnancy and engagement to Cubic-Cross's guitarist, Naoki Yoshizawa.

This is cubic cross (i do love how random this video is) with their song todoke koi no telepathy.

end of story

not much there i'm afraid but i'm sure i'll find plenty on yasuda and yaguchi (yaguchi being one of my mm idols).

*sorry for the holiday break ^-^*

KAORI IIDA or kaorin or johnson



Kaori is now a hello! Project soloist but was in MM before this for an amazing 8 years. She was leader after her fellow 1st generation member Yuko Nakazawa left and remained here from 2001 to her graduation in 2005. She was also leader of Otomi Gumi when MM was split in half to compensate for 2 separate MM tours.



Kaorin has been in a number of sub-groups in hello! Project : Tanpopo, Aoiro 7, 10nin Matsuri, Odoru 11, 11 Water and Puri Puri Pink. As well as the Hello! Project work she is involved with her solo career in different languages having produced 2 albums with covers of French, Italian and Greek songs.



During her time in Morning Musume her solo parts consisted of short lines and harmonies (i was surprised she had not left earlier with the little individual exposure she recieved). She has now produced several solo albums (though it was almost a year before she released a solo album after her graduation) and taken the role of actress in several shows. She tends not to participate in concerts like other ex-mm members but rather make appearances on shows seemingly separate from her MM past.



PERSONAL COMMENT

so thats it for the first lot. Hopefully i'll start the 2nd gen tomorrow if i can be bothered. As you can see johnson didnt turn out to have as much as i thought she would. Funny that. She must be the member with the longest history but nothing to really show for it. I know she has a huge amount of fans out there who will kill me for saying anything bad (as many mm members fans will) but i really never took a liking to her. She always seemed a little snobby or something. sorry. Its not my dislike of her that shortened this article though but the fact that there really is not much out there on her. gomen nasai.

^-^

Nacchi is the second to last i will write about of the first generation. Strangely enough she is also the second to last of the first gen to leave MM (January 2004).

NATSUMI ABE or nacchi

Nacchi was well known for her lead singing at the start of Morning Musumes history and widely known as Tsunkus favourite until Maki Goto of the 3rd gen joined taking over the title for most popular (among fans). She was the lead singer in furusato with the other members singing backup for her.

Nacchi is seen as having a strong presence and became the leader of Sakura Gumi (when the girls were split into two to be able to perform double the amount of concerts). She also had a number of solo pieces while part of Morning Musume which were released along with MM's other songs at that time. She also had lead roles in some of MM's plays and productions. Surprisingly she was never a part of any sub-groups.

When Nacchi was at her most popular stage she finally release a solo single (2003 and later CD) and in 2004 graduated from MM to continue to build on her solo career. She participated in all the usual Hello! Project performances and appearances, taking part in several concerts along with her ex-group Morning Musume. She released a few more singles as well.

Unfortunatly in late 2004 she was accused of plagerism. Apparently her photocooks held copies of essays and poetry copied from several other writers. She took "personal leave" (aka. tsunku asked her to stay away) for 3 months and subsequently missed out on Kaori Iidas graduation concert from Morning Musume (the last of the 1st generation). She also could not release music during this time so the world was without her voice.

Not for long though because she was back after an appology in early 2005 and started at high speed producing singles for both herself and the new group DEF.DIVA (Aya Matsuura, Risa Ishikawa and Maki Goto). The first she released was "koi no hana" her 5th single and has produced several more since (including the cover of a late 80's song "the Stress"). In 2006 Nacchi joined her sister, Asami Abe, in a Japanese TV show about a 60's j-pop group, "the Peanuts".

There was one more mishap though, in her photo book making of "ecru" she was seen with a tortoise (a national treasure) who unfortunatly died during the making of. She was blamed for killing it by the media (better gossip then a staff member moving it when it was weak!). Hate clubs came up all over the net but the rumour was ignored by Tsunku and the rest of H!P including Nacchi who refused to comment on the matter.

And to end i have found a couple of her PV's for you to watch: "The Stress" and "Sweet-a-holic". Enjoy!




