In late 1997, TV Tokyo launched an audition for a new female vocalist for the rock band SHARAM Q. The winner was Heike Michiyo, who would later become a solo artist under the Hello! Project umbrella. Five other finalists — Nakazawa Yuko, Iida Kaori, Ishiguro Aya, Fukada Asuka, and Abe Natsumi — still managed to impress Tsunku, who opted to sign them into a new group. Thus, the Momusu girls were born.
Using their new ultra-idol powers, the girls' first task was to "prove their worth" by selling 50,000 copies of their demo single, Ai no tan, within five separate promotion days. Having accomplished the goal in four, the group then launched their major debut, Morning Coffee, in January of 1998. Not content with a #6 charting, Morning Musume jumped to #4 with their next single, Summer Night Town. The song also introduced the public to three new members, Yasuda Kei, Yaguchi Mari and Ichii Sayaka, effectively forming the group's "second generation."
The next few months saw many firsts for Morning Musume, among them their first live, first movie, debut album First Time and their first #1 single, Daite HOLD ON ME, which held onto the #1 spot for two months. Another first came in the form of Tanpopo, the first Momusu subgroup, consisting of Ishiguro, Iida and Yaguchi. The subgroup would ultimately set a trend for both Momusu and girl pop throughout the nation.
In 1999, Momusu went on their first national tour, drawing some 40,000 fans over 19 venues. After their April 18th performance, however, Fukada "graduated" from the group, electing to focus on her studies. This set off a slow decline for the group, with CD sales lagging amidst fierce competition and an even stronger recession. A timely third audition introduced member Goto Maki to the nation; the group's next single, LOVE Machine, would shake the nation to its core, selling 1.64 million copies. Goto then joined Yasuda and Ichii to form Petitmoni, the next subgroup.
2000 was ups and downs for the Morning girls, with mega-hit Koi no Dance Site selling over a million copies but failing to surpass Southern All Stars's giga-hit TSUNAMI. Ishiguro became the next graduating member, leaving to marry LUNA SEA drummer Shinya. Amidst a new album and additional member shuffling came the fourth generation of Morning Musume, including rookies Ishikawa Rika, Yoshizawa Hitomi, Tsuji Nozomi and Kago Ai, the latter two a mere 12 years old.
Immediately afterwards, Momusu found themselves on TV with "HELLO! MORNING," a variety program including both Momusu and other H!P members. The show would last until 2007. However, Ichii's involvement with the group would not, the second-generation member leaving in May to form Cubic-Cross with SHARAM Q's Taisei. This caused Tanpopo and Petitmoni to shuffle members; around this time, Yaguchi joined Kago, Tsuji, and Coconuts Musume's Mika Todd in forming Minimoni, a subgroup aimed at younger audiences.
2001 hits I Wish and Renai Revolution 21 boosted Morning Musume's popularity. However, leader Nakazawa opted to graduate in order to focus on her solo career. While Iida and Yasuda took dual leadership duties, Morning Musume took to the stage, starring in their own musical, LOVE Century ~yume wa minakerya hajimaranai~. Shortly thereafter, four more members joined the group: Takahashi Ai, Konno Asami, Ogawa Makoto, and Niigaki Risa, bringing the fifth generation total to 13.
July 2002 had both Goto and Yasuda graduate, causing their subgroups to both shuffle again and face a decline in popularity, some even entering "indefinite hiatus." Tsunku held yet another audition in 2003, welcoming Kamei Eri, Michishige Sayumi, Tanaka Reina and Fujimoto Miki to the lineup. Of course, this could only lead to more lineup changes, with Abe, Tsuji, Kago, Ishikawa and Iida all leaving within the next year.
With Iida's graduation, the last of the first-generation members had left Morning Musume. Yaguchi was left with the leadership role, but in April of 2005 a scandal forced her to leave both the group and the leader role. Kusumi Koharu later joined as the sole seventh generation member, with Ishikawa graduating shortly thereafter to lead the H!P unit v-u-den.
By February of 2006, Morning Musume had released seven studio albums, almost thirty singles, and had shuffled through over a dozen members. On that note, both Konno and Ogawa graduated months later, leading to yet another audition. Here, Mitsui Aika became the first eighth generation member, leading to the single Aruiteru — their first #1 in over three years.
In 2007, then-leader Yoshizawa graduated, leaving Fujimoto as the new leader. With Yoshizawa's departure came the inclusion of two "exchange students" — Li Chun/Junjun and Qian Lin/Linlin, both from China, in an attempt into expand to other Asian countries. Both girls joined the eighth generation, which again was met with a scandal departure; Fujimoto, tied with comedian Tomoharu Shoji, resigned, leaving her leadership role of 26 days to Takahashi.
October saw Takahashi, Niigaki and Kusumi on a trip to Korea to promote All Singles Complete: 10th Anniversary, with the entire group heading to Taiwan days later. They would return to Taiwan in 2008, hosting their first overseas concert. Additional trips — to Shangai for Expo 2010 and to Korea for their "10th Anniversary Live Tour" — were soon followed by a collaboration with legendary theatre troupe Takarazuka, performing Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Cinderella."
By this point, both "HELLO! MORNING" and its successor "Haromoni@" had ended, but another TV show, "Yorosen!", began immediately thereafter. Incidentally, 2008 marked the first stable year for the Morning Musume lineup.
2009 featured several new singles, among them Shouganai yume oibito, the first #1 since the previous "first #1 since," Aruiteru. In July, Morning Musume were featured as guests and performers at California's Anime Expo. The coupling song for Shouganai yume oibito, 3, 2, 1 Breakin' Out!, was used as the show's theme; as such, a fan-submission PV contest was held for the track in partnership with the SNS MySpace. The lineup stability ended in late 2009, however, with Kusumi graduating to pursue a modeling career.
As of mid-2010, Morning Musume has released over 40 singles, ten original albums, and have enchanted the hearts of millions over the world. July will see the group attend and perform at France's Japan Expo with another coupling song, Tomo, used as the event's theme. With a perpetually young look and sound, Momusu and its fans will have something to look forward to for years to come.
