Hagiwara Mai

Hagiwara Mai (萩原 舞) born February 7, 1996 is a Japanese pop singer signed to Hello! Project. She is currently a member of the group °C-ute as well as being a member of the Hello! Project Kids. She joined Hello! Project Kids in 2002 through the audition and was later put into°C-ute in 2005. As well as being in both °C-ute and Hello! Project Kids, Hagiwara has also taken part in the oneshot unit Kira☆Pika alongside Morning Musume member, Kusumi Koharu.

2002
Hagiwara Mai took part in the 2002 auditions to determine the line-up of the Hello! Project Kids and passed along with fourteen other girls. Her audtion song was "Te wo Nigitte Arukitai" by Goto Maki. She made her first appearance in the entertainment industry as a member of 4Kids, a temporary group that appeared in Mini Moni's movie Mini Moni ja Movie: Okashi na Daibōken!.

2003 - 2004
Hagiwara Mai continued her work within the Hello! Project Kids, namely performing alongside Morning Musume at concerts as backing dancers. In late 2004 Hagiwara took part in her first Hello! Project shuffle unit, H.P. All Stars, taking part alongside all the members of Hello! Project at the time. The shuffle unit released one single and became inactive by January 2005.

2005
In 2005 Hagiwara Mai was assigned as a member of Hello! Project group °C-ute alongside seven other Hello! Project Kids members. These seven members had been passed over when it came to the forming of Berryz Koubou, which had originally been formed to teach the Hello! Project Kids about being in a group by rotating the line-up amongst the Kids. Originally °C-ute was releasing on an indie label, but in 2007 they made their major debut.

2006
Hagiwara Mai released four indie singles as a part of °C-ute in this year as a preparation for the major debut in 2007. °C-ute also released their first album, "Cutie Queen Vol. 1".

2007
On February 21, 2007 °C-ute released their debut single, "Sakura Chirari". On the first day in the charts it ranked third on the Oricon charts, a feat not even accomplished by Hello! Project's mother group Morning Musume (who had ranked 6th on their debut single). With their debut single, they became the youngest group (with the average age of 13) to rank in the top 10. Hagiwara provided the minor vocals for their debut single.

Hagiwara also joined with Morning Musume's Kusumi Koharu to form a oneshot unit named Kira☆Pika. The group was formed to perform songs for the anime Kirarin Revolution, as both girls lend their voices to characters in the series. They released their debut single on August 1, 2007.

2008
Hagiwara continued her duties within °C-ute, releasing four singles and a third studio album. Hagiwara provided the minor vocals on °C-ute's fourth major single, "Lalala Shiawase no Uta".

2009
°C-ute released their fourth studio album, "4 Akogare My Star", on January 28th and their 8th major single is scheduled to be released on April 15th, titled "Bye Bye Bye!". Higawara Mai, along with four other members of °C-ute and Berryz Koubou left the Hello! Project futsal team, Gatas Brillhantes H.P.. The members left of their own violition due to feeling that they could not perform as high level players due to their level of ability.

Trivia

 * Hagiwara Mai's older sister audtioned alongside Mai but failed to pass.
 * Hagiwara is the youngest member of the Hello! Project Kids and of °C-ute.
 * Hagiwara used to hold the record for the youngest participant on NHK's Kouhaku Uta Gassen. She appeared on the 2007 edition at the age of 11, dethroning Morning Musume's Kago Ai (who previously held the record for her 2000 appearance at the age of 12). However, in the 2008 edition Nozomi Ohashi sang the theme song to Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea at age 9, breaking Mai's record.
 * Hagiwara Mai was just six years old when she joined as part of the Hello! Project Kids, and was the youngest to ever join until Aiko of Frances &amp; Aiko joined in 2009. Aiko was born after Hagiwara joined H!P.
 * She provided the voice for Mizuki Hikaru in the anime Kirarin Revolution.
 * Hagiwara's number while she was in Gatas Brillhantes H.P. was 14.
 * In Episode 36 of Gintama, 3 members of °C-ute — Okai Chisato, Hagiwara Mai and Suzuki Airi — appear at 14:40 when they start to do the same movements that the dojo does ( "Dream Catcher" ).

Television shows

 * °C-ute Has Come (Episode 8, February 17, 2007)
 * Sento no Musume!?(銭湯の娘!?, "The Daughter of a Public Bath Owner!?"), January 30, 2006 to March 31, 2006 as Hinako