Takahashi Ai

Takahashi Ai (高橋 愛, born September 14, 1986) is a Japanese pop singerassociated with Hello! Project. She is best known as the current leader of Morning Musume and as a former member of its popular subgroup, Minimoni. She joined Morning Musume in 2001 through the fifth generation auditions. As of 2009, Takahashi has become the leader of Hello! Project.

Singles
These are solo releases by Takahashi Ai, for group releases see Morning Musume Discography.

2001
Takahashi Ai joined Morning Musume in 2001 as part of the group's fifth generation along with Ogawa Makoto, Konno Asami, and Niigaki Risa. Her debut with the group was on their single "Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~". The first album she featured on was the group's fourth album, titled "4th Ikimasshoi!". It is currently their second highest selling album, with a total of 515,400 copies sold.

2002
In 2002, Takahashi entered into her first Hello! Project Shuffle Unit, Happy 7, as one of the lead singers on the group's single.

2003
In 2003, Takahashi replaced Yaguchi Mari in the Morning Musume spinoff group Mini Moni, first appearing in the group's movie; Mini Moni ja Movie: Okashi na Daibōken! and its accompanying soundtrack. Her best-known nickname amongst non-Japanese fans, "Takitty", was derived from the cat suit (complete with tail) which she wears in the movie. Later in 2003, she was part of the Morning Musume splinter group Morning Musume Sakura Gumi, which performed mainly slower numbers on the group's two EPs, "Hare Ame Nochi Suki" and "Sakura Mankai", and the shuffle group 7Air, an R&B-inspired septet.

2004
Takahashi's vocals became more prominent on the second and final Mini Moni album, "Mini Moni Songs 2", as well as on Morning Musume's singles from their Spring 2004 release "Roman ~My Dear Boy~" onward. She also had a duet with Tsunku on the cover version of Tsunku and Ayumi Hamasaki's duet "Love ~since 1999~" on his solo album Take1.

2005
In 2005, Morning Musume's first single release of the year, "The Manpower!!!", featured Takahashi in a prominent co-lead-vocal role, a role she has retained on subsequent singles since. In the summer of that year, she became part of the 2005 shuffle group Elegies.

2006
In 2006, Takahashi played the lead role, Sapphire, in the musical "Ribbon no Kishi The Musical" which was a collaboration work of Takarazuka Revue (a famous Japanese all-female musical group) and Hello! Project. The musical was based on Tezuka Osamu's manga and also starred the entirety of v-u-den, Tsuji Nozomi, Matsuura Aya and Abe Natsumi, as well as Marcia and Kaoru Ebira of the Takarazuka Revue. Soon thereafter, Takahashi released her first and only solo single to date, "Yume Kara Samete".

2007
Following then-leader Yoshizawa Hitomi graduation from Morning Musume on May 6, 2007, the current sub-leader, Fujimoto Miki ascended to the leader position, with Takahashi becoming the new sub-leader of the group. However, on June 1, 2007, after Fujimoto's resignation, Takahashi took over as the new leader. (Takahashi is also captain of the Hello! Project kickball team, Metro Rabbits H.P..)

2008
In 2008 Takahashi became a member of Hello Project's new unit High-King, a group created to promote Morning Musume's upcoming Cinderella the Musical, in which Takahashi will play the main character. It was announced in July 2008, that Takahashi and fellow Morning Musume member Niigaki Risa would play the 80s J-Pop duo Pink Lady in the TV Drama Hitmaker Aku Yuu Monogatari.

As of September 2008, she and Niigaki Risa have the second longest tenures of any member, with only Iida Kaori remaining in the group longer. She is also one of only four members to remain in the group for seven years or more (the others being Iida, Yoshizawa and Niigaki).

2009
In February 1, 2009, during the "Hello Pro Award '09 ~Elder Club Sotsugyo Kinen Special~" concert held at Yokohama Arena, Yuko Nakazawa passed on her leadership position in Hello! Project to Takahashi.

