Morning Musume Otome Gumi

Template:Unit infobox Morning Musume Otome Gumi (モーニング娘。おとめ組) was one of the subgroups that divided the Japanese pop group Morning Musume in 2003 to enable towns with smaller venues a chance to see the idols perform. The groups counterpart was Morning Musume Sakura Gumi.

Otome Gumi remained active from 2003 to 2004 before the two groups merged once more. There hasn't been a split like this since.

The words otome (おとめ) and gumi (組)^[N1] mean "young girl" and "group," respectively. If translated to English, the group's name would be "Morning Musume, the Young Girl Group." This made sense as three of the four newly added sixth generation members were included in the group's line-up.

Morning Musume Otome Gumi, September 2003

Purpose

The sole purpose of Morning Musume Otome Gumi — as well as its counterpart, Sakura Gumi — was to separately perform in small towns that couldn't provide large enough venues for the full ensemble. Aside from their separate tours, the groups also released two singles each with Otome Gumi's representing the modern Japanese woman. Both groups became inactive in the Spring of 2004 when they merged back together as Morning Musume.

Members

• Iida Kaori (飯田圭織;      Light Blue)
• Ishikawa Rika (石川梨華;      Yellow)
• Tsuji Nozomi (辻希美;      Blue)
• Ogawa Makoto (小川麻琴;      Green)
• Fujimoto Miki (藤本美貴;      Red)
• Michishige Sayumi (道重さゆみ;      Purple)
• Tanaka Reina (田中れいな;      Orange)

History

2003

The news of Morning Musume's planned split into two separate halves was announced in 2003 and was met with dismay by fans. It wasn't made clear at first that the group was not split for good and as a result much confusion arose concerning Morning Musume's future.

On September 18, 2003 the group's debut single was released, "Ai no Sono ~Touch My Heart!~." The single contained an upbeat title track that was supposed to represent the modern Japanese woman. Their counterparts sang slower paced songs about the traditional Japanese woman and the groups competed for sales with Otome Gumi losing to the more popular image of Sakura Gumi.

2004

This was the second and final year of Otome Gumi's existence as a separate group and they soon joined back into Morning Musume. However they released one more single before the merge, once again competing for sales with Sakura Gumi. "Yuujou ~Kokoro no Busu ni wa Naranee!~" was released on February 25, 2004 and once again lost to Sakura Gumi's single.

2007

After nearly 3 years of being merged into one group, both Sakura Gumi and Otome Gumi performed once again in Hello! Project 2007 Winter ~Shuuketsu! 10th Anniversary~.

Discography

Singles

• [2003.09.18] Ai no Sono ~Touch My Heart!~ (愛の園 ~Touch My Heart!~)
• [2004.02.25] Yuujou ~Kokoro no Busu ni wa Naranee!~ (友情 ~心のブスにはならねぇ!~)

DVD Singles

• [2004.03.24] Sakura Mankai/Yuujou ~Kokoro no Busu ni wa Naranee!~ (さくら満開/友情～心のブスにはならねぇ～) (Collaboration with Morning Musume Sakura Gumi)

DVDs

• [2003.11.06] Alo-Hello! Morning Musume Sakura Gumi & Otome Gumi DVD (アロハロ!モーニング娘。さくら組&おとめ組DVD) (Collaboration with Morning Musume Sakura Gumi)
• [2004.06.09] Morning Musume Otome Gumi ~Otome Chikku~ (モーニング娘。おとめ組～おとめチック～)

Photobooks

File:220px-Alo Hello Sakuragumi & Otomegumi.jpg

• [2003.10.27] Alo-Hello! Morning Musume Sakura Gumi & Otome Gumi
• [2004.02.10] Adventure Morning Musume Sakura Gumi & Otome Gumi

Trivia

• Morning Musume Otome Gumi never sold as many copies of their singles as their counterparts in Morning Musume Sakura Gumi.
• Otome Gumi had one less member that Sakura Gumi (until the graduation of Sakura Gumi's leader, Abe Natsumi) and three of those members were from the newest generation of Morning Musume.

References

Notes

• ^ Kumi (くみ) is the furigana of the kanji "組" when used alone. If the kanji is used with another word, usually next to a word that is written in kanji — in this case, otome (乙女) — the furigana will be gumi (ぐみ).

External Links

• Official Discography Page