Niigaki Risa

Niigaki Risa (新垣 里沙, born October 20, 1988 in Kanagawa, Japan) is a Japanese pop singer under Hello! Proje  ct. She is a fifth generation member of the Japanese pop group Morning Musume and was a member of the group Tanpopo and the leader of Athena & Robikerottsu, as well as participating in the shuffle units Happy 7, 7AIR and H.P. All Stars. She was also a member of the Morning Musume splinter group, Morning Musume Sakura Gumi. She joined Morning Musume in 2001 along with Takahashi Ai, Konno Asami and Ogawa Makoto. Niigaki is the current sub-leader of Morning Musume, inheriting the title from the current leader, Takahashi Ai.

2001
In 2001, Niigaki joined Morning Musume as the fifth generation along with Takahashi Ai, Konno Asami, and Ogawa Makoto. Morning Musume producer Tsunku said he chose Niigaki because she "shined during the final studio recording" for the audition song that all the finalists had to sing. She debuted on the group's 13th single, "Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~" alongside her fellow generation members. Her first appearance on a full-length Morning Musume recording was on the album, "4th Ikimasshoi!".

In the summer of that year, she also debuted in a shuffle unit, as part of Happy 7, coincidentally with two other members of her generation (Takahashi and Ogawa). Later in September, all fifth generation members were placed into subgroups. Niigaki was placed into Tanpopo as a member of the third generation, along with Asami Konno. The new grouping only managed to release one single before becoming inactive.

2002
In 2002, Niigaki participated in a drama alongside her fellow Morning Musume members titled "Angel Hearts". She also participated in another drama, "Ore ga Aitsu de Aitsu ga Ore de". Niigaki recieved a part in the movie "Tokkaekko" alongside other Morning Musume members, released on July 17.

Niigaki continued her career in Morning Musume during 2002 and into 2003. She also participated in the 2002 Happiness Groups as a member of Happy 7. Niigaki also released a joint photobook with the rest of the fifth generation members.

2003
In a surprise move by Tsunku, Morning Musume was split into two halfs - Morning Musume Otome Gumi and Morning Musume Sakura Gumi - so that the large group could perform in smaller towns that could not hold the larger numbers the full ensemble needed. Niigaki was placed into Sakura Gumi and released two single with the group before the groups merged together and formed Morning Musume once more. Niigaki was included in the 2003 Elemental Shuffle Groups as a member of 7AIR.

Niigaki recieved a part in another movie, "Koinu Dan no Monogatari", released on June 23, 2003.

2004
Niigaki performed alongside the entire then-ensemble of Hello! Project in a single, large shuffle unit, H.P. All Stars, releasing one single with the unit, "All For One & One For All". She also released her first solo photobook.

2005
Niigaki joined the Hello! Project concert unit Hello! Project Akagumi as a member of Morning Musume. She also participated in two radio shows, those being TBC Fun Fīrudo Mōretsu Mōdasshu and Hello Pro Yanen!!.

2006
Niigaki joined the Hello! Project concert unit Wonderful Hearts as a member of Morning Musume. Niigaki released her second solo photobook, "Ama Natsu", on June 25.

2007
In early 2007, Niigaki was chosen to be a member of Morning Musume Tanjō 10-nen Kinentai (モーニング娘. 誕生10年記念隊) along with Iida Kaori, Abe Natsumi, Goto Maki and Kusumi Koharu - a unit created to celebrate Morning Musume's 10th anniversary. Their first single, "Bokura ga Ikiru My Asia", was released on January 24, 2007. On June 1, 2007, following then-leader Fujimoto Miki's resignation from Morning Musume, Takahashi Ai replaced Fujimoto as leader, while Niigaki took Takahashi's place as sub-leader.

Following Tsuji Nozomi's pregnancy announcement, Niigaki took over the role of Athena in the animation series Robby & Kerobby. In October 2007, Niigaki was placed in the unit Athena & Robikerottsu along with fellow Morning Musume member Aika Mitsui, as well as Saki Nakajima and Chisato Okai of °C-ute.

2008
It was announced in July 2008, that Niigaki and fellow Morning Musume member Takahashi Ai would play the 80s J-pop duo Pink Lady in the TV Drama Hitmaker Aku Yū Monogatari. From August 6, 2008 through August 25, Morning Musume along with members of the Takarazuka Revue performed a version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella with Niigaki as the Prince.

On August 26, 2008, Niigaki became one of four members to remain in Morning Musume for seven years or more (the others being Iida Kaori, Yoshizawa Hitomi and fellow fifth generation member Takahashi Ai). On January 17, 2009, Niigaki and Takahashi became the longest serving members in Morning Musume history, breaking the four year old record set by Iida Kaori.

