is a Japanese

musical collective Musical collective is a phrase used to describe a group of musicians in which membership is flexible and creative control is shared.Liisa Ladouceur"Collegjthk ctive Souls" ''This Magazine'', November/December 2004. The concept is distinct from th ...

consisting of all female recording artists and groups under

Up-Front Promotion 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, ...

, a subsidiary of

Up-Front Group 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, ...

. The name was initially used as

Michiyo Heike , (born (same reading) on April 6, 1979, married name unknown) is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter from Osaka Prefecture and raised in Nabari, Mie. She first become known after her appearance on the Japanese talent show ''Asayan'' in the late 19 ...

and

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 ...

's fan club name in 1999, but has since then been used to represent all female recording artists at Up-Front Promotion. Until 2014, their songs were primarily produced by

Tsunku , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer, record producer, and songwriter. He is the lead singer of the rock band Sharam Q. As a songwriter, Tsunku is the primary producer for Morning Musume and other Hello! Project acts, such as Coconut ...

. Hello! Project's main acts consist of Morning Musume,

Angerme , formerly , is a Japanese idol girl group from the musical collective Hello! Project, which originally consisted of four former Hello! Pro Egg (''Hello! Project'' trainees) members that left Egg in 2010 and became full-time members of ''Hello! P ...

Juice=Juice Juice=Juice, pronounced "Juice Juice", is a nine-member Japanese idol girl group formed in 2013. The group originally consisted of six trainee members of Hello! Project. They have released one studio album and twelve singles. Juice=Juice was ...

Camellia Factory is a Japanese idol group, formed in late April 2015 under the umbrella of Hello! Project. It is currently composed of twelve members. Their sister group was Magnolia Factory. History 2015: Formation On April 29, the group was announced by ...

Beyooooonds , is a Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merch ...

, and

Ocha Norma is a Japanese idol girl group that formed in 2021. They released their debut single, "Koi no Crouching Start / Omatsuri Debut da ze!", on July 13, 2022. History On March 7, 2021, it was announced by Mizuki Fukumura is a Japanese singer, ...

. Notable acts in the past associated with Hello! Project include

Aya Matsuura is a Japanese actress and pop singer, from Himeji, Hyogo, Japan. Career 2000–2009: Hello! Project Aya auditioned in 2000 for the fourth Morning Musume & Heike Michiyo Protegee Audition and was selected along with Sheki-Dol to become a part o ...

Maki Goto is a Japanese singer, lyricist, and former actress. Born and raised in Edogawa, Tokyo, Goto began her musical career in 1999 when she joined Morning Musume as the only third generation member. Her first single with the group, " Love Machine", t ...

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 ...

, W,

Melon Kinenbi were an all-girl Japanese pop group within Hello! Project. They were formed after they successfully passed the 2nd Morning Musume & Michiyo Heike Imotobun Audition. Melon Kinenbi is the oldest group in the history of Hello! Project not to have ...

Berryz Kobo was a Japanese girl group formed by Up-Front Promotion in 2004 and associated with Hello! Project. The group's members consisted of Hello! Project Kids members Saki Shimizu, Momoko Tsugunaga, Miyabi Natsuyaki, Chinami Tokunaga, Maasa Sudo, Yuri ...

, and

Cute Cuteness is a subjective term describing a type of attractiveness commonly associated with youth and appearance, as well as a scientific concept and analytical model in ethology, first introduced by Konrad Lorenz. Lorenz proposed the concept ...

Artists

Yuko Nakazawa is a Japanese pop and enka singer, and actress, best known as one of the original members of the all-female J-pop group Morning Musume. She is also a member of Japanese pop group Dream Morning Musume. Biography Yuko Nakazawa was born in Kyo ...

was Hello! Project's leader from April 15, 2001 to March 31, 2009.

Ai Takahashi (born September 14, 1986) is a Japanese singer and actress formerly associated with the Hello! Project and is best known as the leader of Morning Musume and Hello! Project until 2011. She is also a former member of its popular subgroup Mini Moni ...

became the group's leader from April 1, 2009 to September 30, 2011.

Risa Niigaki is a Japanese actress and singer. She was a fifth-generation member of the Japanese pop group Morning Musume. She joined Morning Musume in 2001 along with 3 others- Ai Takahashi, Asami Konno and Makoto Ogawa. She grew up in Yokohama after movin ...

then became the leader from October 1, 2011 to May 18, 2012. After her departure,

Sayumi Michishige is a Japanese singer, actress and model. She is a former sixth-generation member and former leader of the J-pop group Morning Musume. Following the departure of fifth-generation member Risa Niigaki on October 12, 2013, Michishige has the longe ...

became the leader from May 19, 2012 to November 26, 2014.

