Momoko Tsugunaga

Momoko Tsugunaga 嗣永 桃子
Also known as	Momo, Momo-chan, Momochi, Pi-chicchi, Tsugu-San
Born	March 6, 1992 (1992-03-06)
Origin	Chiba, Japan
Genres	Japanese pop
Occupations	Japanese Idol
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Piccolo Town
Associated acts	Berryz Kobo, Hello! Project Kids, ZYX, H.P. All Stars, Buono!
Website	Hello! Project.com

Momoko Tsugunaga (嗣永 桃子, Tsugunaga Momoko, born March 6, 1992 in Chiba, Japan) is a J-pop singer. Her career began in 2002 when she successfully auditioned for the Hello! Project Kids followed by 15 other girls, and was selected as one of the eight members of Berryz Kobo. Since then, she has continued to sing in that group and has become a part of three smaller groups composed of Hello! Project Kids members, ZYX, Berryz Kobo and Buono!. Momoko is the self-proclaimed leader of Buono!.

Career

Momoko joined Hello! Project in 2002 at the age of 10 with the other 15 Hello! Project Kids. In 2004 Berryz Kobo was created, and Momoko was selected as one of the group’s lead vocalists. In the same year she was a member of Little Gatas, an official Hello! Project futsal team where the members are made up fom Berryz Kobo and °C-ute and is now a reserve member for Gatas Brilhantes H.P. In 2007 she was selected together with °C-ute member Airi Suzuki, and fellow Berryz Kobo member Miyabi Natsuyaki for the Hello! Project sub-group Buono! , which mainly produced opening and ending songs for the Anime Shugo Chara!, but has now gone on to release more singles. Momoko was named as the official leader of Buono! in 2010, although she already self-proclaimed that before. Berryz Kobo held a concert in Saitama Super Arena for first time in 2007 and it's also the first time that Momoko sang a solo. She interpreted Koi wa Hipparidako, which is part of their first album: 1st Chou Berryz. For her 4th Photobook "momochiiii", she held a handshake event on August 31, 2009, which made her the first Berryz Kobo member to do that (and the third among Hello! Project Kids).

Releases

Photobooks

• Momo – (June 19, 2007)
• Momo16 -Momoiro- (momo16 -ももいろ-, "Momo16 Peach-colored", March 19, 2008)
• Momo no Mi (桃の実, "Peach Seeds", November 21, 2008)
• Momochiii August 21, 2009
• Momochi Zukan October 20, 2010

Radio

Starting April 7, 2009, she also hosts her own radio show "Momoko no Puripuri Princess" on JOQR every Tuesday (23:35 to 23:50), replacing Berryz Koubou's Kiritsu Rei Chakuseki.

Concert Units

• Hello! Project Shirogumi (2005)
• Wonderful Hearts (2006–)

Hello! Project Groups

• Hello! Project Kids
• ZYX (2003, 2009)
• Berryz Koubou (2004–)
• Buono! (2007–)

Shuffle Units

• H.P. All Stars (2004)

Others

• Little Gatas (2004–2007)
• Gatas Brilhantes H.P. (2007–) (Reserve player)

Filmography

• 2002 – Koinu Dan no Monogatari (仔犬ダンの物語, "Puppy Dan's Story")
• 2004 – Promise Land ~Clovers no Daibōken~ (Promise Land ～クローバーズの大冒険～, "Promise Land ~Clover's Adventure~")

External links

• Official Hello! Project profile