Asami Sugiura ( 杉浦 あさ美 , Sugiura Asami , born May 7, 1987) , known by her birth name Asami Konno ( 紺野 あさ美 , Konno Asami ) is a Japanese television presenter and former singer and actress.
66-641: She debuted in August 2001 with the girl group Morning Musume and participated in musical projects within Hello! Project . After leaving the group on March 31, 2011, she became a television presenter for TV Tokyo . Her husband is Japanese baseball player Toshihiro Sugiura . Konno joined the group Morning Musume in 2001. She passed the audition in Love Audition 21 ( Loveオーディション 21 , Love ōdishon nijuichi ) although her skills had been called mediocre by
132-780: A capital of 1 billion yen. The Science and Technology Promotion Foundation has the television broadcasting license and facility management rights, while Tokyo Channel 12 Production is responsible for program arrangement and production, and advertising business. As Mainichi Broadcasting invested in the establishment of Tokyo Channel 12 Production Company, a network relationship was actually formed between Tokyo Channel 12 and Mainichi Broadcasting System during this period. Some programs of Tokyo Channel 12 were broadcast in Kinki through Mainichi Broadcasting . In 1969, Tokyo Channel 12 Production once again increased its capital by 1 billion yen, of which Nihon Keizai Shimbun invested 600 million yen, becoming
198-494: A challenge to sell 50,000 copies of their demo single, " Ai no Tane ", with just five days of promotion events. They managed the feat in four promotion days (spread out over November 1997) in a very grassroots manner, and Tsunku began his mission to create the most famous all-girl group in Japan. In early 1998, the girls were ready with their first official single, " Morning Coffee ". The success of this single (hitting number six on
264-667: A cheery dance sequence. The group soon released another single, " Roman: My Dear Boy ". The song showcased an almost rock flavor and centered its lyrics around offering "a dance" to a boy. This was followed by their twenty-third single, " Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari ", which is unique in that it was actually about the Morning Musume girls themselves—each member got a verse about their personality. This song would later be remade several times as "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari 2" and "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari 3", included in their sixth and seventh album respectively. This single also marked
330-948: A different name, One Up Music (One Up is a combination of Warner Music Japan (the label that distributed One Up Music's catalog) and Up-Front Group (One Up Music's parent company)). However, in April 1998, one month before the release of " Summer Night Town ", One Up Music ended its distribution deal with Warner, and was rebranded as Zetima when it merged with Y.J. Sounds (another former Up-Front Group -affiliated label). Distribution rights would be given to Sony Music Japan 's sub label Epic Records for " Summer Night Town ", " First Time ", and all of Zetima's subsequent releases. The group released its fourth single " Memory Seishun no Hikari " in early 1999, reaching number two on Oricon , second to Glay 's " Winter, Again " which had first week sales of 955,780 copies. The song features rap passages by L The Headtoucha and intense vocal harmonization by
396-410: A distinctive call and response chants, with Rika Ishikawa as the center focus. British newspaper The Guardian described the promotional video echoed the song's "strangeness" by placing the group in the middle of what appeared to be a gigantic public bathroom, displaying the girls dancing amongst the urinals and posing for photographs in the stalls; supposedly as a response to hidden camera footage of
462-551: A group tailored towards younger audiences with all the members being less than 150 cm (about 5 ft) tall. Mika Todd of Coconuts Musume was later added into the group and Tsunku made them official. Their debut single, " Minimoni Jankenpyon! ", was a number one hit on the Oricon. As an idol group, they were extremely successful, drawing comparisons to the popularity of former girl idol group Speed . " I Wish " and " Renai Revolution 21 " (Yuko Nakazawa's last single) continued
528-404: A guest appearance in a drama, Kochira Hon Ikegami Sho 2 that year, as a hit-and-run victim's sister. In late 2004, Tsunku's chose to give Konno the main vocals for " Namida ga Tomaranai Hōkago ". In March 2006, she proved her athletic abilities by placing first in the 1500 meter race at Hello! Project's 2006 sports festival in the time of six minutes and thirteen seconds , getting her
