Morning Musume, literally "morning daughter", is a pop culture phenomena that launched in 1997. While in some ways reminiscent of Onyanko Club (or in American terms something like a cross between American Idol and Menudo), Morning Musume has gone further, showed more staying power, and in fact gone from being a very popular idol group to a full on pop culture franchise. It all started on the TV show Asayan, on a show featuring musician/producer Tsunku, of the moderately popular...

Morning Musume, literally "morning daughter", is a pop culture phenomena that launched in 1997. While in some ways reminiscent of Onyanko Club (or in American terms something like a cross between American Idol and Menudo), Morning Musume has gone further, showed more staying power, and in fact gone from being a very popular idol group to a full on pop culture franchise. It all started on the TV show Asayan, on a show featuring musician/producer Tsunku, of the moderately popular band Sharan Q. He ran an audition segment looking for a teenage female vocalist, the competition won by Heike Michiyo. However her first single did not do so well. He decided then to try a group, composed of five contest runner ups. However to hedge his chances of success and add drama to the situation, he said he would only work with the group (write their songs and produce) if they could sell 50,000 copies of their first single Aine No Tane in five days by themselves (and of course the power of national TV exposure). And so the nation watched as the girls pleaded with family, friends and strangers on the street hoping to sell the CD and launch themselves as pop stars. In fact, the group were able to hit their sales target on their fourth day, and so on January 1, 1998 Nakazawa Yuko, Abe Natsumi, Iida Kaori, Fukuda Asaka, and Ishiguro Aya officially became Morning Musume. Benefiting some from taking singing and dancing lessons, they released their first "official" single Morning Coffee also in January of 1998, and saw it go to #6, and their debut album First Time in the same year went to #4. After the first single Tsunku decided to add three addition members, and thus began the practice of regularly making adjustments to the line-up, adding, "retiring" (for marriage or school) or "graduating" members (going solo) as situations called for. Tsunku also started making sub-groups, first Tanpopo and later Puchimoni, Minimoni, Coconuts Musume, Country Musume, Happy 7, and Sexy 8, amongst many others. The adjustments in line-up served to always generate news about the group and kept them a fresh topic. This group of acts was dubbed Hello! Project, and the groups usually perform together when they tour, the first of which was a 21 date venture in 1999. Also in 1999 they released their second album Second Morning, which went to #3, and after the single Love Machine which went to #1, sold over a million copies and became their biggest hit. Like American Idol, part of the attraction is seeing the members develop their skills, some of whom start with little more than good intentions and lots of enthusiasm. However the members generally range in age between 12 and 16, and unlike American Idol they do not aspire to appear grown up, their clothes and performances are pretty much celebrations of youthful cute and kookiness, with just a dash of Lolita-esque sexiness . The main Morning Musume group is now on its sixth generation, and remains very popular, as do the various spin-off groups which make up Hello! Project. The group are frequently on TV shows (including their own Sunday morning show) and on TV ads (for everything from snacks to military service), are all over magazines and newspapers, and media of all sorts. Their followers include many who memorize facts about each member, the sub-groups and releases, and their fans now stretch well beyond Japanese shores. They have fans and fansites in countries all over Asia, as well as a substantial following in the States, where some fans dress up like Hello! Project members and attend events in costume. The Morning Musume phenomena is now going into its seventh year, well beyond the normal idol lifespan, and is still buzzing strongly.