2009
It was announced by the Official Anime Expo website that Japanese pop group Morning Musume will be attending the annual Anime convention, the Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California in July 2009. They were Guests of Honor at the event. All members of the current lineup including Niigaki attended the Anime Expo. At the convention, Morning Musume held autograph sessions and a concert. The amount of fans who came to the concert reached numbers over 7,000 people.

Profile

 * Name: Niigaki Risa (新垣里沙)
 * Nickname: Gaki-san, Omame-chan, Niinii, MC Gaki, Gakinkomame (given by Fujimoto Miki)
 * Birth date: October 20, 1988
 * Birthplace: Kagoshima, Japan (raised in Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture)
 * Blood type: B
 * Height: 154.4 cm
 * Hobby: Hangul (Korean)
 * Favorite food: Mickey Mouse waffles, Parfait.
 * Disliked food: Fried meat
 * Favorite saying: "Never let go, no matter what, and keep trying!"
 * Favorite color: Yellow-Green, White
 * Favorite flowers: Sunflowers
 * Favorite season: Winter
 * Specialty: Mayuge beam/wave, "I'm in the middle of practicing my robot dance... (laugh)"
 * Hello! Project Groups:
 * Morning Musume (2001–)
 * Morning Musume Tanjou 10nen Kinentai (2007)
 * Athena & Robikerottsu (2007–2008)
 * ZYX-α (2009)
 * Subgroups:
 * Tanpopo (2002)
 * 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
 * Other:
 * POCKY GIRLS (2002)
 * Metro Rabbits H.P. (2006–)

Releases
For musical releases as part of Morning Musume, see Morning Musume discography.

DVDs

 * Alo Hello! Niigaki Risa DVD (アロハロ！新垣里沙 DVD) (2007-06-13)
 * Alo Hello! 2 Niigaki Risa DVD (アロハロ！２ 新垣里沙 DVD) (2009-01-21)

Movies
(とっかえっ娘. ) (2002)
 * Tokkaekko
 * Koinu Dan no Monogatari (子犬ダンの物語) (2003)

Television Dramas

 * Angel Hearts (2002)
 * Ore ga Aitsu de Aitsu ga Ore de (おれがあいつであいつがおれで) (2002)
 * Hitmaker Aku Yū Monogatari as Kei from Pink Lady (2008)

Televisions Shows

 * Hello! Morning (ハロー！モーニング. ) (Start: 2001 - End: 2007-04-01)
 * Tin Tin Town! (ティンティンTown!) (Start: 2002-07-05 - End: 2004-03-26)
 * Sore Yuke! Gorokkies (それゆけ!ゴロッキーズ) (Start: 2003-09-29 - End: 2003-12-26)
 * Futarigoto (二人ゴト) (Start: 2004-07-01 - End: 2004-07-02)
 * Majokko Rika-chan no Magical v-u-den (魔女っ娘. 梨華ちゃんのマジカル美勇伝) (Start: 2004-10-21 - End: 2004-11-10)
 * Musume Dokyu! (娘Dokyu!) (Start: 2005-06-13 - )
 * Haromoni@ (ハロモニ@) (Start: 2007-04-08 - End: 2008-09-28)
 * Hanbun Esper (半分エスパー) (Episode #, 2010- -)

Radio

 * Tanpopo Henshūbu Oh-So-Ro! (タンポポ編集部 Oh-So-Ro!) (Start: 2002-09-24 - End: 2003-09-23)
 * TBC Fun Fīrudo Mōretsu Mōdasshu (TBC Funふぃーるど・モーレツモーダッシュ) (Start: 2005-04-01 - End: 2005-04-15) & (Start: 2005-07-25 - End: 2005-08-05)
 * Hello Pro Yanen!! (ハロプロやねん!!) (Start: 2005-06-10 - End: 2005-06-24)

Trivia

 * Niigaki's best friend within Hello! Project is her fellow Morning Musume member, Takahashi Ai.
 * Prior to joining Morning Musume, Niigaki was a finalist out of 1,000 entrants in the "Kiss Girl Audition" to become the new Tomy image girl, held by TV Tokyo's "Oha Star" program. She appeared in a commercial with the other finalist, Hasegawa Ai, for Tomy Karaoke Machine Kiss-site, but ultimately lost out the Grand Prix prize to Hasegawa (ironically, Niigaki later starred in a commercial for the same company as a part of Morning Musume).
 * Additionally, Niigaki did some work as a magazine model since spring 2000.
 * In a recent Jpop Wave interview, she said that her favorite Korean artists are BoA, Se7en and TVXQ.
 * Niigaki, along with Takahashi Ai, have the record for the longest tenures of any Morning Musume members.
 * Niigaki is the youngest member ever to become sub-leader, being only 18 at the time.

Honorary Titles
Niigaki Risa has held three titles in Morning Musume so far, those being;