594-410: A new generation search. The fourth generation consisted of Rika Ishikawa , Hitomi Yoshizawa , Nozomi Tsuji , and Ai Kago , lending a completely different feel to the group by adding the 12-year-old duo of Tsuji and Kago. After their debut single, " Happy Summer Wedding ", (continuing the legacy of number one hits with 1,370,000 copies sold,) Sayaka Ichii left to pursue her own music career. She became
660-410: A slight rock flavor, featured Kaori Iida, Rika Ishikawa, Nozomi Tsuji, Makoto Ogawa, Miki Fujimoto, Sayumi Michishige, and Reina Tanaka. Sakuragumi released two singles: " Hare Ame Nochi Suki " and " Sakura Mankai ", and Otomegumi released two singles as well: " Ai no Sono: Touch My Heart! " and " Yūjō: Kokoro no Busu ni wa Naranee! ". The last single of Morning Musume in 2003 to feature the entire group
726-467: A strong backlash from the labor union and led to a four-year dispute between the two. In 1967, Tokyo Channel 12 changed its reconstruction plan again, extending the daily broadcast time to 8 hours and 10 minutes, and Requesting companies in the financial sector to donate funds for reconstruction and restart advertising activities. At the same time, four other private TV stations in Tokyo and NHK also formed
SECTION 10
#1732790657807792-614: Is headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi , Minato, Tokyo . TV Tokyo is one of the five private broadcasters based in Tokyo, and the last to have started its broadcasts on VHF. The predecessor of TV Tokyo was Tokyo Channel 12, which was broadcast using the bandwidth returned by the US military stationed in Japan. However, similar to Nihon Educational Television (NET TV), which
858-405: Is married to professional baseball player Toshihiro Sugiura in 2017 and they have four children. Source: Morning Musume Morning Musume '24 ( モーニング娘。 '24 , Mōningu Musume Two-Four. ) , formerly and commonly known as Morning Musume ( モーニング娘。 , Mōningu Musume. ) and colloquially referred to as Momusu ( モー娘。 , Mōmusu. ) , is a Japanese girl group , holding
924-406: The 1964 Tokyo Olympics , Tokyo Channel 12 set aside all programs other than higher education for Olympic broadcasts, with the longest broadcast time among the flagship stations. However, due to the extremely low ratings of Tokyo Channel 12’s educational programs (in the first year of its launch, the average daily ratings of Tokyo Channel 12 were only 1% and only 2% during prime time). as well as
990-460: The MVP award. On July 23, 2006, Konno graduated from Morning Musume and Hello! Project to continue her studies at a university. The last single and album she participated in were " Ambitious! Yashinteki de Ii Jan " and Rainbow 7 . The news of Konno's acceptance to Keio University was announced on December 11, 2006. On December 28, 2006, she confirmed these claims personally, in a message posted on
1056-547: The Nikkei and MBS signed a memorandum of understanding which stipulated that Tokyo Channel 12 should share programs with Nihon Educational Television (NET, now TV Asahi ), this arrangement lasted until 1975. In October 1977 Tokyo Channel 12 Production was renamed Tokyo Channel 12, Ltd. ( 株式会社東京12チャンネル , Kabushiki-gaisha Tōkyō Jūni-channeru ) ; and shortened the channel's name to Tokyo Channel 12 ( 東京12チャンネル , Tōkyō Jūni-channeru ) , dropping "Science TV" from its name. At
1122-520: The "Science TV Coordination Committee" to assist in the reconstruction of Tokyo Channel 12 and provide broadcasting parts Program. These measures halved the accumulated losses of Tokyo Channel 12 to approximately 1.743 billion yen in 1967. On March 28, 1968, Tokyo Channel 12 began broadcasting color programs. As the operating conditions of Tokyo Channel 12 were in trouble again in 1968, the Science and Technology Promotion Foundation decided to abandon
1188-619: The Japanese economy being in a securities recession at the time, Tokyo Channel 12 fell into serious operating difficulties after it started broadcasting. In the first year of broadcasting, it recorded a deficit of 1.38 billion yen. In 1966, Tokyo Channel 12 decided to shorten daily broadcasting to 5 hours and 30 minutes, and attempts are made to rebuild by requesting donations from powerful financial companies, laying off employees, and suspending advertising business activities. However, Tokyo Channel 12 planned to lay off 200 people. This triggered
