List of Morning Musume members
Main article: Morning Musume
This page consists of all current and former members of the J-pop group Morning Musume.
Table of the members 1997-2015
The group is known for their ever-fluctuating line-up, with "graduations" and auditions held nearly every year. As of November 2014, there have been a total of 38 members altogether (1997–present), 23 graduated members, 2 members which have resigned and 12 generations. There are currently 13 members in Morning Musume'15.
Members
Current (as of November 2014)
| Name | Birth date | Age | Join date | Generation | Member colour*[1] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mizuki Fukumura | October 30, 1996 | 18 | January 2, 2011 | 9 | Hot Pink | Leader |
| Erina Ikuta | July 7, 1997 | 17 | Yellow Green[2] | Sub-leader | ||
| Riho Sayashi | May 28, 1998 | 16 | Red | |||
| Kanon Suzuki | August 5, 1998 | 16 | Green | |||
| Haruna Iikubo | November 7, 1994 | 20 | September 29, 2011 | 10 | Honey[2] | Sub-leader |
| Ayumi Ishida | January 7, 1997 | 18 | Royal Blue | |||
| Masaki Sato | May 7, 1999 | 15 | Emerald Green | |||
| Haruka Kudo | October 27, 1999 | 15 | Orange | |||
| Sakura Oda | March 12, 1999 | 16 | September 14, 2012 | 11 | Lavender | |
| Haruna Ogata | February 15, 1999 | 16 | September 30, 2014 | 12 | Sea Blue | |
| Miki Nonaka | October 7, 1999 | 15 | Purple | |||
| Maria Makino | February 2, 2001 | 14 | Light Pink | |||
| Akane Haga | March 7, 2002 | 13 | Light Orange |
* All colour values are approximate.
First generation (1997)
Second generation (1998)
Third generation (1999)
Fourth generation (2000)
Fifth generation (2001)
Sixth generation (2003)
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Seventh generation (2005)
Eighth generation (2006/2007)
Ninth generation (2011)
Tenth generation (2011)
Eleventh generation (2012)
Twelfth generation (2014)
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Leadership
LeadersThe group always contains a leader and sub-leader, though neither comes with any responsibility. Takahashi Ai has said that the role merely includes encouraging other to do their best, while Niigaki Risa has said that as sub-leader, "there is nothing I have to do, but I want to support [the leader]"[3] Ai Takahashi has been the longest serving leader with 5 years and 3 months, and Miki Fujimoto owned the spot for the briefest period in the group's history— 26 days. On November 27th 2014, Mizuki Fukumura became the 9th leader of Morning Musume, and the youngest member to become leader.
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SubleadersThis position was established on April 16, 2001, when Kaori Iida became the second leader. The position was unoccupied during the time of Risa Nigaki's Leadership and remained so until May 19, 2012. After Sayumi Michishige's elevation, Reina Tanaka became sub-leader from May 19, 2012 until May 21, 2013. On November 26th 2014, when Mizuki Fukumura became leader, Erina Ikuta became the 9th sub-leader alongside Haruna Ikubo.
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Member Colors
Each Morning Musume member has their own color for outfits and merchandise to distinguish between each member. Over time as each member leaves the group, current or new members have the opportunity to change their current color to a different one which is available. No member has exactly the same color, but some might have colors that look fairly similar to another members.
Current members
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Heritage Members Colors
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Tenures
Morning musume members have tenures which show how long they have been in the group until their graduation/resignation, And how many singles they have been present in before their graduation/resignation. Current Members in Bold
Time in the groupAs of January 15th, 2015
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Single TenuresAs of November, 2014
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Notable tenures
Members of Morning Musume rarely stay in the group for more than six years, and to date only nine members have done this.
| Member | Tenure | Time in group |
|---|---|---|
| Sayumi Michishige | January 2003 – November 2014 | 11 years, 10 months, 7 days |
| Risa Niigaki | August 2001 – May 2012 | 10 years, 8 months and 22 days |
| Reina Tanaka | January 2003 – May 2013 | 10 years, 4 months and 2 days |
| Ai Takahashi | August 2001 – September 2011 | 10 years, 1 month and 4 days |
| Eri Kamei | January 2003 – December 2010 | 7 years, 11 months and 26 days |
| Kaori Iida | September 1997 – January 2005 | 7 years, 4 months and 23 days |
| Hitomi Yoshizawa | April 2000 – May 2007 | 7 years and 20 days |
| Mari Yaguchi | May 1998 – April 2005 | 6 years, 11 months, 11 days |
| Natsumi Abe | September 1997 – January 2004 | 6 years, 4 months, 18 days |
Mentors
Often, when a new member joins the group, a senior member is assigned to be one of the newly added girls' mentor. The second, fifth, sixth, and eighth generations, however, did not have assigned mentors.[4]
- Third generation
- Fourth generation
- Seventh generation
- Eighth generation
- Ninth generation
- Aika Mitsui → Mentor to all ninth generation members
- Tenth generation
- Risa Niigaki → Mentor to all tenth generation members
- Twelfth generation
- Haruna Iikubo → Mentor to all twelfth generation members
Trivia
- Two of the ninth generation members, Riho Sayashi and Kanon Suzuki, are the first members to have been born after the group's formation in 1997. Tenth generation members, Sato Masaki and Kudo Haruka, and eleventh generation member Oda Sakura, were also born after the group's formation.
- Kudo Haruka is the youngest person to ever join Morning Musume at the age of 11 years and 11 months, and auditioning at age 11. She beat Ai Kago's 11-year record which was set at the age of 12.
- They are the main group to have the most graduates (not including Hello Pro Kenshuusei).
- 2008 was the only year so far in which no line-up changes occurred and that line-up has been the longest unchanging lineup so far going over 2 years with no graduations or new members until Koharu Kusumi graduated in December 2009.
- Risa Niigaki is the only leader to have once been the youngest member of Morning Musume.
- Ai Takahashi and Risa Niigaki are the longest serving Leader and Sub-Leader (4 years).
- Morning Musume received eight new members in 2011 (both 9th Gen and 10th Gen of 4 each), ages 11–16 years old, while everyone else in Morning Musume was in their 20's (besides Aika Mitsui).
- Mizuki Fukumura is the first former Hello! Pro Kenshuusei to become sub-leader of Morning Musume, she is also the youngest sub-leader the group has ever had.
- Four generations in a row have a former Hello! Pro Kenshuusei: the 8th Generation has Linlin, the 9th Generation has Mizuki Fukumura, 10th Generation has Kudo Haruka, and the 11th Generation has Oda Sakura.
- To date, only four members have been featured in over 30 Singles. 5th Generation Members: Ai Takahashi (35 Singles) and Risa Niigaki (37 Singles) with 6th Generation Members: Sayumi Michishige (39 Singles) and Reina Tanaka (35 Singles).
- Risa Niigaki & Sayumi Michishige has been a part of the most singles, with 37.
- Sayumi Michishige is the longest serving member in Morning Musume.
- 1st Generation Asuka Fukuda is the only former member that has never participated in any type of unit or subgroup during her time in Hello! Project.
- Miki Fujimoto is the only Morning Musume leader not to be leader within a single.
- Ai Takahashi, Risa Niigaki, Sayumi Michishige and Reina Tanaka were the only leaders and sub-leaders that graduated from both Morning Musume and Hello! Project.
- All current members were added to the group in either January or in September.
- With Sayumi Michishige's graduation announced for Morning Musume's Fall 2014 concert tour, the group will consist only of the three most recent generations since the introduction of the 4th generation members in 2000.
See also
- Morning Musume auditions
- Hello Pro Kenshūsei
References
- ↑ Ai Takahashi (2011-04-25). "高橋愛ブログ記事". Retrieved 2012-05-08.
Hello! Project Official Site - ↑ 2.0 2.1 De View (2012-07-28). モーニング娘。13枚目ニューアルバム9月発売、そしてメンバー・飯窪春菜から重大(!?)発表 (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
- ↑ http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2009/03/13/culture/morning-musume-not-ready-to-graduate-yet/#.UsufSvRdU2Z
- ↑ "Music Fighter". 2008-04-18. Missing or empty
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