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is a Japanese actress and former singer. In 2000, Kago debuted as a 4th generation member of the
idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...
girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...
Morning Musume , formerly simply and colloquially referred to as , are a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top ten singles with an ...
. During her time in the group, she was also part of
Mini-Moni was a sub-unit of the Japanese idol girl groups Morning Musume and Coconuts Musume. It was formed by Up-Front Promotion in 2000 and associated with Hello! Project. The group was founded by Morning Musume members Mari Yaguchi, Nozomi Tsuji, ...
and other
Hello! Project is a Japanese musical collective consisting of all female recording artists and groups under Up-Front Promotion, a subsidiary of Up-Front Group. The name was initially used as Michiyo Heike and Morning Musume's fan club name in 1999, but has s ...
sub-groups. In 2004, Kago departed from Morning Musume and became part of the duo W with
Nozomi Tsuji , known professionally by her birth name (born June 17, 1987) is a Japanese media personality, singer, and blogger. In 2000, she began her career as a singer for Japanese girl band Morning Musume. Tsuji later found success with related groups ...
. In 2006, Kago was suspended from her agency for underage smoking and subsequently dismissed in 2007, forcing her to leave W and Hello! Project. In 2008, she returned to entertainment as an actress, appearing in ''
Kung Fu Chefs ''Kung Fu Chefs'' () is a 2009 Hong Kong action cinema, Hong Kong action film directed by Ken Yip, starring Sammo Hung, Louis Fan (actor), Louis Fan, Vanness Wu, Sammo Hung's real life son Timmy Hung, Ku Feng and Lee Hoi-sang. This was Lee Hoi-S ...
'' (2009), '' Ju-On: Black Ghost'' (2009), and '' Battle of Demons'' (2009). In 2009, Kago returned to music as well, releasing her debut solo single, "No Hesitation" (2009), followed by her jazz album, ''Ai Kago Meets Jazz'' (2010). She also formed her own girl group, Girls Beat!!, in 2013, of which she remained a member until 2016.


Career


2000–2004: Morning Musume and Mini-Moni

At age 12, Kago won the 4th National Audition of
Morning Musume , formerly simply and colloquially referred to as , are a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top ten singles with an ...
held by the
Up-Front Works is a Japanese holding company for various entertainment companies. Its subsidiaries include the talent agency Up-Front Promotion and Up-Front Works, a music production and sales company that manages such record labels as Zetima, Piccolo Town, ...
in 2000. On April 15, she, along with
Rika Ishikawa , is a Japanese actress and model associated with Hello! Project and best known as a former member of the pop group Morning Musume. She was the leader of the Japanese pop idol trio v-u-den until June 2008. She has performed as a solo singer, as ...
,
Hitomi Yoshizawa is a Japanese former singer and actress. In 2000, Yoshizawa debuted as a 4th generation member of the idol girl group Morning Musume and became their leader in 2005 until leaving the group in 2007. Following her departure, Yoshizawa continued to ...
, and
Nozomi Tsuji , known professionally by her birth name (born June 17, 1987) is a Japanese media personality, singer, and blogger. In 2000, she began her career as a singer for Japanese girl band Morning Musume. Tsuji later found success with related groups ...
, were inducted into the idol group Morning Musume as its fourth generation. Their recording debut was in the group's ninth single "
Happy Summer Wedding is the ninth single of the J-pop idol group Morning Musume, released on May 17, 2000. It sold a total of 990,950 copies, becoming a number-one hit in Japan. History This also marks the last single of Sayaka Ichii and the debut of the "Fourth Gen ...
". Kago and Tsuji's addition to the group received positive critical response. With an increasing fan base, they, along with Morning Musume member
Mari Yaguchi is a Japanese singer, actress, and television personality. She joined the girl group Morning Musume in 1998 as a second generation member and was the leader of subgroups within Hello! Project, such as Mini-Moni, Morning Musume Sakuragumi, and ZY ...
and
Coconuts Musume was a Japanese idol girl group formed by Up-Front Promotion in 1999 and associated with Hello! Project. It was promoted as the "girls from Hawaii". After nine years, the group officially disbanded when Ayaka Kimura graduated from Hello! Project ...
member
Mika Todd was a Japanese idol girl group formed by Up-Front Promotion in 1999 and associated with Hello! Project. It was promoted as the "girls from Hawaii". After nine years, the group officially disbanded when Ayaka Kimura graduated from Hello! Project ...
, formed a new subgroup named
Mini-Moni was a sub-unit of the Japanese idol girl groups Morning Musume and Coconuts Musume. It was formed by Up-Front Promotion in 2000 and associated with Hello! Project. The group was founded by Morning Musume members Mari Yaguchi, Nozomi Tsuji, ...
. In addition to this, Kago was also admitted into established subgroup
Tanpopo was a sub-group of the Japanese idol girl group Morning Musume and associated with Hello! Project. It was formed by Up-Front Promotion in November 1998 as Morning Musume's first sub-group. While the main group Morning Musume features predomin ...
as a second generation member. From 2001 to 2004 Kago participated in the annual
Hello! Project shuffle units was a Japanese idol project group formed by Up-Front Promotion in 2000 and associated with Hello! Project. Beginning in 2000, the Shuffle Unit project was a yearly collaboration among existing Hello! Project acts, where members were recombined i ...
(3-nin Matsuri in 2001, Happy 7 in 2002, Salt5 in 2003, and H.P. All Stars in 2004).