1254-476: The Japanese pop charts) brought them three new members known as the second generation: Kei Yasuda , Mari Yaguchi , and Sayaka Ichii , bringing the total member count to eight. The second single, " Summer Night Town ", was the first single of the new lineup—a mature pop tune about unsuccessfully attempting to hide one's true feelings. Their third single, " Daite Hold on Me! ", continued in the same vein musically as Summer Night Town, and managed to hit number one on
1320-488: The Lucky 7 audition would be added to Morning Musume, citing that he had set his expectations extra-high this year in hopes of finding an "ace". This was the first time an audition had ended with no new members. In November 2004, Morning Musume released " Namida ga Tomaranai Hōkago ", a ballad that featured Asami Konno, Miki Fujimoto, Sayumi Michishige, and Rika Ishikawa. Following this single Morning Musume Early Single Box
1386-570: The Ministry of Post for a television broadcast license for the VHF12 channel returned by the U.S. military stationed in Japan. As part of the license application, the majority of programs were set to be science and technology education programs; the rest were to be general education and news programs. However, after this decision was issued, three other companies participating in the bidding, including Central Educational Broadcasting, raised objections to
SECTION 20
#17327906578071452-611: The Postmaster General, and the debate was not concluded until 1969. After the Science and Technology Promotion Foundation obtained the broadcasting license, it immediately invited Kurata, the then president of Hitachi Production Co., Ltd., to serve as the head of the television business headquarters and began preparations for the launch. At noon on April 12, 1964, Tokyo Channel 12 officially launched (broadcasting as Science TV Tokyo Channel 12 Television ( 科学テレビ東京12チャンネルテレビ , Kagaku Terebi Tōkyō Jūni-channeru Terebi ) );
1518-505: The audition "Love Audition 21:" Ai Takahashi , Asami Konno , Makoto Ogawa , and Risa Niigaki , bringing the roster to 13 girls. Their first single " Mr. Moonlight: Ai no Big Band ", (done in the style of big band ) featured fourth generation member Hitomi Yoshizawa as the central focus and main vocalist of the song. In February, " Sōda! We're Alive ", another hit, was released. It featured many different styles combined into one song, centered on Mari Yaguchi. In July 2002, " Do It! Now "
1584-502: The charts. Leader Nakazawa also started her solo career. " First Time " was released in July 1998, featuring the singles " Ai no Tane ", " Morning Coffee " and " Summer Night Town ". That year, Tsunku also formed Tanpopo , the first subgroup of Morning Musume, with Kaori Iida , Aya Ishiguro, and Mari Yaguchi . Tanpopo touted slower, more mature songs. When " Morning Coffee " was released, however, Morning Musume's label Zetima went by
1650-618: The current 13-person formation,) " The Peace! ", (in a 'full', longer version,) " Mr. Moonlight: Ai no Big Band ", (with added dialog at the beginning,) and "Sōda! We're Alive". Late 2002 was marked by the graduation of Maki Goto and a mass re-shuffle of the sub-units. Tsunku removed Kaori Iida, Mari Yaguchi, and Ai Kago from Tanpopo, adding in Asami Konno, Risa Niigaki, and Ayumi Shibata of Melon Kinenbi to join Rika Ishikawa. Tanpopo only released one single with this lineup before
1716-645: The first program broadcast was the special program "The Birth of Tokyo Channel 12", and the NHK Symphony Orchestra concert, the 90-minute TV series "The Shore of Sorrow" and variety shows such as "Good Night 21st Century" were broadcast. On the first day of broadcast, Tokyo Channel 12's average full-day ratings were 2.1%, and the average prime-time ratings were 3.4%. When Tokyo Channel 12 was launched, its main programs were mainly industrial high school lectures, supplemented by news, social education, TV dramas, foreign movies and other programs. During
1782-499: The group in 1997 through an audition for a female rock vocalist for his band Sharam Q . The audition was held on the Japanese TV show Asayan . The winner was Michiyo Heike , later to become a soloist under what would eventually become known as Hello! Project . Tsunku decided to form a girl group consisting of five of the runners-up: Natsumi Abe , Yuko Nakazawa , Kaori Iida , Asuka Fukuda , and Aya Ishiguro. They were issued
