Hello! Project

Hello! Project
Commercial?	Yes
Type of project	Music
Location	Tokyo, Japan
Owner	Under the umbrella of Up-Front Promotion
Founder	Tsunku
Country	Japan
Established	1998
Website	helloproject.com

Hello! Project (ハロー!プロジェクト, Harō! Purojekuto) is a Japanese idol project, the umbrella name for a collective of female singers who are under contract with the Up-Front Group and whose recordings are produced by Tsunku.

Line-up as of 2017

• Morning Musume。'17
• Angerme
• Juice=Juice
• Country Girls
• Kobushi Factory
• Tsubaki Factory
• Aika Mitsui
• Riho Sayashi
• Hello Pro Kenshūsei Tokyo
• Hello Pro Kenshūsei Hokkaido

History

1997–2000: Beginning, Michiyo Heike & Morning Musume

In 1997, Japanese rock group Sharam Q, fronted by Tsunku, began auditions for a female vocalist. These auditions aired via the reality show Asayan, and resulted in Michiyo Heike being crowned winner. Tsunku, however, decided to give five of the runners-up, Yuko Nakazawa, Natsumi Abe, Kaori Iida, Asuka Fukuda and Aya Ishiguro, a chance to become a group in their own right. The girls were set the task of selling 50,000 copies of their demo single "Ai no Tane," in just five days. The girls sold the required number of copies in four days, and subsequently became an official group.

Morning Musume's debut single, "Morning Coffee," was released on January 28, 1998 on the One Up Music label and charted at #6 on the Oricon weekly chart. The group's first official appearance was a joint live in August 1998, at Shibuya Public Hall (now Shibuya C.C. Lemon Hall), under the name "Michiyo Heike and Morning Musume," (平家みちよとモーニング娘。) the fan club of the two acts was called "Hello!" The first official "units" were Tanpopo and Petitmoni, created in October 1998. The first "Michiyo Heike & Morning Musume Imotōbun Audition" took place, resulting in the "second generation" of Morning Musume to be added, made up of Sayaka Ichii, Mari Yaguchi and Kei Yasuda.

In January 1999, auditions for Country Musume were held on "Idol o Sagase!" (アイドルをさがせ!, Search For an Idol!). In April of that year the girls' official fan club was renamed "Hello! Project." Auditions were once again held on Asayan between April and July, resulting in Taiyō to Ciscomoon and Coconuts Musume, with Country Musume's official formation announced. In July, the first live concert of Hello! Project, "Hello! Project '99 at Yokohama Arena," was held.

The first shuffle units were formed in March 2000, releasing the "theme" of Hello! Project as a B-side. The first Hello! Project television show, "Hello! Morning," was created in April.

2001–2006: Rise to popularity, Berryz Kobo & C-ute

In March 2001, Morning Musume co-founder and leader Yuko Nakazawa announced her graduation from the group. The actual graduation took place in April, and Nakazawa was subsequently named as leader of the entirety of Hello! Project. Nakazawa's was the first graduation in the history of Hello! Project, and garnered considerable media attention as a result, the first time the group had truly caught the attention of the mainstream press.

Between April and June 2002, the first, and to date only, Hello! Project Kids auditions were held. These auditions resulted in the future members of Japanese idol groups Berryz Kobo and C-ute, who would go on to debut in March 2004 and February 2007 respectively, also spawning offshoot auditions such as auditions for Hello! Pro Egg and Hello! Project Kansai. On July 31, 2002, a major reform of all of the groups within Hello! Project began, which was referred to as "Haromageddon" (ハローマゲドン) (a pun on Hello (ハロー, Harō) and Armageddon (ハルマゲドン, "Harumagedon")) and "the 7/31 incident" by fans.

In February 2006, former Morning Musume member and sub-leader of duo W, Ai Kago was caught smoking in public while underage. She was also suspected of dating a much older man. Kago was suspended from her activities and eventually began to attempt a return.

On March 26, 2007, Kago was again caught smoking. Her contract was terminated and she had no graduation ceremony, as had become standard for exiting members.

In June, it was announced that Asami Konno, who had graduated from Hello! Project a year prior to study at university, would be returning. Konno became the first person to have graduated from Hello! Project to return.

In October, Tsunku established a new unit, the Nice Girl Project!, as well as The Possible, a group made up of Hello! Pro Eggs.