2004–2007: W

In August 2004, Kago and Tsuji graduated from Morning Musume together after Minimoni began their indefinite hiatus. Under the arrangement of their agency, Kago and Tsuji formed a new pop duo, W, releasing two albums and six singles together. Before the release of their seventh single and their third album, ''W3: Faithful'', on February 9, 2006, ''Friday'' published photos showing Kago smoking. She was 15 at the time the photos were taken. The following day, her agency issued a press statement saying that she and W's activities had been suspended "indefinitely." Kago spent the remainder of the year under house arrest at her family's residence in Nara. During this time, she was not allowed to have contact with Tsuji or any of the other members from her agency, and she was caught smoking again during her probation period. In 2007 Up-Front Works reported that they were working on her comeback. In late March 2007, photos of Kago going to an
onsen In Japan, are the country's hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. As a volcanically active country, Japan has many onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. There are approximately 25,000 hot ...
with a man 18 years her senior and smoking for a third time circulated in the media, further tarnishing her reputation. Not long after, Yuukichi Kawaguchi, the director of Up-Front Works, issued a statement announcing that she had been dismissed from the agency.


2008–2010: Return to entertainment

After Kago departed from Up-Front Agency, her mother attempted to sign her to a new talent agency in her hometown, Nara. Later that year, ''Josei Seven'' published an interview with her mother, revealing that Kago left Japan and started residing in New York City. Kago herself later revealed that she had actually not gone to New York, but rather to Los Angeles for three months because she felt like a criminal in Japan. During her stay, she met people who encouraged her, including
Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...
, and was able to reflect on her situation. She also considered suicide and cut her wrists. Kago made a well-publicized return to the entertainment industry in 2008 with plans of pursuing an acting career. She began appearing in multiple Hong Kong movies, including ''Kung Fu Chefs''. On August 25, 2008, Kago released a book entitled . On her blog, she described the book as "a book where I talk to young teens about their various troubles and dreams." During 2009, Kago also focused on rebuilding her music career. On June 24, 2009, she released her first solo single "No HesitAtIon" icon
independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
In Da Groove. On February 16, 2010, she held her first jazz concert at bar JZ Brat in Tokyo. Kago's first jazz album, ''Ai Kago meets Jazz: The First Door'', was released on March 31, 2010 through
P-Vine Records P-Vine Records is an independent record label based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was started in 1976 by Blues Interactions, a firm founded in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi, as a record label focused on black music. The label name c ...
and
Avex Marketing is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...
. In August 2010 she was invited to perform at music festival
Summer Sonic The , also known as Supersonic, is an annual two- or three-day rock festival held at the same time in Osaka and Chiba, Japan. The majority of the bands playing in Osaka the first day go to Chiba the following day and vice versa. The line-up co ...
.


2011–present: Personal struggles and Girls Beat!!

Throughout the second half of 2010, Kago became unhappy with the direction of her work. Around the same time, she began dating restaurant owner Haruhiko Ando, who acted as an in-between for her agency and herself. Since beginning a relationship with Ando, Kago cancelled several jobs at the last minute, causing her agency to suspend her activities. Despite this, she participated in a live performance and opened a separate blog without permission. Kago parted ways with R&A Promotions in November 2010 despite her contract ending in March 2013. As a response, in 2011, Kazuyuki Ito, president of Mainstream (an associate of R&A Promotions), declared that the agency planned on suing for in damages for contract violations. During that time, Kago's career was also derailed by her personal life. After spending 2012 out of the public eye with the birth of her daughter, Minami, Kago transferred to a new agency in 2013. Planning to revive her music career, she formed an idol group, which was later named Girls Beat!! The group would be crowd-sourced using lyrics, music, and costume ideas submitted by fans. Remi Kita and Ryona Himeno were recruited as the other two members after passing the auditions. Girls Beat!! released their first single, "Sekai Seifuku" on July 22, 2014. Their activities were abruptly put on hold when an arrest warrant was put out for Ando in October on suspicions of loaning money at illegal interest rates. Kago later filed for divorce, planning to continue activities once the divorce was finalized. Although Kago was eventually successful in doing so, in August 2015, her contract with her agency expired, though she continued activities with Girls Beat!! in November. On February 29, 2016, she graduated from the group.