1848-518: The group was put on an indefinite hiatus status. Makoto Ogawa and Ayaka Kimura of Coconuts Musume joined Hitomi Yoshizawa in Petitmoni to replace Kei Yasuda and Maki Goto, but the group did not even release a single, only performing in concerts. Their song "Wow Wow Wow" was later released on the Hello! Project's compilation CD Petit Best 4 . In Mini Moni, Mari Yaguchi was replaced by Ai Takahashi and
1914-622: The group's members. This was Asuka Fukuda 's last single with Morning Musume; Asuka claimed that she was leaving in order to focus on her studies, only to drop out of school soon after. " Manatsu no Kōsen " was released in May and went to number three on the charts. Their sixth single, " Furusato ", was released in July. Second Morning was released in July 1999, and contained the singles "Daite Hold on Me!", "Memory Seishun no Hikari", "Manatsu no Kōsen", and "Furusato". "Daite Hold on Me!" and "Manatsu no Kōsen" were remixed. Tsunku held auditions for
1980-404: The judges of the audition. Producer Tsunku even referred to her as a failure, but was curious to see how the addition of such a member would cause Morning Musume to change and grow She debuted on the group's thirteenth single, " Mr. Moonlight (Ai no Big Band) ," released on October 31, 2001. Her first album appearance was the fourth album 4th Ikimasshoi! , released on March 27, 2002. In May of
2046-404: The largest shareholder of Tokyo Channel 12 Production. In 1970, Tokyo Channel 12 achieved 100% colorization of evening prime-time programs and achieved profitability for the first time in the same year through business activities. On October 24, 1973, Tokyo Channel 12 Production Co., Ltd. changed its company name to Tokyo Channel 12 Co., Ltd. (Tokyo 12 Channel Co., Ltd.), officially taking over
Asami Konno - Misplaced Pages Continue
2112-408: The leaving of fourth-generation members Nozomi Tsuji and Ai Kago in August, to focus on " W ", their new duo group. In April 2004, Rika Ishikawa was caught in a rare scandal, as an audio recording revealed her saying of the group's fans at a show, "look at them. Grownups screaming like that! I can't believe it. So stupid!" In mid-2004, Morning Musume's second best-of album, Best! Morning Musume 2
2178-426: The main Hello! Project website. Although she was officially no longer part of Hello! Project at the time, on January 28, 2007, she appeared on stage at Hello! Project's 10th anniversary concert. On June 18, 2007, Up-Front Agency confirmed that Konno was returning to Hello! Project to rejoin members of Gatas Brilhantes H.P. in the Japanese pop idol group Ongaku Gatas . Their first single " Narihajimeta Koi no Bell "
2244-410: The members that had recently surfaced, filmed from a toilet in their production offices. At the end of January 2001, the best selling Hello! Project album to date was released: Best! Morning Musume 1 . It sold 2,259,510 copies. It featured 15 tracks, the only original song being "Say Yeah! -Motto Miracle Night-". At the end of 2001, four new members joined the group as the fifth generation through
2310-490: The nature of her departure, Yaguchi did not receive a leaving concert. Sub-leader Hitomi Yoshizawa took over as the leader of Morning Musume, and Miki Fujimoto became sub-leader as of July 15, 2005. Just days after Yaguchi resigned, on April 27, 2005, the group's twenty-sixth single, " Osaka Koi no Uta " was released. The final version featured Yaguchi still, presumably because they did not have enough time to rerecord and remix it. The lyrics are in an Osaka dialect . This single
2376-420: The new lineup went on to put out several singles and a second album until member Mika Todd left in May 2004, adding Mini Moni to the list of "indefinite hiatus" subgroups. In October " Koko ni Iruzee! " was released, a fast-paced, feel-good song about making the most of life and music's ability to unite the world. It was number one on Oricon . The unique childlike tune " Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyōtanjima "
2442-737: The operation of Tokyo Channel 12 from the Science and Technology Promotion Foundation. On November 1 of the same year, as the Ministry of Post and Post abolished the educational television license in the Keihin area, Tokyo Channel 12 was officially transformed into a comprehensive television station, and the program broadcast ratio was changed to 20% of educational programs, 30% of educational programs, and other programs 50%. In March 1975, due to Mainichi Broadcasting joining JNN, Tokyo Channel 12 terminated its relationship with Mainichi Broadcasting Network and strengthened cooperation with Kinki local independent stations SUN TV and Kinki Broadcasting. In 1969,