Around December 2009, Ai Takahashi was one of many people to advertise for the release of Final Fantasy XIII in Japan.

2010
Takahashi will join the InterFM FIVESTARS radio lineup by getting her own regular radio show.

Ai is currently studying English through the use of the PSP game Talkman. Takahashi is going to dub a Korean Drama called Accidental Couple. Ai-chan will be dubbing the part of the main actress Kim Ah-joong who plays Han Ji-soo.

Profile

 * Name: Takahashi Ai (高橋愛)
 * Nickname: Ai-chan, Lovely, Takitty, Tettekete
 * Birth date: September 14, 1986
 * Birthplace: Sakai, Fukui Prefecture, Japan
 * Blood type: A
 * Height: 153.3 cm
 * Hobbies: Watching plays, ballet
 * Specialty: Flipping her eyelids, bridge
 * Favorite food: Sauce katsudon, omelette rice
 * Disliked food: Mont blanc, eggplant, pineapple, musubi, perilla leaves
 * Favorite color: Black, white, pink
 * Favorite word: "Tomodachi" (友達 - "Friend")
 * Favorite season: Autumn
 * Favorite flowers: Roses
 * Favorite song: Tsumetai Umi / Start in My Life by Kuraki Mai
 * Hello! Project Groups:
 * Morning Musume (2001-)
 * High-King (2008-)
 * Muten Musume (2010-)
 * Subgroups:
 * Minimoni (2003-2004)
 * Morning Musume Sakura Gumi (2003-2004)
 * Concert Units:
 * Hello! Project Akagumi (2005)
 * Wonderful Hearts (2006-)
 * Shuffle Units:
 * 2002: Happy 7
 * 2003: 7AIR
 * 2004: H.P. All Stars
 * 2005: Elegies
 * Other:
 * POCKY GIRLS (2002)
 * Metro Rabbits H.P. (2006-)

Trivia

 * Audition 21 audition songs:
 * Round 1: "Tsumetai Umi" (Kuraki Mai)
 * Round 2: "Tsumetai Umi" (Kuraki Mai)
 * She, along Love with fellow fifth generation member Niigaki Risa have the longest tenures of any Morning Musume members, being in the group for nearly 9 years
 * Is close friends with her fellow fifth generation members Konno Asami, Ogawa Makoto, and especially Niigaki Risa.
 * Graduted from Hinode High School, a private academy known for its many celebrity students.
 * First child in family and has one sister.
 * Highly skilled and trained in classical ballet and singing. Entered a nation-wide competition with her junior high choir.
 * On October 7, 1999, she appeared on the "BS Junior Nodo Jiman" singing competition held in Sabaeshi in Fukui and won the Best Stage Award.
 * Her black catsuit from Minimoni ja Movie: Okashi na Daibouken! earned her the popular nickname "Takitty" amongst non-Japanese fans.
 * The nickname "Tettekete" was given to her by Ishibashi Takaaki on Utaban. It was a play on her staccato, Morse Code-like speech pattern (e.g., "tette-te-tette-ke-kete"). However, she has mostly grown out of that pattern — as well as her Fukui accent — in the years since.
 * Her photobook 19 holds the #1 spot in photobook rankings in 2006.
 * A huge fan of Takarazuka since childhood. Wanted to be a Takarasienne but gave up on it due to her short height. She is noted by other members for trying to make them watch videos of Takarazuka productions. Her favorite performer is Mizu Natsuki.
 * Has personally acknowledged she is not good at talk/interview portions.
 * Like Tsuji Nozomi, she also considers Matsuura Aya as her rival.
 * Currently she and Niigaki Risa have the longest tenures of any Morning Musume members. They both have also been featured in the most Morning Musume singles: 30 (as of Onna ga Medatte Naze Ikenai). Both records were formerly held by Iida Kaori.