Personal life


Public image

During Kago's years in Mini-Moni, she was known for keeping her hair in curled twin tails. Manga artist Arina Tanemura used her hairstyle as inspiration for Mitsuki Koyama, the main character of ''
Full Moon o Sagashite is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Arina Tanemura. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's Shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Ribon'' from January 2002 to June 2004 and collected in seven ''tankōbon'' volumes. The ...
''. Her official nickname in Hello! Project was "Aibon." Kago and Tsuji shared the world record for the largest
hula hoop A hula hoop is a toy hoop that is twirled around the waist, limbs or neck. It can also be wheeled along the ground like a wheel, with careful execution. They have been used by children and adults since at least 500 BC. The modern hula hoop ...
spun at in diameter. They set their record on January 1, 2004, during a live New Year's Day television special at
Nippon Television Network JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed sub ...
, Tokyo, Japan. The record appeared in the 2005 and 2006 editions of the ''
Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' before it was broken by
Ashrita Furman Ashrita Furman (born Keith Furman, September 16, 1954) is a ''Guinness World Records'' record-breaker. As of 2017, Furman has set more than 600 official Guinness Records and currently holds 530 records, thus holding the Guinness world record for th ...
in September 2005.


Relationships and family

During Kago's house arrest in 2006, her parents divorced. In 2009, Kago was involved in a relationship with actor Hidejiro Mizumoto. Mizumoto's wife, Asato, sued them both, stating that she had proof of the affair and that it was the cause for her pending divorce. On May 24, 2009, a family court found in Asato's favor and ordered Mizumoto to hand over his home in Kumamoto and his car to Asato as well as in child support every month for his three children. ''Shukan Josei'' reported in 2010 that Kago was romantically linked to model Takeshi Mikawai. Her agency released a statement claiming that while they dated, they were not a couple. Kago began dating Haruhiko Ando, a restaurant owner in
Roppongi is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...
, in August 2010, who acted as an in-between between her agency and herself. In September 2011, Ando was arrested for alleged extortion and claiming to have connections with the
yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...
. Kago had been taken in for questioning. In the same month, Kago was rushed to a nearby hospital after agency officials found her on the floor of her apartment with cuts to her wrists. Her life was reported to be not in danger, though there were speculations that it was a planned suicide. Following the incident, she and Ando registered their marriage, and Kago became pregnant. and he took on her family name, Kago. From their marriage, Kago gave birth to her first child, Minami, on June 22, 2012. The police issued an arrest warrant for Ando in October 2014 on suspicion of loaning money at illegal interest rates. This affected both Kago's career and image. In 2015, Kago announced through her official blog that they were living separately and were in the process of working towards a divorce. She attempted to file for divorce in April, but dropped charges due to insufficient funds. On June 9, Ando was arrested on domestic violence charges stemming from an incident on May 12 where he allegedly shoved and kicked Kago in their home in Roppongi, leaving her with injuries that took ten days to heal. Kago agreed to drop all charges in exchange for divorce, which was finalized later that month. On August 8, 2016, Kago announced that she had married a 38-year-old beautician whose name was not disclosed to the public. On September 23, 2016, she announced that she was pregnant with her second child. On February 23, 2017, she announced on her blog that she gave birth her second child, a boy named Yoshitsugu.


Discography

Singles Albums * AI KAGO meets JAZZ (March 31, 2010
P-Vine P-Vine Records is an independent record label based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was started in 1976 by Blues Interactions, a firm founded in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi, as a record label focused on black music. The label name c ...
) Compilations * (Various Artists, February 10, 2010
P-Vine P-Vine Records is an independent record label based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was started in 1976 by Blues Interactions, a firm founded in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi, as a record label focused on black music. The label name c ...
) ** Lum no Love Song (
Urusei Yatsura is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from September 1978 to February 1987. Its 366 individual chapters were published in 34 ''tankōbon'' volum ...
OP) / Ai Kago × Brian Hardgroove (
Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe p ...
) ** Himitsu no Akko-chan (
Himitsu no Akko-chan is a popular pioneering magical girl manga and anime that ran in Japan during the 1960s. The manga was drawn and written by Fujio Akatsuka, and was published in '' Ribon'' from 1962 to 1965. It predates the '' Mahōtsukai Sunny'' (wh ...
OP) / Ai Kago × Paolo Scotti


Filmography


Film


Television


Publications


Books


Photobooks


DVDs


References


External links


Official blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kago, Ai 1988 births Japanese child singers Japanese women jazz singers Japanese women pop singers Happy 7 members Living people Minimoni members Morning Musume members Tanpopo members Writers from Nara Prefecture Salt5 members W (group) members Japanese idols Musicians from Nara Prefecture 20th-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses Actors from Nara Prefecture 20th-century Japanese women singers 20th-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers