Kusumi Koharu

Kusumi Koharu (久住 小春, born July 15, 1992 in Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan), is a J-pop singer and voice actress in Hello! Project. She joined Morning Musume as the only seventh generation member and as the youngest soloist to debut in Hello! Project, being only twelve years old when she joined. Before she joined Morning Musume, she was the captain of her school's volleyball team. Kusumi's audition process and debut was documented during the 2005 episodes of TV Tokyo television show, Hello! Morning.

Biography
Kusumi Koharu auditioned for Morning Musume during the Lucky 7 Auditions held in Spring 2005 in producer Tsunku's search for an 'ace'; a new young girl that could bring a substantial amount of power to the most popular girl group in Japan, Morning Musume. Kusumi was chosen to be the ace member in April 2005 after competing against thousands of girls. She was announced as a new member of Morning Musume in May 2005 at Ishikawa Rika's graduation concert. From then on she recieved training in dancing and singing to prepare her for being an idol. Older Morning Musume member Michishige Sayumi was chosen to be Kusumi's mentor during this time.

Once her training had been completed, Kusumi became a fully active member of Morning Musume. She debuted with Morning Musume in July with the single, Iroppoi Jirettai, which happened to be Morning Musume's biggest hit of that year. On February 15, 2006 Morning Musume's seventh studio album was released titled Rainbow 7. This was the first album to feature Kusumi Koharu. Kusumi performed a duet on the album with her mentor, Michishige Sayumi, titled Rainbow Pink (レインボーピンク).

In Spring 2006, Kusumi was announced to be the voice and character for a new shoujo anime series, called Kirarin Revolution, which was based on a popular manga series. Kusumi Koharu then embarked on a solo career (while still remaining in Morning Musume) to promote Kirarin Revolution. Her singles were used as the opening and ending themes of the series. Kusumi became hugely successful in her solo career with her sales being beaten only by Morning Musume. Her second single, Balalaika, was one of the highest selling Hello! Project single in 2006.

In 2007 Kusumi was one of five past and present Morning Musume members to form Morning Musume Tanjō 10 Nen Kinentai (モーニング娘. 誕生10年記念隊, Morning Musume's 10th Anniversary Group) created to celebrate Morning Musume's tenth anniversary. The group released two singles and toured during 2007. Since Goto Maki (one of the other four members) left Hello! Project late that year, the group is considered to be disbanded.

In the same year Kusumi formed a group with Mai Hagiwara from ℃-ute called Kira☆Pika (きら☆ぴか). The group was based on an in-show, exclusive unit from Kirarin Revolution, as both girls lend their voices to the characters. The group released the first single on August 1, 2007. The group have not released a single since, however, and their status is uncertain.

In 2008 Koharu formed another group based on an in-show group called MilkyWay (ミルキィウェイ, Mirukii Wei) with Hello! Pro Egg members Sayaka Kitahara and Yuu Kikkawa. The unit was made mainly for the anime Kirarin Revolution as all girls lend voices to characters in the series. Their debut single "Anataboshi", released on April 30, 2008, attained a peak rank of #3 on Oricon weekly charts. The group released their second single "Tan! Tan! Taan!" on October 29, 2008 and it attained a peak pank of #8. The group's songs are used as opening and ending themes for Kirarin Revolution.

Kusumi Koharu's sixth solo single, "Hapi☆Hapi Sunday!" (はぴ☆はぴ サンデー！), will be released on February 4, 2009.

Profile

 * Name: Kusumi Koharu (久住小春)
 * Nickname: Koha, Kussun, Koha-chan, Koha-pink, Koharyu, Kohacchi
 * Birth date: 1992-07-15
 * Birthplace: Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, Japan
 * Blood Type: A
 * Height: 162cm
 * Hobbies: Volleyball, which she played since 3rd grade of primary school and where she was captain of the team
 * Favorite food: Umeboshi (dried plum) flavored snacks, fruit, sweet dried plums, natto
 * Favorite color: Pink
 * Favorite type of guy: Kind
 * Favorite celebrities: Morning Musume & Amuro Namie
 * Favorite H!P member: Fujimoto Miki
 * Audition song: Furusato
 * Family Father, Mother, and older sister
 * Hello! Project Groups:
 * Morning Musume (2005–)
 * Morning Musume Tanjou 10nen Kinentai (2007)
 * Kira☆Pika (2007)
 * MilkyWay (2008–)
 * Concert Units:
 * Wonderful Hearts (2006–)
 * Other:
 * Metro Rabbits H.P. (2006–)

Discography and releases
The following singles and albums are released under the artist name Kirari Tsukishima starring Koharu Kusumi (Morning Musume) (月島きらり starring 久住小春(モーニング娘. ). For releases as part of Morning Musume, see Morning Musume disography.