Maimi Yajima is a Japanese singer and actress. She was a member and the leader of Cute, a girl idol group within Hello! Project. Career Yajima first joined Hello! Project in 2002 as one of the fifteen children chosen from the Hello! Project Kids audi ...

was the leader from November 27, 2014 to December 31, 2016.

Ayaka Wada is a Japanese singer and idol signed to YU-M Entertainment. She was a first generation member and the leader of Angerme as well as the leader of Hello! Project. * Biography Wada joined Hello! Project as a member of Hello! Pro Egg in June 20 ...

was the group's leader from January 1, 2017 to June 18, 2019, with

Mizuki Fukumura is a Japanese singer, dancer, and actress. She is a ninth-generation member, current leader of the pop group Morning Musume as well as the current and seventh leader of Hello Project. Prior to becoming part of Morning Musume, Fukumura was known ...

as sub-leader. Fukumura took over the leader role beginning June 19, 2019. Groups *

** Chica#Tetsu ** Rain Forest River Ocean ** SeasoningS *

Trainees *

Hello Pro Kenshūsei (formerly known as until January 2012) is a pre-debut training group established by Japanese entertainment agency Up-Front Group within Hello! Project is a Japanese musical collective consisting of all female recording artists and groups ...

History

1997–2000: Beginning, Michiyo Heike & Morning Musume

In 1997, Japanese rock group

Sharam Q was a Japanese rock band composed of lead singer , on guitar, on drums and on keyboards. Biography They debuted with in 1992. They were not an instant hit initially, but their fourth single broke the top 50 of the Oricon charts. Even ...

, fronted by

, began auditions for a female vocalist. These auditions aired via the reality show

Asayan ''Asayan'', originally known as was a talent search variety show that aired on TV Tokyo from 1995 to 2002. Some idols that were originally discovered through Asayan auditions produced by Tsunku, formed groups that worked under the umbrella gro ...

, and resulted in

being crowned winner. Tsunku decided to give five of the runners-up,

Natsumi Abe is a Japanese singer and actress, a former member of Morning Musume, and currently a member of Dream Morning Musume. Biography Career She was born in Muroran, Hokkaidō, Japan. On August 13, 2003, she released her first single, "22 Sai no Wat ...

Kaori Iida is a Japanese pop singer and actress, associated with Hello! Project and best known as a founding member of the girl band Morning Musume. She has also recorded with the Morning Musume side project band Tanpopo and is currently a solo artist. Dur ...

Asuka Fukuda (born December 17, 1984) is a Japanese pop singer, and she was a member of Japanese girl group Morning Musume from 1997 until April 18, 1999. Her only album with the group is the 1998 release '' First Time''. She was the first ever Hello! Pro ...

and

Aya Ishiguro , 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 ...

, named "

", a chance to become a group by selling 50,000 copies of their demo single "

Ai no Tane is the unofficial debut single of Japanese pop idol group Morning Musume, released under a defunct Up-Front Group-affiliated independent label on November 3, 1997. It is sometimes called the "zeroth single"— being the "first single" and so ...

" in just five days. The girls sold the required number of copies in four days, and subsequently became an official group. Morning Musume's debut single, " Morning Coffee," was released on January 28, 1998 on the One Up Music label and charted at #6 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

weekly chart. The group's first official appearance was a joint live in August 1998, at

Shibuya Public Hall is a theatre located in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It was completed in 1964 to host the weightlifting events in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The theatre was sponsored by Dentsu and Suntory, which paid 80 million to rename it C.C. Lemon Hall (after the ...

(now Shibuya C.C. Lemon Hall), under the name the fan club of the two acts was called "Hello!" The first official "units" were

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 predominan ...

and

Petitmoni was a sub-unit of the Japanese idol girl group Morning Musume and associated with Hello! Project. It was formed by Up-Front Promotion in November 1999 as the second sub-group of Morning Musume. History Founded November 1999, the group initi ...

, created in October 1998. The first "Michiyo Heike & Morning Musume Imotōbun Audition" took place, resulting in the "second generation" of Morning Musume to be added, made up of

Sayaka Ichii is a Japanese pop singer and former member for Japanese girl group Morning Musume. She is now a TV talent and planning to debut as an actress. History Morning Musume and Hello Project Joined the girl group Morning Musume in 1998. She, along wit ...

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

Kei Yasuda is a Japanese singer, musician and actress under the Hello! Project. She was a member and co-leader of the Japanese girl group Morning Musume. Yasuda, along with Mari Yaguchi and Sayaka Ichii, were the second generation of singers to be recru ...