2508-433: The physical demands of the group's activities) making Kaori Iida and Kei Yasuda Morning Musume's co-leaders. During this time, Rika Ishikawa was "lent" out to the rather inactive group, Country Musume . She did not officially join, but participated as a feature singers in number of their singles. By July 2001 the string of number one hits had yet to be broken with the release of the single " The Peace! ". The Peace! features
2574-436: The previous method of soliciting donations from the financial sector and instead invited the financial sector to inject capital to rebuild the television department. On July 1 of the same year, twenty companies in the Japanese financial circle, including Mainichi Broadcasting, Hitachi Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and Nissan Motor, invested in the establishment of Tokyo Channel 12 Production Company (Tokyo Twelve Channel Co., Ltd.) with
2640-752: The same time, the station moved to Shiba Park . A month later, it became a general-purpose TV station along with NET. On April 1, 1978, Tokyo launched a new production company, Softx. In 1981, it was again renamed, this time to Television Tokyo Channel 12, Ltd. d/b/a TV Tokyo ; the current Japanese name of the company was also assumed in the same year. In 1983, TV Tokyo formed the Mega TON Network (now TX Network ) with TV Osaka , and Aichi Television Broadcasting . The company shifted its head offices from Shiba Park to Toranomon in December 1985. On October 4, 1999, Tokyo's production company Softx
2706-582: The same year, Konno was unexpectedly given the lead role for the second half of Morning Musume's annual play, Morning Town . In the summer of that year, she also debuted in a shuffle unit , as part of Odoru 11 . She was separated from all the other fifth generation members, who were in Happy 7 . Later in September, all the fifth generation members were placed into a subgroup . Along with fellow member Risa Niigaki and Melon Kinenbi 's Ayumi Shibata Konno
Asami Konno - Misplaced Pages Continue
2772-887: The second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top-ten singles, having 64 of them. Morning Musume was formed in 1997 by rock singer-songwriter turned record producer Tsunku , who later composed the vast majority of the group's songs over the decade. They are the lead group of Hello! Project that specialises in upbeat, pop-oriented music coupled with dance performance. The group produced several splinter groups, and often collaborates with other Hello! Project acts, including Country Musume , Berryz Kobo , Cute , Melon Kinenbi , and V-u-den . The group's name can be translated as "Morning Girls" or "Morning Daughters"; it consists of members mostly in their late adolescence and early 20s. Japanese producer Tsunku started
2838-435: The sixth generation. The sixth generation's first single was " Shabondama ", which featured "break-up" lyrics, a seemingly spontaneous dance routine, and rolled "r"s . Mari Yaguchi became Morning Musume's sub-leader after Kei's departure and was also put in charge of training and assisting the trainee group of Hello! Project Kids , eventually forming a group with five of them, known as ZYX . Later in 2003, Morning Musume
2904-464: The sixth generation: Miki Fujimoto , Eri Kamei , Sayumi Michishige , and Reina Tanaka . Eri Kamei, Sayumi Michishige, and Reina Tanaka successfully passed the traditional auditions; however, Miki Fujimoto was a solo singer in Hello!Project at the time. After appearing on the New Year's music program "Kōhaku Uta Gassen" with several Morning Musume members dancing as backup, Tsunku added her as part of
2970-485: The sole "miracle" member of the new generation. On April 10, 2005, photos were taken of Mari Yaguchi with Shun Oguri (scheduled to be published in a gossip magazine Friday! on the 15th). On April 14, 2005, Yaguchi announced that she would "retire" from Morning Musume and would continue on with solo activities. In her public statement, Yaguchi said that due to the scandal and its publicity, she could no longer sustain an "idol" image befitting of Morning Musume. Because of
3036-547: The third generation of Morning Musume, and Maki Goto was added. Goto was 13, the youngest member of Morning Musume at the time. The group's seventh single, " Love Machine ", sold 1,760,000 copies, making it a major hit; it is still their highest-selling single as of 2012. It was Maki Goto's first single and Aya Ishiguro's last. Goto was paired with Kei Yasuda and Sayaka Ichii to form the subgroup Petitmoni (also known as Pucchi Moni). Petitmoni's first single, " Chokotto Love ", sold over 1,123,610 copies. " Koi no Dance Site "
