Country Girls

Country Musume (カントリー娘. ; Kantorī Musume) is an all-female J-pop group within Hello! Project.

Last Current Member

 * Satoda Mai

Former Members

 * Kobayashi Azusa (Left: July 31, 1999)
 * Yanagihara Hiromi (Died: July 17, 1999)
 * Toda Rinne (Graduated in late 2002)
 * Asami (Graduated: January 28, 2007)
 * Ishikawa Rika (left in mid 2003)
 * Saito Miuna (Graduated: January 28, 2007)
 * Fujimoto Miki (Left between August 2004 and June 2007)
 * Konno Asami (Left between August 2004 and July 2006)

1999
Country Musume was formed in 1999 by Tsunku and Japanese talent and fellow Up-Front Agency artist, Tanaka Yoshitake (Tanaka was the group’s original producer) and was billed as "Country Girls from Hokkaidō". The initial group consisted of members and Hokkaidō natives Toda Rinne, Kobayashi Azusa, and Yanagihara Hiromi.

The 4-week audition cycle was unusual since it didn’t only consist of the traditional voice and dance lessons, but also a physical challenge: consisting of working at the Hanabatake farm in southern Hokkaido. The purpose of the physical challenge was to show how responsible the girls were and how well they work as a team to fit the “country girls from Hokkaido” image, since Hokkaido is seen as the countryside of Japan–and the audition was open to all of Japan, not just Hokkaido. Thus, producer Tanaka called for the physical challenge to see who can live up to a “Hokkaido” image.

Following the trend of their sister group, Morning Musume, Kobayashi, as the oldest member, was given the title as leader of the group. After working on their debut single with plenty of support from other singers such as Moritaka Chisato and Nakazawa Yuko, they were able to successfully record and complete the promotion video.

On July 17th, 1999, Yanagihara was killed in a car accident, just days before their first single was released, at the age of 19. Hiromi’s family was given the decision to whether Country Musume should continue their work and release their single as scheduled, to which they approved. A month later, Azusa decided to leave the group for personal reasons. After a two-month hiatus, Rinne started performing as a solo act, but under the Country Musume name, making two singles.

2000
In summer of 2000, Kimura Asami was added to the group, Rinne became group leader and the duo released one more single.

However, by the end of the year, producer Tanaka decided to give Tsunku the producer’s position of the group, due to his difficulty in finding more members to join Rinne and Asami. The first change that Tsunku made was to “lend” members of Morning Musume into the group.

2001
Their popularity rose when Morning Musume's Ishikawa Rika;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.

2002
Early in 2002, Satoda Mai 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 too pursue a career within Up-Front Agency as a stage actress. Leaving, Kimura to become the new leader of the group. Afterwards, Kimura, Ishikawa, and Satoda released one more single.

2003
In mid-2003, Country Musume had a major shift in its roster. Saito Miuna, who is from Shizuoka, was recruited into the group. Instead of Ishikawa Rika, the group featured Konno Asami and Fujimoto Miki, 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.

2004
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.

2005
In 2005, Country Musume performed in the Hello! Project 2005 Winter ~A HAPPY NEW POWER!~ concert tour as a part of Hello! Project Akagumi. Country Musume also toured with Biyuuden and Inaba Atsuko in 2005.

2006-2007
On November 25, 2006, it was announced that Asami and Miuna would be graduating from Country Musume and Hello! Project together on January 28, 2007, at the final performance of Hello! Project 2007 Winter ~Shuuketsu! 10th Anniversary~ [http://www.helloproject.com/newslist/cuntry_0611250100.html Hello! Project official site announcement]. Since Konno and Fujimoto have also since graduated from Morning Musume, they are no longer “lent” to Country Musume. Thus, Satoda Mai is currently the only member, and continues to work under the Country Musume name. This is the second time that Country Musume consists of only one member.

2009
In 2009, Satoda Mai graduated from Hello! Project and since then the fate of the group is uncertain.

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 & External links

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


 * Official Hello! Project Profile