is a

Japanese pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

singer and actress, associated with

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 ...

and best known as a founding member of the girl band

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 ...

. She has also recorded with the Morning Musume side project band

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 is currently a solo artist. During her time in the group, she was the tallest member (168 cm), earning her the nickname "Kaorin" & "Kao-tan". She is currently a member of

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 ...

Biography

Kaori Iida was born in

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

. She was one of 10 runners-up in a 1997 talent contest for a new Japanese rock idol. After the contest, musician and producer

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 ...

offered Iida and four of the other 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

) the chance to be taken under his wing on one condition: that they sell 50,000 CDs of their song "Ai no Tane" in 5 days. The quintet accomplished that task in four and, thus, in 1997,

was born (and their first official single "Morning Coffee" was released in 1998). The group has since been increasingly popular in Japan, has achieved a cult following in the Western world and is infamous for its fluctuation of memberships, with members "graduating" and joining frequently. In 1998,

placed Iida into subgroup

with Aya Ishiguro and 2nd generation 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 they specialized in singing slower, more mature songs. Together they made four singles and an album. After Ishiguro graduated from Morning Musume and Tanpopo in January 2000, Iida and Yaguchi performed Tanpopo songs as a duet until

placed 4th generation Morning Musume members

Ai Kago is a Japanese actress and former singer. In 2000, Kago debuted as a 4th generation member of the idol girl group Morning Musume. During her time in the group, she was also part of Mini-Moni and other Hello! Project sub-groups. In 2004, Kago depa ...

and

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 ...

into the subgroup. Tanpopo's style was also given a revamping, with songs being more upbeat and pop-ish, but nonetheless still slower than Morning Musume. In this formation, Tanpopo released 3 more singles, a compilation album, and a compilation DVD. After Morning Musume's then-leader

graduated in the Spring of 2001, Iida took on the role as the group's leader. Additionally, when Morning Musume "split" into 2 subgroups in 2003—Iida was leader of

Morning Musume Otomegumi was one of the subgroups that the Japanese pop group Morning Musume was divided into in 2003. Its counterpart was Morning Musume Sakuragumi. The group's name is made up of and , meaning "Young Girls' Group". Like Sakuragumi, purpose of Morning ...

. She is also known for keeping her hair long throughout her Morning Musume career and also for spacing out frequently. In July 2002, Tanpopo, along with other Morning Musume subgroups

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 ...

and

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, ...

, experienced changes in their membership - partly due to graduating Morning Musume members and partly to showcase the newer members. As a result, Iida (along with Mari and Ai K.) graduated from Tanpopo. As with

's shuffle groups, Iida was placed in punk-rock Aoiro 7 in 2000, folky festival style 10-nin Matsuri in 2001 and

Odoru 11 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 ...

in 2002, and ska-punk 11Water in 2003. She also participated in the 2004 summer shuffle group H.P. All Stars. In 2005, she participated in the shuffle group

Puripuri Pink 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 ...

. She is the only member of Hello! Project to have participated in all the shuffle groups since the tradition started. Additionally, Iida is pursuing a solo career as an artist and singer. Her solo musical career includes two albums outside of Hello! Project where she sings covers of French, Greek, and Italian songs (in their respective languages). She also has two singles in Japanese, released in advance of her impending graduation from Morning Musume—though still set in a Mediterranean-esque style; many Western fans of Morning Musume and Hello! Project have described the style of Iida's solo material as "Euro-

enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, p ...

". In Morning Musume, Iida mostly sang harmony with a few solo lines. Her signature song in Morning Musume is "Yume no Naka", from the group's first album. On December 29, 2004, Iida released her third album, this time within Hello! Project and in Japanese. On January 30, 2005, Iida—the last First Generation member to still be in

—graduated from the group to further pursue her solo singing and art careers.

took over her role as Morning Musume's leader upon Iida's graduation. Her tenure of over 7 years was the longest of any Morning Musume member, a record Iida would hold until January 2009 when fifth generation members

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 ...

and

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 ...

broke it. As of January 2009, she is one of only four members to remain in the group for over 7 years (4th generation member

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 ...

would later achieve this honor just weeks before her graduation in 2007 and 5th generation members

and

reached this mark in mid-September 2008). On December 21, 2005, Iida released Plein D'amour: Ai ga Ippai, her fourth album. This album featured songs in Japanese and many European cover songs in their original languages. This was her first album to be released since she graduated from Morning Musume. In early 2007, Iida was chosen to be a member of —a unit created to celebrate Morning Musume's 10th anniversary as a group. Morning Musume Tanjō 10nen Kinentai also consists of

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 ...

and

Koharu Kusumi is a Japanese actress, model, television personality, singer, and voice actress. In 2005, she became the only seventh generation member of the Japanese girl group Morning Musume, a part of Hello! Project. While Kusumi was in Morning Musume, she p ...

. Their first single, , was released on January 24, 2007. After the death of her son, she stated that in his memory, she will continue her career. She returned to the concert stage at the ''Hello! Project 2009 Winter Elder Club: Thank You for Your Love!'' series, her first performance in one year and four months. She also performed at the ''Hello Pro Award '09: Elder Club Sotsugyō Kinen Special'' concert on February 1, 2009, which celebrated her graduation from Hello! Project along with 21 other Elder Club Members. Beginning in April 2009, she was to be part of ''M-Line'', the official Morning Musume graduate fan club. In 2010, it was announced Iida Kaori would join the group "Dream Morning Musume" alongside other former

members.

Personal life

On July 6, 2007, Iida's agency announced that she was ten weeks pregnant and would soon marry Kenji, a former member of the disbanded '' 7 House'', a band formed by

. Iida's wedding took place the next day. Iida began maternity leave after the ''Morning Musume 10th Year Anniversary Concert Tour: Summer '07 Thank You My Dearest'' on September 1, 2007. On February 3, 2008, Iida released a statement to her fan club that on January 22 at 10:30 am, she had given birth to a baby boy. On November 8 of the same year, she announced that her son had died on July 27 from

renal failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

. On December 25, 2012, Iida announced via her blog that she was pregnant with her second child. On May 14, 2013, Iida announced on her blog that she had given birth to a healthy boy. On May 2, 2017, she announced her third pregnancy. On September 19, 2017, Iida gave birth to a baby girl.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

DVD

* 2004-02-04 – with

Shoko Aida is a female J-pop artist and actress. She was born in Higashimurayama, Tokyo, and debuted as a member of the J-Pop duo Wink. She began working as a solo artist on 1 April 1996, one month after Wink dissolved. She collaborated with Kaori Iida f ...

Appearances

Dramas

* 2001 –

Radio

* (March 2003) * (April 2, 2005)

Publications

Photobooks

Art/Picture Books

* December 2001 – * December 2002 –

Essays

* May 1999/June 2001 –

References and footnotes

External links

Official up-front create profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iida, Kaori 1981 births Morning Musume members Tanpopo members 11Water members Puripuri Pink members Hello! Project solo singers Living people People from Muroran, Hokkaido 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers Japanese women pop singers Japanese child singers Japanese actresses Japanese idols Dream Morning Musume members Musicians from Hokkaido