. In January 1999, auditions for

Country Musume was a Japanese female idol music group that is a part of Hello! Project. On November 5, 2014, Country Musume was renamed .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 ...

s. Auditions were once again held on Asayan between April and July, resulting in

Taiyō to Ciscomoon , later known as , was a Japanese girl group under 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 ...

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 ...

, with Country Musume's official formation announced. In July, the first live concert of Hello! Project, "Hello! Project '99 at

Yokohama Arena is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from the ...

," was held. The first shuffle units were formed in March 2000, releasing the "theme" of Hello! Project as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. The first Hello! Project television show, "

Hello! Morning was a weekly Japanese TV show featuring members of Morning Musume, and sometimes other Hello! Project members on TV Tokyo. It was also known by the shorter name of . On April 1, 2007, the show ended after seven years of broadcast. A new show f ...

," was created in April.

2001–2006: Rise to popularity, Berryz Kobo & Cute

In March 2001,

co-founder and leader

announced her graduation from the group, which took place in April. Nakazawa was subsequently named as leader of the entirety of Hello! Project. Nakazawa's was the first graduation in the history of Hello! Project, and garnered considerable media attention as a result. Between April and June 2002, auditions for Hello! Project Kids were held for girls under 12 years old. Out of 27,958 applicants, fifteen elementary school girls were chosen. After making minor appearances in television, film, and music, Hello! Project Kids later debuted as

and

, who would go on to debut in March 2004 and February 2007 respectively, also spawning offshoot auditions such as auditions for

Hello! Pro Egg (formerly known as until January 2012) is a pre-debut training group established by Japanese entertainment agency Up-Front Group is a Japanese holding company for various entertainment companies. Its subsidiaries include the talent agenc ...

and Hello! Project Kansai.

2007–2010: Expansion in Asia and Smileage formation

In 2007, Hello! Project attempted to expand towards the Chinese market by inviting prospective Chinese artists to audition in secret, eventually resulting in Li Chun and

Qian Lin Qian Lin (born March 11, 1991), better known in Japan as , is a Chinese singer. She is a former Morning Musume member and leader of the Hello! Project sub-group Shin Minimoni. She was announced to be joining as the eighth generation of Morni ...

to Morning Musume's roster. Hello! Project also set up an overseas branch in Taiwan, titled Hello! Project Taiwan, and held the "Hello! Project New Star Audition" to recruit members. In September 2008, the group Ice Creamusume was formed under a Taiwanese-affiliated label as Hello! Project's first overseas group. Duo Frances & Aiko, later named Big Small Sister, was also announced from the same audition. In February 2009, Hello! Project also held a series of auditions in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

with cooperation from

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

. However, Hello! Project failed to break into the Chinese market due to piracy and their Chinese artists failing to draw an audience. Ice Creamusume also performed below expectations. Hello! Project scaled back on initial plans to expand overseas around 2010 and refocused their interests in Japan. On October 19, 2008, Hello! Project announced its entire Elder Club would be graduating on March 31, 2009. On February 1, 2009, at the

, Hello! Project held its largest concert ever—the —featuring 21 groups and 72 members. During the concert, former Hello! Project leader

passed her leadership position to Morning Musume leader

. Later in 2009, several of the old, dormant units were revived.

Minimoni 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, ...

ZYX ZYX or Zyx may refer to: * Zyx, a region in the North Caucasus inhabited by the Zygii * Zyx (cartoonist) (1950–2015), French-Canadian cartoonist * ZyX (company), a Japanese company that makes erotic video games * ZYX (gene), a gene that encod ...

Aa! was a Japanese girl group in Hello! Project, formerly made up of leader and Morning Musume member Reina Tanaka, Miyabi Natsuyaki and Airi Suzuki, two Hello! Project Kids. History The group's name was chosen by producer and writer Tsunku to rep ...

and

v-u-den was a Japanese idol girl group associated with Hello! Project. The group was formed in August 2004 and consists of members Rika Ishikawa (Morning Musume), Erika Miyoshi, and Yui Okada, with Ishikawa being the leader. The group officially disband ...

all returned with new line-ups, and

High-King was a Japanese girl group associated with Hello! Project. The group was created to promote Morning Musume's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''Cinderella'', titled . Their sound is said to have an R&B feel. History The group's debut si ...

returned from hiatus with its original members. These groups became a new concert unit, "Champloo". In April 2009, Tsunku announced a new group consisting of four Hello! Pro Egg members, named Smileage, who later debuted on a major label in May 2010 with the single " Yume Miru 15".