3102-399: The trend of happy pop songs becoming staple hits for the group. Morning Musume also began their tradition of performing in musicals each year, breaking new ground as idols with their musical Love Century: Yume wa Minakerya Hajimaranai . In April 2001, group leader Yuko Nakazawa left to focus on her solo career (stating her age as a factor as well—she felt it was limiting her ability to meet
3168-410: The vocalist of Japanese group Cubic Cross and later married fellow member Naoki Yoshizawa (no relation to Hitomi Yoshizawa). With Ishiguro and Ichii gone, both Tanpopo and Petitmoni revised their lineups—Hitomi Yoshizawa joined Petitmoni, and Ai Kago and Rika Ishikawa were added to Tanpopo. Meanwhile, Mari Yaguchi had started performing informally with Ai Kago and Nozomi Tsuji in concerts as Mini Moni ,
3234-436: Was " Go Girl: Koi no Victory ", which had the members girlishly proclaiming the victory of their love. In January 2004, Natsumi Abe (known as "the face of Morning Musume" to the general public) left to pursue a soloist career. Her last single was " Ai Araba It's All Right ", Morning Musume's last song to sell more than 100,000 copies until ' One Two Three / The Matenrou Show '. "Ai Araba It's All Right" had uplifting lyrics and
3300-411: Was Ai Kago, Nozomi Tsuji, Kaori Iida, Mari Yaguchi, and Rika Ishikawa's last credited studio album. On January 30, 2005, then-leader and the last member from the first generation Kaori Iida left to pursue a solo singer/artist career, with Mari Yaguchi taking on leadership role with Hitomi Yoshizawa as subleader. Her last single was " The Manpower!!! ", which sung about the abilities of the human race and
3366-590: Was also Rika Ishikawa's last. She left on May 7, 2005, to assume full-time leadership of the Hello! Project trio known as v-u-den . TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as TV Tokyo , is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network . It is owned and operated by TV Tokyo Corporation , itself a subsidiary of the TV Tokyo Holdings Corporation , in turn controlled by Nikkei, Inc. It
SECTION 50
#17327906578073432-473: Was also a private educational television station, Tokyo Channel 12 faced a serious business crisis after its launch due to low ratings. Nikkei, Inc. took over the operation of Tokyo Channel 12 in 1969 and officially converted it into a comprehensive television station in 1973. In 1981, Tokyo Channel 12 was renamed TV Tokyo. On July 2, 1960, the Japan Science and Technology Promotion Foundation applied to
3498-503: Was also the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles theme song. The beginning of 2005 also saw the beginning of Musume Document 2005 , which covered behind-the-scenes material, historical footage, and interviews. In February 2005, Tsunku started another audition for Morning Musume's seventh generation. He noted that he was still intent on finding an "ace". This audition resulted with Koharu Kusumi finally being chosen as
3564-419: Was announced via the Hello! Project official site on October 1, 2010, that she would debut as a reporter for TV Tokyo in April 2011. It was announced on Tokyo Hive that she and her co-host would be releasing a single titled "Jyunjyou Fighter". Konno and fellow former 5th generation member Makoto Ogawa made a special appearance at Morning Musume's Autumn Tour the day before Ai Takahashi 's graduation. She
3630-513: Was put into Tanpopo as the third generation. They only released one single. Konno starred in a drama entitled Angel Hearts which was released in 2002. 2003, she was placed into Sakuragumi. Konno became one of its founding members, and remained with the unit until her graduation. In July of the same year, she was added into Japanese idol pop band Country Musume with Miki Fujimoto . Under this new formation, named "Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto", three singles were released. She also made
3696-476: Was released and featured "Yah! Aishitai" as the only new track. It had a lukewarm reception at best, compared to their first best-of compilation. Auditions for the seventh generation (named "Lucky 7" to commemorate the seventh generation, the seventh year of Morning Musume, and seven audition sites across Japan) were held in various Japan cities in late 2004, resulting in six finalists. However, on January 9, 2005, Tsunku surprised everyone by announcing that no one in
