Kobushi Factory

Kobushi Factory (こぶしファクトリー) is a Hello Pro Kenshuusei unit under Hello! Project, formed with eight members from the trainee program in early January 2015.

Members

 * Fujii Rio (藤井梨央)
 * Hirose Ayaka (廣瀬彩海)
 * Nomura Minami (野村みな美)
 * Ogawa Rena (小川麗奈)
 * Hamaura Ayano (浜浦彩乃)
 * Taguchi Natsumi (田口夏実)
 * Wada Sakurako (和田桜子)
 * Inoue Rei (井上玲音)

2015
On January 2, during the Hello! Project 2015 WINTER concert, a new Hello! Project unit consisting of Hello Pro Kenshuusei members Fujii Rio, Hirose Ayaka, Nomura Minami, Ogawa Rena, Hamaura Ayano, Taguchi Natsumi, Wada Sakurako and Inoue Rei was announced. The group name would be revealed later in January and their first indies single will be released sometime in March 2015.

On January 30, it was announced that their name announcement had been postponed. The group name was announced on February 25.

From March 27 to April 5, the unit will be starring in the Engeki Joshibu musical Week End Survivor alongside Sudo Maasa.

Kobushi Factory's first single, "Nen ni wa Nen / Survivor," will be released on March 26, 2015 and will be sold at the Week End Survivor venue. "Survivor" is the tie-in song to the musical.

Singles

 * Indie Singles
 * [2015.03.26] Nen ni wa Nen / Survivor (念には念 / サバイバー)

Theater

 * [2015] Week End Survivor

Trivia

 * Prior to the official announcement, Miyoshi Erika had leaked the unit in a blog post on December 27, 2014 by saying she had interviewed the "Hello Pro New Unit" members. She edited the blog post later that day to remove mention of the unit.
 * The average age in the group as of the formation is 14.67 years old and they are currently the youngest group in Hello! Project.
 * All the members are born between 1999 and 2001, making this the first group to have all members born after Hello! Project's formation.
 * This is currently the only Hello! Project group that doesn't consist of any legal adults.
 * Hirose Ayaka and Inoue Rei were both previously members of NICE GIRL Project! Kenshuusei and had only been members of Hello Pro Kenshuusei for a month before debuting in this unit.
 * Hamaura Ayano hopes that the group will become the most famous within Hello! Project.
 * Berryz Koubou member Shimizu Saki helped in deciding the group's name.
 * Shimizu Saki has noted how alike this group is to Berryz Koubou when they first formed.
 * The group is considered the successor of Berryz Koubou, due to their name deriving from Berryz Koubou (Berryz Workshop).