NOTE FROM ME

thanks to those who have checked out this site!
btw last night when i was writing this the internet cut out so i had to write half of this bloody thing again plus add those pvs and pictures ^-^ please appreciate it!

Today I will talk about 2 previous members of morning musume from the 1st generation of course. I will talk about 2 because though i searched high and low i know little about either of these girls. I dont think many people do. Asuka Fukuda and Ayay Ishiguro were both introduced as the originals along with the 3 others in this generation (Yuko, Natsumi and Kaori).

ASUKA FUKUDA or asukacchi

Asuka was the youngest of the 1st generation but was also the first to leave in April 1999.  All i know is that she left to continue school and perhaps come back once she had finnished but unfortunatly nothing has been heard from her. From wikipedia i found out that she is currently working at her fathers night club in tokyo where she was born. Fans of hers claim she was the best vocalist MM ever had.


AYA ISHIGURO or ayappe

I have a little more on Aya as she stayed a bit longer then Asuka. She is a singer, writer, TV personality and fashion designer. In MM she was split into Tanpopo with 7 other members. Ishiguro was seen here as a shining performer and found herself very well noticed. She left Morning Musume in January 2000 after Love Machine was released. 4 months later she married the famous Luna Sea member Shinya and in the same year gave birth to a daughter, Rimu.

While looking after her children, now numbering at 3) she would often move into other careers (see 1st paragraph). She wrote 2 books called "Momusu to a Mum" and "Kosodate Purojekuto". She reunited with Tanpopo as well to perform a version of their famous song "tanpopo".


SUMMARY

Well i did tell you i had almost nothing on them ^-^

Maybe this will make up for it; a video of the first generation...
if thats not good enough for you... well... deal!

INTROduction

These are the girls that started it all. In 1997 Tsunku set out to start the group through a female rock vocalist wanted for his band Sharam Q. He used an audition scheme on Asayan (a Japanese TV show) to find this vocalist. The winner was Heike Michiyo who became a soloist for Hello Project. The five runners up were then selected by Tsunku to form the new all girl j-pop group. He sent them out to sell 50,000 copies of their single "ai no tane" in 5 days. Though this seems an almost impossible feat to many, the girls achieved it in only 4 days after calling friends and family. After giving them recognition he gave them dancing and singing training to prepare them to become the most popular j-pop group in Japan.

(information found at wikipedia and re-written my kue-chan)

YUKO NAKAZAWA or yuu Chan

I feel obliged to start, in typical Morning Musume fashion, with the oldest member known. Though Yuko has now graduated from morning Musume I feel that to really know the MM we all love, we must start at the beginning. And so my first article will be on Miss Nakazawa the first leader of Morning Musume.

Yuko is well known to us all as the scariest member of MM. Her famous grimace is marked in the memory of all who have seen it. I first came across it in the utaban (Japanese television show which is very close to Morning Musume) episode where the 4th generation were introduced. They recognized her as the scariest and a quote I will always remember her saying, at the end of the question activity (e.g. who is the scariest and they press a button relating to which one, this then appears on a board) after the last question is said and ends up with half of the 4th generation picking her "If it was a good question, it wouldn't relate to me at all." The question for those who were wondering was "who should graduate next?"

Yuko Nakazawa while being the leader of MM started a solo career shortly after it was formed. Her songs are known as more mature, slow and ballad like compared to the dance pop style of most Hello project performers. I think the reason she started her own solo career is because MM wasn't quite the kind of music she wanted to be part of but staying in MM gave her the chance to get noticed in the industry and it was able to set her up for that solo career.

Yuko was 24 when MM was formed and almost 28 when she left. The oldest member ever to be in Morning Musume. Since then members are more likely to be 12-15 when joining (the audition rules state generally that you must be under 21 to enter).

In 2001 Yuko graduated passing her role onto Kaori Iida and Kei Yasuda (at that stage she was 14 years older then the youngest member Ai Kago - 13). She told the press she wanted to pursue other things before she turned 30. Since then she has hosted shows and performed on stage. She is known mostly for hosting Hello! Morning.



This is Ai no Tane on Asayan in 1997. Just incase you wanted to see the originals at work ^-^