Country Musume

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 Yanagihara

Country Musume (カントリー娘。, Kantorī Musume^?) is an all-female Japanese pop group within Hello! Project.

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 Fujimoto
10	"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

1. ^ Hello! Project official site announcement. Retrieved 2006-11-26.

External links

• (Japanese) Official Hello! Project Profile