- Country Musume
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Country Musume Also known as Kan Musume, Kan Musu, Country Musume ni Rika Ishikawa, Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto Origin Japan Genres Pop Years active 1999–present Labels zetima Associated acts Morning Musume, Ongaku Gatas, H!P Summer Shuffles, v-u-den Website Profile on Hello! Project Official Website Members Mai Satoda Past members Asami Kimura
Miuna Saito
Miki Fujimoto
Asami Konno
Rika Ishikawa
Rinne Toda
Azusa Kobayashi
Hiromi YanagiharaCountry Musume (カントリー娘。 Kantorī Musume ) is an all-female Japanese pop group within Hello! Project.
Contents
History
Country Musume was formed in 1999 and was billed as "Country Girls from Hokkaidō". The initial group consisted of members and Hokkaidō natives Rinne Toda, Azusa Kobayashi, and Hiromi Yanagihara.
Shortly before release of their first single in July 1999, Yanagihara was killed in a car accident. After the tragedy, Kobayashi departed from the group and Toda carried on as a soloist, releasing two singles under the "Country Musume" name by herself. In summer of 2000, Asami Kimura was added to the group and the duo released one more single.
Their popularity rose when Morning Musume's Rika Ishikawa—who is from Kanagawa and not Hokkaidō—was lent into the group in April 2001; the Country Musume had their first charting single in Japan with the release of "Hajimete no Happy Birthday." The trio under the name "Country Musume ni Rika Ishikawa" released two singles and an album. Early in 2002, Mai Satoda was recruited into the group although she initially auditioned to be a Morning Musume member.
The quartet released one single before Toda (the remaining original member) bid farewell at the end of 2002. Afterwards, Kimura, Ishikawa, and Satoda released one more single.
In mid-2003, Country Musume had a major shift in its roster. Miuna Saito, who is from Shizuoka, was recruited into the group. Instead of Rika Ishikawa, the group featured Asami Konno and Miki Fujimoto, both from Morning Musume and are Hokkaidō natives. Under this new formation (named "Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto"), the quintet has released three singles as of date. In 2004, Country Musume (except the featured singers) participated on the fifth edition of Hello! Project's Folk Songs series, where various H!P artists sing covers of Japanese and Western folk songs.
Kimura and Saito graduated from Country Musume and Hello! Project in its 10th anniversary concert on January 28, 2007[1] leaving Satoda as the only remaining member.
Discography
Albums
# Title Release date Members 1 Country Musume Daizenshu 1 (カントリー娘。大全集 ① ) 2001-12-12 Toda, Kimura, Ishikawa 2 Country Musume Daizenshu 2 (カントリー娘。大全集 ② ) 2006-08-23 — Singles
# Title Release date Members Country Musume 1 "Futari no Hokkaido" (二人の北海道 ) 1999-07-23 Yanagihara, Kobayashi and Toda 2 "Yukigeshiki" (雪景色 ) 1999-11-30 Toda 3 "Hokkaido Shalala" (北海道シャララ ) 2000-04-27 4 "Koi ga Suteki na Kisetsu" (恋がステキな季節 ) 2000-07-31 Toda and Kimura Country Musume ni Ishikawa Rika 5 "Hajimete no Happy Birthday" (初めてのハッピーバースディ! ) 2001-04-18 Toda, Kimura and Ishikawa 6 "Koibito wa Kokoro no Ōendan" (恋人は心の応援団 ) 2001-10-17 7 "Iroppoi Onna ~Sexy Baby~" (色っぽい女 ~Sexy Baby~ ) 2002-04-17 Toda, Kimura, Satoda and Ishikawa 8 "Bye Bye Saigo no Yoru" (Bye Bye 最後の夜 ) 2002-11-13 Kimura, Satoda and Ishikawa Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto 9 "Uwaki na Honey Pie" (浮気なハニーパイ ) 2003-07-24 Kimura, Satoda, Saitou,
Konno and Fujimoto10 "Senpai ~Love Again~" (先輩 ~Love Again~ ) 2003-12-05 11 "Shining Itoshiki Anata" (シャイニング 愛しき貴方 ) 2004-08-04 DVD
- 2003-11-17 Country Musume Single V Clips 1 (カントリー娘。シングルVクリップス 1 )
References
- ^ Hello! Project official site announcement. Retrieved 2006-11-26.
External links
Hello! Project Morning Musume Risa Niigaki · Sayumi Michishige · Reina Tanaka · Aika Mitsui · Mizuki Fukumura · Erina Ikuta · Riho Sayashi · Kanon Suzuki · Haruna Iikubo · Ayumi Ishida · Masaki Satō · Haruka KudōBerryz Kobo C-ute S/mileage Ayaka Wada · Yuuka Maeda · Kanon Fukuda · Kana Nakanishi · Akari Takeuchi · Rina Katsuta · Meimi TamuraSoloists Units Hello! Pro Taiwan Francis & AikoHello! Pro Korea Jang Da YeonHello! Pro Egg Rie Kaneko · Karin Miyamoto · Sayuki Takagi · Nanami Tanabe · Wakana Nagasawa · Kurumi Yoshihashi · Natsumi Taguchi · Ayumi Hamaura · Aina Otsuka · Minami Mogi · Rena OgawaFormer groups Aa! · Athena & Robikerotts · Coconuts Musume · Country Musume · Def.Diva · Ecomoni · GAM · Gomattō · Guardians 4 · H.P. All Stars · High-King · Hello! Project shuffle units · Kirari Tsukishima starring Koharu Kusumi (Morning Musume) · Kira☆Pika · MilkyWay · Minimoni · Morning Musume Sakuragumi · Morning Musume Otomegumi · Morning Musume Tanjō 10nen Kinentai · Natsumi Abe & Maimi Yajima (C-ute) · Nochiura Natsumi · Petitmoni · Sheki Dol · Shugo Chara Egg! · Taiyō to Ciscomoon (T&C Bomber) · Tanpopo · Romans · v-u-den · W · ZYXGraduated groups Graduated soloists Michiyo Heike · Chinatsu Miyoshi · Yuki Maeda · Aya Matsuura · Atsuko Inaba · Yuko Nakazawa · Rika Ishii · Miki Fujimoto · Maki Goto · Kei Yasuda · Natsumi Abe · Kaori Iida · Mari Yaguchi · Makoto Ogawa · Nozomi Tsuji · Hitomi Yoshizawa · Asami Konno · Rika Ishikawa · Erika Miyoshi · Yui OkadaRelated articles Gatas Brilhantes H.P. · Graduation · Haromoni@ · Hello! Morning · Hello! Project Kids · Kirarin Revolution · Single V · Tsunku · Up-Front WorksCategories:- Japanese girl groups
- Japanese idol groups
- Hello! Project groups
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