Soon after, Maki Goto, who had been inactive for some time, graduated from Hello! Project as a soloist. She later transferred to Avex.

In February 2007, Cute officially debuted with the single Sakura Chirari.

2007–2010: Expansion to Taiwan & South Korea, and S/mileage formation

In 2007, Hello! Project started the Taiwanese "Morning Family New Star Audition"; an audition aimed at recruiting new Taiwanese members to join Hello! Project.^[1][2]

In April 2008, the debut of Hello! Project Kansai group Sina (SI☆NA) was announced. The group never actually debuted, though they occasionally appeared on television shows and radio they have never recorded a song.

In September it was announced that, as a result of the Taiwanese auditions, the group Ice Creamusume (アイスクリー娘。) would be formed, consisting of six members.^[3] Duo Francis & Aiko, both still only children, was also announced from the same audition.

On October 19, 2008, Hello! Project announced its entire Elder Club would be graduating on March 31, 2009.^[4]

2008 also marked the first time in a decade that Morning Musume had no performed at the annual Kōhaku Uta Gassen event, after ten consecutive appearances. The only Hello! Project member to appear on that year's show was Mai Satoda, marking the first appearance of a member of Country Musume.

In February 2009, it was announced that Hello! Project would begin a series of auditions in South Korea.^[5][6]

On February 1, 2009, at the Yokohama Arena, Hello! Project held its largest concert ever—the Hello! Pro Awards '09: Elder Club Graduation Special (決定！ハロ☆プロアワード’０９　～エルダークラブ卒業記念スべシャル～, Kettei! Hello Pro Awards '09: Elder Club Sotsugyō Kinen Special)—featuring 21 groups and 72 members. Former Morning Musume member Nozomi Tsuji performed in her first official event in a year and nine months, after marrying actor Taiyō Sugiura in June 2007 and giving birth to her daughter, Noa, that November. During the concert, former Hello! Project leader Yuko Nakazawa passed her leadership position to Morning Musume leader Ai Takahashi.^[7] This mass-graduation caused another large surge of fan backlash, resulting in even more fanclub cancellations and merchandise boycotts, and is considered the "third coming of Haromageddon".

Later in 2009, several of the old, dormant units were revived. Tanpopo, Minimoni, Petitmoni, ZYX, Aa! and v-u-den all returned with new line-ups, and High-King returned from hiatus with its original members. These groups became a new concert unit, "Champloo".

In April 2009, Tsunku announced a new group consisting of four Hello! Pro Egg members, named S/mileage. They would later go on to have their official debut in May 2010 with the single 'Yume Miru 15'.

In August 2009, Morning Musume released their 40th single, 'Nanchatte Ren'ai'.

2011–2014: Revival, Tsunku, & Juice=Juice

On September 30, 2011, Ai Takahashi graduated and handed her position as leader of Morning Musume and Hello! Project over to fellow member Risa Niigaki.

In 2011, the most members were added since Hello! Project Kids back in 2002 - Morning Musume's 9th generation in January, S/mileage's 2nd generation in August, and Morning Musume's 10th generation in September.

On January 2, at the Hello! Project 2012 Winter concert, Morning Musume leader Risa Niigaki announced that she would graduate at the end of Morning Musume's 2012 Spring tour.

In July 2012, Morning Musume released their 50th single, 'One Two Three / The Matenrō Show'.

In the last concert of the Winter 2013 Hello! Project concert, a new unit consisting of Hello! Pro Kenshuusei members Miyamoto Karin, Kanazawa Tomoko, Uemura Akari, Otsuka Aina and Takagi Sayuki, and Miyazaki Yuka was announced, although it has been stated that this is not the definitive lineup and members may change before their official debut.^[8] It was subsequently announced on February 25 that the new unit would be called Juice=Juice and it would soon release its first indie single.^[9] At a Hello Project concert series held on March 2–3, Juice=Juice already premiered the song.^[10]

In March 2014, a shocking blog post by Tsunku was posted, saying that he had laryngeal cancer, this was found out after having throat surgery due to its unspecified condition. He announced on his official site that he has been seeking treatment for it. On April 4, 2015, Tsunku revealed that he had his vocal cords removed as part of his cancer treatment. In his memoir, "Dakara, Ikiru", which was published in September 2015 - it was revealed that he stepped down as Hello! Project's General Manager sometime after Morning Musume's New York concert that happened on October 5, 2014. He still remains involved with Morning Musume as its Sound Producer.

2015–Present: New Era, Line-Up changes, Country Girls, and Kobushi & Tsubaki Factory

On November 26, 2014, Sayumi Michishige graduated and handed her position of Leader of Morning Musume over to fellow member Mizuki Fukumura, and Hello Project Leader to C-ute's Maimi Yajima. This is the first time in Hello!Project history for the Leader of Hello!Project to not be from the flagship group Morning Musume.

Leaderships

Hello! Project leaders

#	Name	Period of time
1st	Yuko Nakazawa[11]	April 15, 2001 - March 31, 2009
2nd	Ai Takahashi	April 2009[12] - September 30, 2011
3rd	Risa Niigaki[13]	October 1, 2011 - May 18, 2012
4th	Sayumi Michishige[14]	May 19, 2012 - November 26, 2014
5th	Maimi Yajima[15]	November 27, 2014 - December 31, 2016
6th	Ayaka Wada	January 1, 2017 - Present

Main Group Leaders

Group	Leader	Period of time*
Morning Musume	Mizuki Fukumura	November 27, 2014 – present
Angerme	Ayaka Wada	April 4, 2009 – present
Juice=Juice	Yuka Miyazaki	June 13, 2013 – present
Country Girls	Vacant	July 1, 2017 – present
Kobushi Factory	Ayaka Hirose	March 8, 2015 – present
Tsubaki Factory	Riko Yamagishi	August 8, 2015 – present

* All except Fukumura have been leaders of their respective groups since formation.

Former artists and groups

Leaving a subgroup or Hello! Project is referred to as graduating (卒業, sotsugyō). A graduation is a member's final performance either with Morning Musume or one of its many subgroups or associated acts, in which case they are either beginning a solo career or forming a new group within Hello! Project— or, rarely, leaving the Hello! Project umbrella entirely. These departures are usually voluntary and amicable.

The magazine Friday has, on three occasions, published photographs of Morning Musume members that have caused them either to quit the group or be fired. These members are Mari Yaguchi, Miki Fujimoto and Ai Kago. Because of these "scandals," and their subsequent sudden departures from the group, Mari Yaguchi and Miki Fujimoto are the only members of Morning Musume to have not undergone a "graduation ceremony" from the band before starting or resuming a solo career. Yaguchi was photographed with her then-boyfriend Shun Oguri in 2005, and although 22 at the time, she left voluntarily, stating that she could not maintain the "idol" image required to stay in the group. Yaguchi did have a graduation ceremony three years earlier when she departed MiniMoni, the subgroup she co-founded, in 2002, but did not receive another. Fujimoto was photographed with her boyfriend Shōji Tomoharu (whom she later married) in 2007. Ai Kago, although having a graduation ceremony from Morning Musume, did not have a ceremony for leaving Hello! Project, since her repeated scandals resulted in her contract being dissolved and later being fired from the agency.

All four of the main groups in Hello! Project (Morning Musume, Berryz Kobo, Cute and S/mileage) have all had at least one graduation within the group.

Conversely, Melon Kinenbi is the only (former) group in the history of Hello! Project to not undergo a graduation or other personnel change in its entire existence.

On March 31, 2009, the entire 'Elder Club' Hello! Project Concert unit graduated from Hello! Project. This included group Melon Kinenbi and soloists such as Natsumi Abe and Aya Matsuura.

Acts and performances

TV

• Hello! Morning (ハロー!モーニング。) on TV Tokyo
• Utaban (うたばん) on TBS
• Haromoni@ (ハロモニ＠) on TV Tokyo
• Yorosen! (よろセン!) on TV Tokyo
• Hello Pro! Time (ハロプロ!TIME) on TV Tokyo
• Hello! SATOYAMA Life (ハロー! SATOYAMA ライフ) on TV Tokyo
• The Girls Live

Radio

• MBS Young Town Saturday on MBS Radio (the Kansai area)
• HelloPro Yanen! on ABC Radio

Internet

• Hello! Project Station (2013-)

Concerts

Name	Start date	End date	Performances	Release format (date)
1st Concert "Hello!"	July 12, 1998	July 27, 1998	3 in 3 cities	VHS
Hello! Project Happy New Year '99	January 2, 1999	January 3, 1999	2 in 1 cities	VHS
Hello! Project Summer Concert '99	August 14, 1999	August 26, 1999	4 in 3 cities	VHS
Hello! Project Happy New Year 2000	January 2, 2000	January 30, 2000	16 in 3 cities	VHS
Hello! Project 2000 Atsumare! Summer Party	July 15, 2000	September 10, 2000	In 12 cities	VHS
Hello! Project 2001 Sugoizo! Nijū-seiki	January 2, 2001	February 25, 2001	19 in 3 cities	VHS
Hello! Project 2001 Together! Summer Party!	July 14, 2001	July 29, 2001	13 in 3 cities	VHS, DVD
Hello! Project 2002 ~Kotoshi mo Sugoizo~	January 2, 2002	February 17, 2002	28 in 7 cities	VHS, DVD (March 20, 2002)
Hello! Project 2002 ~One Happy Summer Day~	July 13, 2002	July 28, 2002	12 in 3 cities	VHS, DVD (October 17, 2002)
Hello! Project 2003 Winter ~Tanoshinjattemasu!~	January 2, 2003	February 2, 2003	25 in 4 cities	VHS, DVD (March 19, 2003)
Hello! Project 2003 Summer ~Yosha! Bikkuri Summer!!~	July 19, 2003	July 27, 2003	12 in 3 cities	VHS, DVD (October 8, 2003)
Hello! Project 2004 Winter ~C'mon! Dance World~	January 3, 2004	January 25, 2004	23 in 4 cities	DVD (March 17, 2004)
Hello! Project 2004 Summer ~Natsu no Dōn!~	July 17, 2004	August 1, 2004	12 in 3 cities	DVD (October 6, 2004)
Hello! Project 2005 Winter All Stars Dairanbu ~A Happy New Power! Kaori Iida Graduation Special~ Hello! Project 2005 Winter ~A Happy New Power! Akagumi~ Hello! Project 2005 Winter ~A Happy New Power! Shirogumi~	January 29, 2005 January 3, 2005 January 4, 2005	January 30, 2005 January 23, 2005 January 23, 2005	2 in Yokohama 9 in 3 cities 9 in 3 cities	DVD (March 16, 2005)
Hello! Project 2005 Natsu no Kayō Show ~'05 Selection Collection!~	July 10, 2005	July 24, 2005	8 in 3 cities	DVD (October 5, 2005)
Hello! Project 2006 Winter ~Zeninshū Go!~ Hello! Project Winter 2006 ~Elder Club~ Hello! Project Winter 2006 ~Wonderful Hearts~	January 28, 2006 January 2, 2006 January 2, 2006	January 29, 2006 January 22, 2006 January 21, 2006	2 in Yokohama 14 in 3 cities 14 in 3 cities	DVD (cancelled original release: March 29, 2006. Released later as a fan club item on December 20, 2008)
Hello! Project 2006 Summer ~Wonderful Hearts Land~	July 9, 2006	July 23, 2006	7 in 3 cities	DVD (October 4, 2006)
Hello! Project 2007 Winter Shūketsu! 10th Anniversary Hello! Project Winter 2007 ~Elder Club The Celebration~ Hello! Project Winter 2007 ~Wonderful Hearts Otome Gokoro~	January 27, 2007 January 5, 2007 January 2, 2007	January 28, 2007 January 20, 2007 January 21, 2007	3 in Yokohama 11 in 3 cities 11 in 3 cities	DVD (4-disc DVD set including footage from the three concerts and backstage, Winter Shūketsu! 10th Anniversary: March 28, 2007)
Hello! Project 2007 Summer 10th Anniversary Dai Kanshasai ~Hello☆Pro Natsu Matsuri!~	July 15, 2007	July 29, 2007	11 in 3 cities	DVD (October 16, 2007)
Hello! Project 2008 Winter ~Kettei! Hello☆Pro Awards '08~ Hello! Project 2008 Winter ~Kashimashi Elder Club~ Hello! Project 2008 Winter ~Wonderful Hearts Nenjū Mukyū~	January 26, 2008 January 5, 2008 January 2, 2008	January 27, 2008 January 19, 2008 January 20, 2008	3 in Yokohama 9 in 3 cities 11 in 3 cities	DVD (Kettei! Hello☆Pro Awards '08, Kashimashi Elder Club, Wonderful Hearts Nenjū Mukyū: March 26, 2008)
