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モーニング娘。

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Japan (1997 – present)

Morning Musume. is a Japanese all girl group and the core group under the more expansive Hello! Project (H!P for short). Formed in 1997 when the producer of the band, Tsunku, challenged the 5 losers of a TV pop competition (similar to Pop/American Idol) to sell 50,000 copies of their demo single “Ai no Tane” in 4 days. They won and the reward was to be fully produced as their own act by producer Tsunku. In a year, their popularity had surpassed the winner of the original competition (平家みちよ); in three they had surpassed the popularity of Sharan Q who broke up to become full time producers. The reach of MM and H!P extends to music, TV, radio, film, modeling, commercials, their own PS2 and GBA games, as well as their own indoor futsal and kickball teams.

The members of Morning Musume. are constantly changing. Every year or two, auditions are held to add new members. Morning Musume.’s current size is 9 members, none of which are the original 5 or the 3 generations that followed. Ai Takahashi is the current leader, Niigaki Risa is sub-leader.

Morning Musume. Generations (bolded names are part of the current line-up):

First Generation (1997): Yuko Nakazawa, Kaori Iida, Natsumi Abe, Aya Ishiguro, Asuka Fukuda.

Second Generation (1998): Mari Yaguchi, Kei Yasuda, Sayaka Ichii.

Third Generation (1999): Maki Goto.

Fourth Generation (2000): Ai Kago,Nozomi Tsuji, Rika Ishikawa, Hitomi Yoshizawa

Fifth Generation (2001): Ai Takahashi (leader), Risa Niigaki (sub-leader), Asami Konno, Makoto Ogawa
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