was a sub-unit of the

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 merchandise and endorsements ...

girl groups

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, Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top ten singles ...

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 ...

. It was formed by

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, ...

in 2000 and associated with Hello! Project. The group was founded by

members

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 de ...

, with

member Mika later added as a member. After Yaguchi's departure in 2002, Morning Musume member

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 Mon ...

was added into the group. Throughout their career, Mini-Moni appeared in media aimed at children, having two animated series from 2001 to 2002, variety shows, as well as a 2002 film based on their stage personas titled ''Mini-Moni the Movie: Okashi na Daibōken!''. In addition to that, they also appeared in several ''

Hamtaro ''Hamtaro'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga and storybook series created and illustrated by Ritsuko Kawai about a hamster. The manga was serialized in Shogakukan's "Second Grade" magazine in April 1997; more ''Hamtaro'' stor ...

'' movies, performing the theme songs under the name . The group later disbanded in 2004, after Todd left Hello! Project and Tsuji and Kago left Morning Musume to debut in W. In 2009, Mini-Moni was revived as a

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 ...

and concert-only unit under the name Shin Mini-Moni; the group had new members and remained active until 2011.

History

2000–2004: Formation

The group was founded in late 2000 by Morning Musume member

, with the concept of having members and shorter. Together with Morning Musume's songwriter 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 Coco ...

, she selected two new members,

and

and the trio began performing in concerts as Mini-Moni.

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 ...

from

was later added to the group. They made their official CD debut with " Mini-Moni Jankenpyon! / Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu Daisukki!" in 2001, which became a #1 hit. The quartet released several singles in 2001 and 2002, with most of these tracks compiled on their first album '' Mini-Moni Song Daihyakka Ikkan.'' Simultaneous to their single releases, the band became the subject of a series of short cartoons, ''Mini-Moni Yaru no da Pyon!'', voicing their own characters. They also contributed their voices to a string of movies based on the ''

'' cartoon series, which featured a hamster version of Mini-Moni known as Mini-Hamus. In 2002, Yaguchi graduated from Mini-Moni to take on the leadership of the subgroup

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 ...

was added as a member, while Mika Todd, took over Yaguchi's place as the band's leader. That same year, all members of Mini-Moni starred in the film '' Mini-Moni the Movie: Okashi na Daibōken!'', a fictional account explaining the change in members. Afterwards, Mini-Moni released " Crazy About You" and later the album '' Mini-Moni Songs 2.'' They also starred in a mini-series called ''Mini-Moni de Bremen no Ongakutai'' starring Takahashi, Tsuji, and Kago; Mika Todd made brief appearances in two episodes. The group disbanded in May 2004 at

's graduation concert, following the release of a final single, " Lucky Cha Cha Cha!"

2018: 20th anniversary reunion

On February 12, 2018,

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...

aired a television special celebrating Mini-Moni's 20th anniversary. Yaguchi and Tsuji made an appearance and performed "Mini-Moni Jankenpyon!" with Morning Musume '18 members Ayumi Ishida and Reina Yokoyama.

Members

(2000-2003) *

(2000-2004) *

(2000-2004) * Mika Todd (2000-2004) *

(2003-2004)

Legacy

In June 2007, an excerpt from a November 2000 episode of ''Mini-Moni Chiccha'' (their segment on ''

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 fe ...

'') of a prairie dog suddenly turning his head became the basis for the Internet phenomenon the Dramatic Chipmunk. A parody of the Dramatic Chipmunk clip, including lookalikes of Mini-Moni, appears in

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...

's music video for their 2008 single "

Pork and Beans Pork and beans is a culinary dish that uses pork and beans as its main ingredients. Numerous variations exist, usually with a more specific name, such as Fabada Asturiana, Olla podrida, or American canned pork and beans. American canned por ...

Shin Mini-Moni

On May 26, 2009, Yaguchi posted on her blog discussing how the head producer of Hello! Project,

, had contacted her asking for permission to bring the group out of hiatus. Tsunku confirmed on his own blog that Mini-Moni would be revived as a

with an entirely new line-up, announcing then- Smileage member

Kanon Fukuda , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer and voice actress. She is a member of Metamuse and a former member of Hello! Project idol group Angerme and Shugo Chara Egg!. Biography Hello!Pro Egg Fukuda Kanon joined Hello!Project as a m ...

as the first member. He later announced then-

member

Linlin 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 ...

as the group's leader, with then- Hello Pro Egg trainees Akari Takeuchi and Karin Miyamoto as the final two members. The group, rebranded as , released songs for Hello! Project's compilation albums ''Champloo 1: Happy Marriage Song Cover Shū'' and ''Petit Best 10''. The group was also active as a concert-only unit until 2011.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Soundtrack appearances

Filmography

Television

Films

Video games

*''Mini-Moni: Dice de Pyon!'' (

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casino ...

, March 20, 2002, PlayStation) *''Mini-Moni ni Naru no da Pyon!'' (

Bandai is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...

, September 26, 2002, PlayStation) *''Mini-Moni: Shaka tto Tambourine! Dapyon!'' ( Sega, September 19, 2002, PlayStation) *''Mini-Moni: Step Up Pyon Pyon Pyon'' (Konami, December 12, 2002, PlayStation) *''Mini-Moni HapiMoni: Mika no Happy Morning chatty'' (

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the H ...

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...

) *''Mini-Moni: Onegai Ohoshi-sama'' (Game Boy Advance)

Notes

References

External links

Official discography on the Up-Front Works site
{{Authority control Japanese pop music groups Japanese girl groups Musical groups established in 2000 Japanese idol groups Hello! Project groups Minimoni Musical groups from Tokyo Video games based on musicians Band-centric video games Video games based on real people