As I'm a BIG Morning Musume. fan, I thought it would be nice to make a blogpost about them!
This blogpost will be a little summary about the group that I love.
Morning Musume. is a Japanese idol group, it's a part of Hello! Project. It was founded in 1997 and they started of with 5 members; Nakazawa Yuko (Leader), Ishiguro Aya, Iida Kaori, Abe Natsumi and Fukuda Asuka. They had their official debut with the song '
モーニングコーヒー'.
In 1998 the second generation (Yasuda Kei, Yaguchi Mari and Ichii Sayaka) joined, which made a total member count of 8.
In 1999, Fukuda anounced her graduation and so did Ishiguro Aya. Goto Maki was added to the group and they released their biggest hit until now, '
LOVEマシーン'. The current Morning Musume. still sings this song at every concert.
In 2000 the fourth generation joined. This generation brought 4 new girls; Ishikawa Rika, Yoshizawa Hitomi, Tsuji Nozomi and Kago Ai. Ichii graduated from the group.
In 2001 the leader Nakazawa Yuko graduated from Morning Musume. Iida and Yasuda became Morning Musumes new co-leaders. At the end of 2001 the fifth generation joined. This is my favorite generation. Takahashi Ai (my oshimen), Niigaki Risa, Ogawa Makoto and Konno Asami debuted with '
Mr.Moonlight ～愛のビッグバンド～'
2002 was the year of big changes. Goto graduated and some of the sub-units and shuffles got new members, while the original members left.
In 2003 Yasuda graduated. The sixth generation joined, with Fujimoto Miki, Kamei Eri, Michishige Sayumi and Tanaka Reina. Also, in 2003 Morning Musume. got split up into two subgroups, called Morning Musume Sakura Gumi and Morning Musume Otome Gumi. This way they could tour more cities.
In 2004, the face of Morning Musume, Abe Natsumi, graduated. Tsuji and Kago left to focus on their new duo called 'W'.
In 2005 Iida graduated, making Yaguchi the new leader. Unfortunately, Yaguchi got caught in a scandal and had to retire. 4th gen Yoshizawa became Morning Musumes new leader. Ishikawa graduated and the seventh generation got added. 'Miracle' Kusumi Koharu was the only one that made it to the group.
In 2006, Konno and Ogawa graduated. Auditions for the eight generation started.
In 2007 Yoshizawa graduated from the group. Fujimoto became the next leader, but she retired from the group, making Takahashi the new leader. Mitsui Aika joined as the eight generation, but after some months, two Chinese "exchange students", Junjun and Linlin, joined also as the eight generation, making the eight generation consist of 3 girls.
Till 2009 the line up from the group was stable. Nothing changed till the graduation from the Miracle, Kusumi. Her graduation marked the end of Morning Musume's longest lasting line-up.
In 2010, sixth generation Kamei, and eight generation Junjun and Linlin graduated from Morning Musume. Morning Musume only had 5 members at this point, just like when the group was founded. It was announced that there would be a new group called 'Dream Morning Musume'. The group consisted of old graduated members and released one single and an album.
In 2011, Fukumura Mizuki, Ikuta Erina, Sayashi Riho and Suzuki Kanon joined as the ninth generation. Also, the shocking announcement was being made, that Takahashi Ai would graduated from the group in October. I found out about Morning Musume right after the ninth generation joined. I didn't know that my favorite member, Ai-chan, was going to graduate, so it was quite a slap in the face when I found out about that. At her graduation concert, the tenth generation joined. Iikubo Haruna, Ishida Ayumi, Kudo Haruka and Sato Masaki had their official debut in 2012.
In 2012 Niigaki graduated together with Mitsui. Michishige Sayumi became the new leader, starting a new era. Oda Sakura joined the group as the 11th generation. Tanaka anounced her gradatuation from the group, so she can start with her band activities in 2013.
I love Morning Musume with all my heart!
- Miyako
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