2011–2014: Line-up and production changes

On January 28, 2011,

Dream Morning Musume is a Japanese female pop group, consisting of 10 former members of the Japanese girl group Morning Musume. It was created in 2011. As with Morning Musume, the group is managed by the Up-Front Agency and produced by Tsunku. During the announcem ...

was formed consisting of previous Morning Musume members. On September 30, 2011,

graduated and handed her position as leader of Morning Musume and Hello! Project over to fellow member

, who also graduated on May 18, 2012.

was later named the group's new leader. During the last concert of the Winter 2013 Hello! Project concert,

, a new unit consisting of

Hello! Pro Kenshusei (formerly known as until January 2012) is a pre-debut training group established by Japanese entertainment agency Up-Front Group within Hello! Project is a Japanese musical collective consisting of all female recording artists and groups ...

members was announced, They previewed their debut song at the Hello Project concert series held on March 2–3. On November 26, 2014,

graduated and handed her position as Hello! Project's leader to C-ute's

. Tsunku revealed in his 2015 memoir, ''Dakara, Ikiru'' that he stepped down as Hello! Project's general manager sometime after Morning Musume's New York concert in 2014; however, he still remains involved with Morning Musume as their sound producer.

2015–Present: Post-Tsunku era

On January 2, 2015, during the Hello! Project 2015 winter concert, a new group consisting of

Hello Pro Kenshusei (formerly known as until January 2012) is a pre-debut training group established by Japanese entertainment agency Up-Front Group within Hello! Project is a Japanese musical collective consisting of all female recording artists and groups ...

members was announced and was named

Magnolia Factory was a Japanese girl idol group, formed by Up Front Group under the umbrella of Hello! Project in January 2015. The group was initially composed of eight girls who were members of Hello Pro Kenshusei. Their sister group was Camellia Factory. The ...

. On April 29, 2015, Magnolia Factory's sister group,

was also formed.

Discography

Projects

* 2000-2005:

Hello! Project Shuffle Unit 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 ...

Studio albums

* ''Chanpuru 1: Happy Marriage Song Cover Shu'' (2009)

Compilation albums

* ''Petit Best: Ki-Ao-Aka'' (2000) * ''Petit Best 2: Mi-Nana-Juu'' (2001) * ''Petit Best 3'' (2002) * ''Petit Best 4'' (2003) * ''Petit Best 5'' (2004) * ''Petit Best 6'' (2005) * ''Petit Best 7'' (2006) * ''Petit Best 8'' (2007) * ''Petit Best 9'' (2008) * ''Hello! Project Special Unit Mega Best'' (2008) * ''Petit Best 10'' (2009) * ''Petit Best 11'' (2010) * ''Petit Best 12'' (2011) * ''Petit Best 13'' (2012) * ''Petit Best 14'' (2013) * ''Petit Best 15'' (2014) * ''Petit Best 16'' (2015) * ''Petit Best 17'' (2016) * ''Petit Best 18'' (2017) * ''Petit Best 19'' (2018) * ''Petit Best 20 2020'' (2020)

Singles

* "

All for One & One for All! ''All for One & One for All!'' is the first (and only) mini album by Hello! Project unit H.P. All Stars, released on December 1, 2004 in both a normal and limited edition, the limited edition having a different cover. It reached a peak of #5 on th ...

" (2004) (as H.P. All Stars) * " Busu ni Naranai Tetsugaku" (2011) (as Hello! Project Mobekimasu)

Filmography

Television

Radio

* ''MBS Young Town Saturday'' on MBS Radio (the Kansai area) * ''HelloPro Yanen!'' on ABC Radio

Internet

* '' Hello! Project Station'' (2013–)

Theatre

* '' Princess Knight: The Musical'' (August 1, 2006 – August 27, 2006) * '' Cinderella: The Musical'' (2008) * '' Fashionable: The Musical'' (2010)

Sports festivals

* Hello! Project Daiundōkai (March 31, 2001 at

Saitama Super Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum spectator capacity is 36,500, making i ...

) * Hello! Project Daiundōkai (November 3, 2002 at

Osaka Dome The (official name: ) is a baseball stadium located in Osaka, Osaka, Japan. Opened in 1997, the stadium was the home field of the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes. In 2005, the stadium became one of the homes of the Orix Buffaloes, a result of the mer ...

) * Hello! Project Sports Festival 2003 (November 16, 2003 at Osaka Dome) * Hello! Project Sports Festival 2003 (November 22, 2003 at

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

) * Hello! Project Sports Festival 2004 (November 14, 2004 at Toyota Stadium) * Hello! Project Sports Festival 2004 (December 5, 2004 at Saitama Super Arena) * Hello! Project Sports Festival 2006 ~Hello!Diva Athlete~ (March 19, 2006 at Saitama Super Arena)

Concerts

References

External links

* {{Authority control Japanese pop music groups Japanese girl groups Musical collectives