3762-462: Was released at the same date as Koi no Dance Site. Aya Ishiguro left the group before the single was released in order to marry Shinya , drummer of visual kei rock band Luna Sea , leaving the group with seven members. The second event of 2000 was the creation of " shuffle units ", in which all members of Tsunku's then 16-member family, Hello! Project , were shuffled around to form three one-time groups: Akagumi 4 , Kiiro 5 , and Aoiro 7 . The idea
3828-519: Was released in February 2003 as the group's seventeenth single. It is significant because it was a cover song, marking the first time Tsunku did not write a single's lyrics. April brought the notably successful single " As for One Day " —a synthesizer-driven song about lost love—which sold 129,893 copies and hit number one in Oricon charts, and was the last time a Morning Musume single hit number one until " Aruiteru " (released late 2006). This single
3894-424: Was released in early 2000, reaching number two and selling over a million copies—400,000 away from reaching "Love Machine"'s success. The single had the highest 1st week sales than any other Morning Musume's singles, an enormous amount of 600,860 copies. Even with this large number, the single did not reach number one because Southern All Stars 's biggest hit single, Tsunami , which sold total of 2.93 million copies,
3960-571: Was released on August 22, 2007. It was stated that Konno would remain an active member within the agency and Ongaku Gatas while continuing her university studies. She performed at the Hello Pro Award '09 Elder Club Sotsugyo Kinen Special concert on February 1, 2009. In early 2009, Konno graduated from Hello! Project with the rest of the Elder Club, though continued as a member of her band Ongaku Gatas, and continuing to tour with them. It
4026-456: Was released. It was a 9-CD set containing their first eight singles with a bonus track on each one, as well as a karaoke CD of some of their more popular tunes from the early years. Finally, at the end of 2004, the group's yearly album was released. Their sixth studio album, named Ai no Dai 6 Kan , hit stores in December. It contained three singles: " Roman: My Dear Boy ", " Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari ", and " Namida ga Tomaranai Hōkago ". This
SECTION 60
#17327906578074092-472: Was released. This single finally broke the line of number one hits and came in at number three—a surprising fact to many, considering it was Maki Goto's last single. Morning Musume's fourth studio album, 4th Ikimasshoi! was released in March 2002 after a two-year wait. It is the first studio album from the group to reach number one on Oricon . It featured the singles " Renai Revolution 21 ", (rerecorded with
4158-487: Was renamed TV Tokyo MediaNet. In 2004, TV Tokyo MediaNet was shortened to MediaNet. On June 25, 2004, the company assumed its current English name TV Tokyo Corporation. After the digital transition, the channel began broadcasting on digital channel 7. On November 7, 2016, TV Tokyo moved its headquarters to the new building at Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower from its old studios in Toranomon. The network initially used
4224-402: Was split into two subgroups so that it could tour more cities (especially smaller cities that could not support a 15-member troupe). Morning Musume Sakuragumi , which focused on slower and more traditional love songs, included Natsumi Abe, Mari Yaguchi, Hitomi Yoshizawa, Ai Kago, Ai Takahashi, Risa Niigaki, Asami Konno and Eri Kamei. Morning Musume Otomegumi , which had more upbeat pop songs with
4290-519: Was the last for Kei Yasuda. Before the auditions for the sixth generation were held, the group released the album No. 5 . It was unique in a few ways. It was the last studio album to feature Kei Yasuda and Natsumi Abe as full members of the group. It was also the first Morning Musume studio album to feature a former member, as Maki Goto guests on "Megami (Mousse na Yasashisa)" and "Ganbacchae!". It only featured two singles: " Do It! Now " and " Koko ni Iruzee! ". In mid-2003, four new girls were added as
4356-450: Was to battle for the highest single sales. This was achieved by Akagumi 4 which boasted Maki Goto as the lead vocals. In March, their third studio album, 3rd: Love Paradise was released. Despite having " Love Machine " and " Koi no Dance Site " on its track list, it did not manage to claim the number one spot, but did sell more than 800,000 copies, making it Morning Musume's highest-selling studio album to date. This year also brought
#806193