Hello! Pro Egg

Hello! Pro Egg (ハロプロエッグ, Haro Puro Eggu^?, also abbreviated as Egg (エッグ, Eggu^?)) are a group of female singers under the Hello! Project (commonly shortened to "Hello Pro") banner. They are girls chosen when Tsunku and other audition administrators see talent in them that can be developed further, in the hope of one day turning them into successful musicians, and possibly integrating them into other Hello! Project groups. As an example, in 2011, Hello Pro Egg member Mizuki Fukumura also joined Morning Musume.

The first official Hello! Pro Egg audition was held in 2004, with subsequent auditions held in 2006 and 2007. The first "generation" of Eggs were chosen from the 2004 auditions, with a total of 30 girls passing the audition. These auditions were initially only for girls from elementary school age to 18 years old, but in recent years have allowed girls as old as 25.^[1][2]

Although Hello! Pro Eggs were at first rarely seen, since the mass graduation of Hello! Project's Elder Club in March 2009, they have gradually become more active, sometimes performing on stage during concerts (usually as dancers, but occasionally singers), and being assigned to Hello! Project units. It was recently reported that Egg fans are worried that all apart from 10 of them have been let go. 10 specific girls appeared at the concert and were the only ones in a recent photo set at the Hello shop. The ones that appeared were Saho, Kaneko, Takeuchi, Miyamoto, Katsuta, Takagi, Tanabe, Nagasawa, and Kudou. Jang Da Yeon was also with them.

Units

• Tomoiki Ki wo Uetai (2005–2008)
• Shugo Chara Egg! (2008–2010)

Members

• Members are ordered by group (age for those not in groups), with birth dates listed in brackets.

Hello! Project members that began as Eggs

• Erina Mano, became a member of Ongaku Gatas in 2007, made her solo debut in March 2008
• S/mileage (group was formed in Spring 2009 and graduated from Hello! Pro Egg in April 2010)

Ayaka Wada (also member of ZYX-α)

Kanon Fukuda (also member of Shin Minimoni)

Akari Takeuchi (added in August 2011; also member of Shin Minimoni)

Rina Katsuta (added in August 2011)

• Morning Musume

• Linlin, joined Morning Musume in March 2007, left Hello! Project in December 2010

Mizuki Fukumura, (joined Hello! Pro Egg in 2008, added to in January 2011)^[3]

Haruka Kudō (added to in September 2011)

Current members

• Rie Kaneko (b. July 1, 1997)
• Karin Miyamoto (b. December 1, 1998)
• Sayuki Takagi (b. April 21, 1997)
• Nanami Tanabe (b. November 10, 1999)
• Wakana Nagasawa (b. November 8, 1996)
• Jang Da Yeon (b. September 19, 1995)^[4]
• Kurumi Yoshihashi (b. September 22, 1999)
• Ayano Hamaura (b. April 26, 2000)
• Natsumi Taguchi (b. July 21, 2000)
• Aina Otsuka (b. April 3, 1998)
• Minami Mogi (b. January 14, 1999)
• Rena Ogawa (b. Match 27, 2000)

Former members

• Maho Oyanagi, left in July 2005
• Miyuki Kawashima, left in September 2005
• Mirei Hashida, left in June 2007
• Manami Ogura, left in August 2007
• Kanami Morozuka, joined The Possible in 2006, left Hello! Project in October 2007
• Kaede Ohse, joined The Possible in 2006, left Hello! Project in October 2007
• Aina Hashimoto, joined The Possible in 2006, left Hello! Project in October 2007
• Yurika Akiyama, joined The Possible in 2006, left Hello! Project in October 2007
• Robin Shōko Okada, joined The Possible in 2006, left Hello! Project in October 2007
• Yuki Goto, joined The Possible in 2006, left Hello! Project in October 2007
• Ayumi Yutoku, joined Tomoiki Ki wo Uetai in 2005, left Hello! Project in November 2007
• Mika Mutō, joined Ongaku Gatas in 2007, left Hello! Project in April 2008
• Yui Okada, joined v-u-den in August 2004, left Hello! Project in March 2009
• Miki Korenaga, joined Ongaku Gatas in May 2007, left Hello! Project in March 2009
• Kanna Arihara, joined C-ute in January 2006, left Hello! Project in July 2009
• Erina Aoki, left in or before November 2008
• Azusa Sezaki, left in spring 2009
• Yuri Sawada, joined Ongaku Gatas in 2007, left Hello! Project and Ongaku Gatas in August 2009
• Arisa Noto, joined Ongaku Gatas in May 2007, left Hello! Project in September 2009
• Momoka Komine, left in June 2010
• Mia Sainen, left in June 2010
• Irori Maeda left in November 2010, joined AKBN0 (Akabane 0) in March 2011^[5]
• Asuna Okai, left in November 2010
• Tomomi Hirano, left in November 2010
• Runa Kizawa, left in November 2010
• Minami Sengoku, joined Ongaku Gatas in 2007, left Hello! Project Egg in December 2010^[6] and became host of the show "Up-Front Girls" together with K-Pop dance cover group UFZS
• Saki Mori, finished training in January 2011,^[7] became member of UFZS
• Konatsu Furukawa, finished training in January 2011,^[8] became member of UFZS
• Anri Tanaka, left in or before March 2011
• Sayaka Kitahara, finished training in March 2011,^[9] was transferred to an Up-Front Agency related agency to become a soloist and seiyuu.^[10]
• Azusa Sekine, finished training in March 2011,^[11] became member of UFZS
• Manami Arai, finished training in March 2011,^[12] became member of UFZS
• Ayano Satō, finished training in March 2011,^[13] became member of UFZS
• Akari Saho, finished her egg training in April 2011^[14] and joined Up-Front Girls in May 2011^[15][16]
• Saki Ogawa, joined S/mileage in Spring 2009, left Hello! Project in August 2011
• Yuuka Maeda, joined S/mileage in Spring 2009, left Hello! Project in December 2011

References