was one of the subgroups that the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese pop group

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 ...

was divided into in 2003. Its counterpart was

Morning Musume Sakuragumi , meaning " Sakura Group", was one of the subgroups derived from the Japanese pop group Morning Musume in 2003. Its less successful equivalent was Morning Musume Otomegumi. Like its counterpart, the sole purpose of Sakuragumi was to accommodate ...

. The group's name is made up of and , meaning "Young Girls' Group". Like Sakuragumi, purpose of Morning Musume Otomegumi was to perform in small towns with low-capacity venues. The group represented modern young women. Like their counterpart, they released two singles before entering indefinite hiatus.

History

Otomegumi was originally announced in January 2003, when 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 ...

decided to split Morning Musume into two groups. Due to the large number of girls, meaning performances could only take place in large venues, and high demand for performances, the girls were split in half to allow the group to perform in more arenas and in smaller towns. Out of the fifteen girls, seven were put into Otomegumi, the other eight into Sakuragumi. The girls' theme was representing "modern Japanese youth". Kaori Iida, the oldest of the girls and a founding member of Morning Musume, was chosen to be leader. Otomegumi's first single, "

Ai no Sono (Touch My Heart!) is the first single of the J-pop idol group Morning Musume subgroup Morning Musume Otomegumi. In addition to the title song and its karaoke version, the single also contains a Morning Musume Otomegumi version of the earlier Morning Musume song "D ...

" was released on September 18, 2003, the same day as Sakuragumi's debut single. The single reached a peak of #3 on the weekly

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 ...

chart, losing out to Sakuragumi by a single place. The girls' first tour, "Morning Musume Otomegumi Hatsukōen: Otome Chick" began on November 24. The group's second and final single, "

Yūjō (Kokoro no Busu ni wa Naranee!) is the last single of the J-pop idol group Morning Musume subgroup Morning Musume Otomegumi. In addition to the title song and its karaoke version, the single also contains Morning Musume Otomegumi versions of the earlier Morning Musume songs " S ...

", was released on February 25, 2004. While Sakuragumi again claimed second place in the charts, Otomegumi sank to fifth. Their first tour DVD was released in June. After the releases the group became dormant, and the two groups were effectively dissolved when Morning Musume reformed as a whole once again in March 2004. During the remainder of the decade all members but

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 ...

and

Reina Tanaka is a Japanese singer and actress. She is the leader of the Japanese rock band Lovendor. From 2002 to 2013, she was one of the main vocalists of the girl group Morning Musume and participated in other music acts under the Hello! Project name. ...

graduated from Morning Musume. The group remained in hiatus until February 2009, when all seven original members reformed for a performance of their debut single at the Elder Club's graduation concert. In December of the same year, their second single was performed by a temporary unit composed of Michishige, Tanaka,

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 ...

and Junjun at Kusumi's graduation concert. And after the performance the group went back into indefinite hiatus.

Members

*1st generation:

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. ...

(Leader) *4th generation:

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 ...

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 ...

*5th generation:

Makoto Ogawa is a Japanese singer and actress, best known as a former member of Japanese girl group Morning Musume. She joined the group in August 2001 along with fellow fifth generation members Ai Takahashi, Risa Niigaki, and Asami Konno. On March 31, 2 ...

*6th generation:

Miki Fujimoto (born February 26, 1985), professionally known by her birth name of , and nicknamed Mikitty, is a Japanese actress and former pop singer. After failing the audition to join girl group Morning Musume with the fourth generation members, Fujimoto d ...

Discography

Singles

DVDs

Notes and references

External links

Discography
at the official Up-Front Works site {{Authority control Morning Musume Japanese girl groups Japanese idol groups Japanese pop music groups Musical groups from Tokyo