Hello! Project 2008 Summer Wonderful Hearts Kōen ~Hishochi de Date Itashima Show~	July 19, 2008	August 3, 2008	11 in 3 cities	DVD (October 22, 2008)
Hello! Project 2009 Winter Kettei! Hello☆Pro Awards '09 ~Elder Club Graduation Special~ Hello! Project 2009 Winter Elder Club Kōen ~Thank You For Your Love!~ Hello! Project 2009 Winter Wonderful Hearts Kōen ~Kakumei Gannen~	January 31, 2009 January 10, 2009 January 2, 2009	February 2, 2009 January 25, 2009 January 18, 2009	3 in Yokohama 9 in 3 cities 11 in 3 cities	DVD (Thank You For Your Love!, Kakumei Gannen: March 25, 2009, Kettei! Hello☆Pro Awards '09 ~Elder Club Graduation Special: April 15, 2009)
Hello! Project 2009 Summer Kakumei Gannen ~Hello! Champloo~	July 19, 2009	August 3, 2009	12 in 3 cities	DVD (November 14, 2009)
Hello! Project 2010 Winter Kachō Fūgetsu ~Shuffle Date~ Hello! Project 2010 Winter Kachō Fūgetsu ~Mobekimasu!~	January 5, 2010 January 2, 2010	January 24, 2010 January 23, 2010	8 in 3 cities 14 in 3 cities	DVD (Shuffle Date: March 31, 2010, Mobekimasu: April 8, 2010), Blu-ray Disc (Shuffle Date and Mobekimasu: August 4, 2010)
Hello! Project 2010 Summer ~Fankora!~	July 18, 2010	August 8, 2010	13 in 4 cities	DVD (October 27, 2010), Blu-ray Disc (December 15, 2010)
Hello! Project 2011 Winter ~Kangei Shinsen Matsuri~	January 2, 2011	January 23, 2011	20 in 3 cities	DVD (A Gana Live, B Kkuri Live: April 27, 2011), Blu-ray Disc (a Full Edition: May 18, 2011)
Hello! Project 2011 Summer ~Nippon no Mirai wa~	July 16, 2011	August 14, 2011	18 in 3 cities	DVD (Wow Wow Live, Yeah Yeah Live: November 16, 2011), Blu-ray Disc (a Full Edition: December 14, 2012)
Hello! Project 2012 Winter ~Hello☆Pro Tengoku~	January 2, 2012	January 22, 2012	19 in 3 cities	DVD (Rock Zzang, Punky Zzang: April 11, 2012), Blu-ray Disc (a Full Edition: May 16, 2012)
Hello! Project Tanjou 15th Anniversary Live 2012 Summer	July 21, 2011	August 19, 2011	18 in 3 cities	DVD (Ktkr, Wkwk: November 14, 2012), Blu-ray Disc (a Full Edition: December 5, 2012)
Hello! Project Tanjou 15th Anniversary Live 2013 Winter	January 2, 2013	February 3, 2013	24 in 4 cities

Musicals

• Ribbon no Kishi: The Musical (August 1, 2006 – August 27, 2006)
• Cinderella: The Musical (2008)
• Fashionable: The Musical (2010)

Sports festivals

• Hello! Project Daiundōkai (March 31, 2001 at Saitama Super Arena)
• Hello! Project Daiundōkai (November 3, 2002 at Osaka Dome)
• Hello! Project Sports Festival 2003 (November 16, 2003 at Osaka Dome)
• Hello! Project Sports Festival 2003 (November 22, 2003 at Tokyo Dome)
• Hello! Project Sports Festival 2004 (November 14, 2004 at Toyota Stadium)
• Hello! Project Sports Festival 2004 (December 5, 2004 at Saitama Super Arena)
• Hello! Project Sports Festival 2006 ~Hello!Diva Athlete~ (March 19, 2006 at Saitama Super Arena)

See also

• Hello! Project's futsal team Gatas Brilhantes H.P.
• Hello! Project shuffle units

References

External links

• Hello! Project official website (in Japanese)
• Hello! Project official Taiwanese website (in Chinese)
• Hello! Project news feeds at Hello!Online
• Hello! project (Unofficial Website Fanclub) Thailand (in Thai)