Hello! Project

File:Helloproject.png

Hello! Project's logo

Hello! Project (ハロー!プロジェクト, Harō! Purojekuto) is the umbrella name for all female idol Japanese pop recording artists collective that are under contract with the Up-Front Group. The "mothership" group of Hello! Project is the super-group Morning Musume. The main producer and songwriter is Tsunku, the lead singer of Sharam Q.

History

1997-2000

In 1997, rock group Sharam Q, fronted by Tsunku, began auditions for a female vocalist. These auditions aired via 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 "Ai no Tane", their demo single, 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 fanclub of the two acts 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 fanclub 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 as 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.

2001-2005

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 Berryz Kobo and C-ute, also spawning off-shoot auditions such as auditions for Hello! Pro Egg and Hello! Project Kansai. On July 31, 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.

2006-present

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

On March 26, 2007, Kago was again caught smoking. Her contract was instantly terminated and she underwent no graduation ceremony, as had become standard for leaving members, due to having disgraced herself. 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 2007, Hello! Project started the Taiwanese "Morning Family New Star Audition"; an audition aimed at recruiting new Taiwanese members to join Hello! Project.

In April 2008, the debut of Hello! Project Kansai group Sina (SI☆NA) was announced. The group still have yet to actually debut; though they occasionally appear 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. 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. 2008 also marked the first time in a decade that Morning Musume had not 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. 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. 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 August, Morning Musume released their 40th single. On September 30, 2011, Ai Takahashi will graduate and hand her position as leader of Morning Musume and Hello! Project over to Risa Niigaki.

Current line-up

Hello! Project

• Morning Musume
• Berryz Kobo
• °C-ute
• Erina Mano
• S/mileage
  • Lilpri
• Buono!
• Hello! Project Eggs (ハロプロエッグ)
  • Tomoiki: Ki o Uetai (ともいき・木を植えたい)

Hello! Pro Taiwan

• Francis & Aiko (フランシス＆愛子)

Hello! Pro Korea

• Jang Da Yeon

Former artists and groups

To leave Hello! Project is referred to as a graduation (卒業, sotsugyō). There is also the possibility of a singer graduating from a subgroup and remaining in Hello! Project as a soloist.

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 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 has 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 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 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 fired from the agency.

Conversely, Melon Kinenbi is the only 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.

Disbanded groups

• T&C Bomber
  • Miho Shinoda
  • Ruru Honda
  • Miwa Kominato
• Sheki Dol
  • Ibuki Oki
  • Ami Kitagami
  • Mami Suenaga
  • Saki Arai
• W
  • Ai Kago
  • Nozomi Tsuji
• Coconuts Musume
  • Chelsea Ching
  • April Barbaran
  • Danielle Delaunay
  • Lehua Sandbo
  • Mika Todd
  • Ayaka Kimura
• Country Musume
  • Hiromi Yanagihara
  • Azusa Kobayashi
  • Rinne Toda
  • Asami Kimura
  • Miuna Saito
  • Mai Satoda
• Ice Creamusume
  • Wu Si Xuan
  • Zhong An Qi
  • Ceng De Ping
  • Zhao Guo Rong
  • Qiu Cui Ling
  • Gu Yun
• SI☆NA (Hello! Pro Kansai)
  • Nana Nakayama
  • Ai Suma
  • Manami Iwanama
  • Asami Abe

Shuffle units

• 2000: The Color Groups
  • Kiiro 5
  • Aoiro 7
  • Akagumi 4

• 2001: Party Groups
  • 3-nin Matsuri
  • 7-nin Matsuri
  • 10-nin Matsuri

• 2002: Happiness Groups
  • Happy 7
  • Sexy 8
  • Odoru 11

• 2003: Elemental Groups
  • Salt5
  • 7Air
  • 11Water

• 2004: One School Groups
  • H.P. All Stars

• 2005: Elegance Groups
  • Elegies
  • Sexy Otonajan
  • Puripuri Pink

• Chanpuru Groups
  • High-King
  • zoku·v-u-den
  • Aa!
  • ZYX-α
  • Shin Minimoni
  • PetitmoniV
  • Tanpopo#

Concert units

• Elder Club (Graduated)
• Wonderful Hearts

Former artists

• Graduated from Morning Musume and Hello! Project
  • Asuka Fukuda
  • Aya Ishiguro
  • Sayaka Ichii
  • Koharu Kusumi
  • Eri Kamei
  • Junjun
  • Linlin

• Graduated from Berryz Kobo and Hello! Project
  • Maiha Ishimura

• Graduated from C-ute and Hello! Project
  • Erika Umeda

• Left C-ute and Hello! Project
  • Megumi Murakami
  • Kanna Arihara

• Graduated from Hello Pro Egg and Hello! Project as a group
  • The Possible
    • Yurika Akiyama
    • Aina Hashimoto
    • Kanami Morozuka
    • Okada Robin Shōko
    • Kaede Ohse
    • Yuki Goto

• Graduated from Hello! Project as a group
  • Melon Kinenbi
    • Hitomi Saito
    • Megumi Murata
    • Masae Ohtani
    • Ayumi Shibata

• Graduated from Hello! Project as a solo artist
  • Chinatsu Miyoshi
  • Michiyo Heike
  • Rika Ishii
  • Simmin (Hello! Project Foreign Student)
  • Maki Goto
  • Yuko Nakazawa
  • Kaori Iida
  • Natsumi Abe
  • Kei Yasuda
  • Mari Yaguchi
  • Nozomi Tsuji
  • Rika Ishikawa
  • Hitomi Yoshizawa
  • Asami Konno
  • Makoto Ogawa
  • Miki Fujimoto
  • Atsuko Inaba
  • Aya Matsuura
  • Yuki Maeda
  • Erika Miyoshi
  • Yui Okada
  • Miki Korenaga (Ongaku Gatas)

• Graduated from Hello! Project Egg, Ongaku Gatas and Hello! Project
  • Mika Mutō
  • Yuri Sawada

• Graduated from Hello! Project Egg and Hello! Project
  • Maho Ohyanagi
  • Miyuki Kawashima
  • Ayumi Yutoku
  • Arisa Noto

• Training Process Complete from Hello! Project Egg
  • Minami Sengoku
  • Yuu Kikkawa
  • Saki Mori
  • Konatsu Furukawa
  • Sayaka Kitahara
  • Azusa Sekine
  • Manami Arai
  • Ayano Satō
  • Akari Saho

• Resigned from Hello! Project Egg
  • Mirei Hashida
  • Manami Ogura
  • Erina Aoki
  • Azusa Sezaki
  • Momoka Komine
  • Mia Sainen
  • Anri Tanaka
  • Irori Maeda
  • Asuna Okai
  • Tomomi Hirano
  • Runa Kizawa

• Graduated from S/mileage and Hello! Project
  • Saki Ogawa

One-shot and special units

• Gomattou
• Romans
• Morning Musume Sakuragumi
• Morning Musume Otomegumi
• Nochiura Natsumi
• Def.Diva
• Morning Musume Tanjō 10nen Kinentai
• Athena & Robikerottsu
• Kira☆Pika
• MilkyWay
• Shugo Chara Egg!
• Guardians 4

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

Radio

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

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

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

External links

• Template:Jp icon Hello! Project official website
• Template:Zh icon Hello! Project official Taiwanese website
• Template:En icon Hello! Project news feeds at Hello!Online