Country Musume
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Country Musume (カントリー娘。) was a Hello! Project group made up of country girls from Hokkaido. Satoda Mai is the sole remaining member of the group.
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: 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, Asami in 2000.
However, by the end of the year, producer Tanaka decided to share the executive producer's position of the group Tsunku, 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, many changes were to occur yet again. While Miuna (of Shizuoka) was added to Country Musume, Tanaka had pulled out completely from producing the group (leaving Tsunku as the sole producer), and Ishikawa Rika returned to her full-time activities with Morning Musume. 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, the group performed at several Hello! Project concerts, with their first concert (sans Konno and Fujimoto) in 2006.
In November 2006, Asami and Miuna announced their graduations from Country Musume and from Hello! Project. They graduated on January 28, 2007, at the end of Hello! Project's 2007 Winter concert tour. Konno and Fujimoto eventually returned to their activities with Morning Musume and soon left the group. 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
- Kobayashi Azusa (小林梓, left August 1999)
- Yanagihara Hiromi (柳原尋美, deceased July 1999)
- Rinne (りんね, graduated October 2002)
- Asami (あさみ, joined May 2000, graduated January 2007)
- Satoda Mai (里田まい, joined March 2002)
- Miuna (みうな, joined May 2003, graduated January 2007)
Morning Musume
- Ishikawa Rika (石川梨華, joined 2001, left June 2003)
- Konno Asami (紺野あさ美, joined June 2003, left 2004)
- Fujimoto Miki (藤本美貴, joined June 2003, left 2004)
Timeline
Discography
Singles
| # | Title | Release date | First Week sales | Total sales | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country Musume | |||||
| 1 | 二人の北海道 (Futari no Hokkaido) | 1999.07.23 | -- | -- | |
| 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 | |
| Satoda Mai (Country Musume) | |||||
| 12 | オヤジの心に灯った小さな火 (Oyaji no Kokoro ni Tomotta Chiisa na Hi) | 2007.05.23 | 1,074 | 1,074 | |
Albums
| # | Title | Release date | First week sales | Total sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | カントリー娘。大全集① (Country Musume Daizenshuu ①) | 2001.12.12 | -- | -- |
| 2 | カントリー娘。大全集② (Country Musume Daizenshuu ②) | 2006.08.23 | 3,746 | 4,512 |
| 3 | カントリー娘。 ＭＥＧＡベスト (Country Musume MEGA Best) | 2008.12.10 |
Other Songs
- Atarashii Koi no Hatsu Date - Appears on Pucchi Best 3
Concert DVDs
- [2007.02.??] カントリー娘。ＬＩＶＥ２００６ ～Ｓｈｉｂｕｙａ ｄｅｓ Ｄａｔｅ～ (Country Musume LIVE 2006 ~Shibuya des Date~) (FC Limited Release)
PV Compilation 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)
Photobooks
- [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。
- Asami and Miuna's graduation announcement
| Hello! Project: Country Musume (edit) |
| Members: Satoda Mai (L) |
| Past Members: Kobayashi Azusa | Yanagihara Hiromi | Toda Rinne | Kimura Asami | Saitou Miuna | MM: Ishikawa Rika | Konno Asami | Fujimoto Miki |
| Singles: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| Albums: Country Musume Daizenshuu 1 | Country Musume Daizenshuu 2 |
Categories: J-Pop | Groups | Hello! Project | Hiatus
