Country Musume
Country Musume (カントリー娘。) is a part of Hello! Project. The theme of the group is "country girls from Hokkaido".
Contents
History
Country Musume was formed in 1999, by Tsunku and Japanese talent and fellow Up-Front Agency artist, Tanaka Yoshitake (Tanaka was the group's original producer). The 4-week audition cycle was unusual since it didn't only consist of the traditional voice and dance lessons, but also a physical challenge: consisting of working at the Hanabatake farm in southern Hokkaido. The purpose of the physical challenge was to show how responsible the girls were and how well they work as a team to fit the "country girls from Hokkaido" image, since Hokkaido is seen as the countryside of Japan--and the audition was open to all of Japan, not just Hokkaido. Thus, producer Tanaka called for the physical challenge to see who can live up to a "Hokkaido" image.
At the end of the audition, three members were selected: Toda Rinne (from Hokkaido), Kobayashi Azusa (from Tokyo), and Yanagihara Hiromi (from Chiba). Following the trend of their sister group, Morning Musume, Kobayashi, as the oldest member, was given the title as leader of the group. After working on their debut single with plenty of support from other singers such as Moritaka Chisato and Nakazawa Yuko, they were able to successfully record and complete the promotion video. However, tragedy would strike the group soon after their work seemed to be finished. On July 17, 1999, Hiromi died in an automobile accident, just days before their first single was released, at the age of 19. Hiromi's family was given the decision to whether Country Musume should continue their work and release their single as scheduled, to which they approved. A month later, Azusa decided to leave the group for personal reasons. After a two-month hiatus, Rinne started performing as a solo act, but under the Country Musume name. After two singles, she went from being a solo artist to a group leader, as she was joined by a new member, Kimura Asami in 2000.
However, by the end of the year, producer Tanaka decided to give Tsunku the producer's position of the group, due to his difficulty in finding more members to join Rinne and Asami. The first change that Tsunku made was to "lend" members of Morning Musume into the group. In April 2001, Ishikawa Rika was added and the group became known as Country Musume ni Ishikawa Rika. This was to be a temporary change at first (the plan was to cycle Morning Musume members), but soon decided to keep Ishikawa in the group due to the group's sudden rise in popularity. Early in 2002, Tsunku made yet another change by adding Satoda Mai, a finalist from the Morning Musume 4th generation audition (who was from Hokkaido). Later that same year, Rinne graduated from the group and Hello! Project to pursue a career within Up-Front Agency as a stage actress. Asami became the new leader of the group.
In summer 2003, Saitou Miuna (of Shizuoka) joined Country Musume, and Rika's time in the group was over. Tsunku revived the idea of cycling Morning Musume members through the group. This time, Hokkaido-natives Konno Asami and Fujimoto Miki were selected. The group was then called Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto.
In 2005, Country Musume performed in the Hello! Project 2005 Winter ~A HAPPY NEW POWER!~ concert tour as a part of Hello! Project Akagumi. Country Musume also toured with v-u-den and Inaba Atsuko in 2005.
On November 25, 2006, it was announced that Asami and Miuna would be graduating from Country Musume and Hello! Project together on January 28, 2007, at the final performance of Hello! Project 2007 Winter ~Shuuketsu! 10th Anniversary~. Since Konno and Fujimoto have also since graduated from Morning Musume, they are no longer "lent" to Country Musume. Thus, Satoda Mai is currently the only member, and continues to work under the Country Musume name. This is the second time that Country Musume consists of only one member.
Members
Country Musume
Original members (1999):
- Toda Rinne (戸田鈴音, second leader, graduated in 2002)
- Kobayashi Azusa (小林梓, first leader, left in 1999)
- Yanagihara Hiromi (柳原尋美, died July 1999)
Joined 2000:
- Kimura Asami (木村麻美, third leader, graduated 2007)
Joined 2002:
- Satoda Mai (里田まい, current leader)
Joined 2003:
- Saitou Miuna (斉藤美海, graduated 2007)
Morning Musume
2001 - 2003 (Country Musume ni Ishikawa Rika / 1st Generation):
- Ishikawa Rika (石川梨華)
2003 - 2006 (Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto / 2nd Generation):
- Konno Asami (紺野あさ美)
- Fujimoto Miki (藤本美貴)
Discography
Singles
| # | Title | Release date | First Week | Total Sales | Members |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country Musume | |||||
| 1 |
二人の北海道 (Futari no Hokkaido) |
1999.07.23 | ? | ? |
Yanagihara, Kobayashi and Toda |
| 2 |
雪景色 (Yukigeshiki) |
1999.11.30 | ? | ? | |
| 3 |
北海道シャララ (Hokkaido Shalala) |
2000.04.27 | ? | ? | |
| 4 |
恋がステキな季節 (Koi ga Suteki na Kisetsu) |
2000.07.31 | ? | ? | |
| Country Musume ni Ishikawa Rika | |||||
| 5 |
初めてのハッピーバースディ! (Hajimete no Happy Birthday!) |
2001.04.18 | 89,200 | 142,340 | |
| 6 |
恋人は心の応援団 (Koibito wa Kokoro no Ouendan) |
2001.10.17 | 62,960 | 93,070 | |
| 7 |
色っぽい女 ~SEXY BABY~ (Iroppoi Onna ~SEXY BABY~) |
2002.04.17 | 32,510 | 57,620 | |
| 8 |
BYE BYE 最後の夜 (BYE BYE Saigo no Yoru) |
2002.11.13 | 21,670 | 30,018 | |
| Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto | |||||
| 9 |
浮気なハニーパイ (Uwaki na Honey Pie) |
2003.07.24 | 28,138 | 41,324 | |
| 10 |
先輩 ~LOVE AGAIN~ (Senpai ~LOVE AGAIN~) |
2003.12.05 | 16,908 | 22,196 | |
| 11 |
シャイニング 愛しき貴方 (Shining Itoshiki Anata) |
2004.08.04 | 12,496 | 16,450 | |
Albums
- [2001.12.12] カントリー娘。大全集1 (Country Musume Daizenshuu 1)
- [2006.08.23] カントリー娘。大全集2 (Country Musume Daizenshuu 2)
Other songs
DVDs
- [2003.11.27] カントリー娘。シングルＶクリップス① (Country Musume Single V Clips 1)
Concert DVDs
- [2007.02.??] カントリー娘。ＬＩＶＥ２００６ ～Ｓｈｉｂｕｙａ ｄｅｓ Ｄａｔｅ～ (Country Musume LIVE2006 ~Shibuya des Date~) - Fanclub only release
Photobooks
Minimoni. & Country Musume. ni Konno to Fujimoto (Morning Musume.) in Hello! Project 2004 Winter AYA MATSUURA & COUNTRY MUSUME. - Hello! Project 2005 Natsu no Kayou Show '05 Selection! Collection!
- [2004.03.13] ミニモニ。&カントリー娘。に紺野と藤本（モーニング娘。） in Hello! Project 2004 Winter (Minimoni. & Country Musume. ni Konno to Fujimoto (Morning Musume.) in Hello! Project 2004 Winter) (With Minimoni) amazon.co.jp
- [2005.10.??] AYA MATSUURA & COUNTRY MUSUME。―Hello!Project2005夏の歌謡ショー 05’セレクション!コレクション! (AYA MATSUURA & COUNTRY MUSUME. - Hello! Project 2005 Natsu no Kayou Show '05 Selection! Collection!) (With Matsuura Aya) amazon.co.jp
External Links
- Official Website
- UP-FRONT WORKS Country Musume Discography
- projecthello.com Country Musume lyrics
- Japanese wikipedia: カントリー娘。
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