W was a Japanese duo formed in 2004 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, ...

and 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 ...

. The members consisted of

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 depa ...

, former 4th generation members 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 ...

. Tsuji and Kago had previously achieved fame through being in the group and the sub-group

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's formation was announced at the same time as Tsuji and Kago's planned departure from Morning Musume. Prior to their official departure, they debuted with several cover versions of songs, including their debut single, "

Koi no Vacance is the first single of the Hello! Project duo, W. It was released on May 19, 2004 on the zetima label. All three tracks are covers of songs originally recorded by The Peanuts; tracks 2 and 3 are exclusive to this single. Track listings ;CD # ...

" (2004) and their first album, ''

Duo U&U is the debut album by W, the duo formed by Morning Musume and Mini-Moni members and longtime friends Ai Kago and Nozomi Tsuji. Recorded while they were winding down their duties as Morning Musume and Minimoni members, the album consists of cove ...

'' (2004). After leaving Morning Musume, W released their first original song, "

Aa Ii na! is the second single of the J-pop duo, W. It was released on August 4, 2004, under the Zetima label. This was the first single that W released after their graduation from Morning Musume , formerly simply and colloquially referred to as , a ...

" (2004), followed by "

Robo Kiss is the third single of the Hello! Project group, W. It was released on October 14, 2004, on the Zetima label, peaking at #5 on the Oricon charts in Japan and charting for five weeks. The Single V, released on November 17, peaked at #17 on the wee ...

" (2004). In 2005, W starred in their first musical, ''Mysterious Girl Detectives Cara & Mel: The Case of the Stolen Dangerous Violin'' (2005). They reprised the roles of their characters with the release of "

Miss Love Tantei is the 6th single of W, released on September 7, 2005. Background and release "Miss Love Tantei" was composed by Los Angeles producers Joey Carbone and Steven Lee, the first time a songwriting team other than W's main producer, Tsunku, had wri ...

" (2005). In 2006, W's activities were halted after Kago was suspended for underage smoking. W was scheduled to make a comeback in 2007, but after media reports of Kago dating and smoking again surfaced, her contracted was terminated and Up-Front Promotion announced that W had disbanded. In 2019, W briefly reunited to make a concert appearance celebrating Hello! Project's 20th anniversary, and their previously cancelled releases, "Dō ni mo Tomaranai" (2019) and ''W3: Faithful'', were released in the same year.

History

2004: Formation and debut

In 2004, W's formation was announced not long after

and

's graduations from

. Tsuji and Kago had previously worked together in one of

's sub-units,

Mini Moni The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

, as a side project. Both members had been known as the "Twins" and had been some of Morning Musume's most popular members since joining the group at age 12.

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 ...

's producer, had selected the name "W" because the origin of the name meant "two Us" and "gave off the feeling of two You's", symbolizing Tsuji and Kago's dual nature. W released their debut three-song EP, ''

'', the title track being a cover version of The Peanuts' 1960 song. The EP was followed a few weeks later by their debut album as W, ''

'', which contained covers of other

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

female duo songs exclusively. One of the other groups covered by W on the first album was Pink Lady. Pink Lady were invited to perform with W on Japanese television as a one-time four-piece ensemble. Kago and Tsuji performed their graduation concert (final performance as members of Morning Musume) in August 2004; a week later, their second single "

" was released. Not only was it the duo's first release since they departed Morning Musume, it was also the first W single to feature an original composition by Hello! Project founder and producer

. A third single of original material, "

", followed three months later. In December 2004, W joined their fellow Hello! Project members on the 2004 shuffle unit single "All for One and One for All", credited to the H.P. All Stars. W also began joining Morning Musume onstage at concerts during this period to perform Kago and Tsuji's final Morning Musume single, "

Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari is the 23rd single by the J-pop girl group Morning Musume. It was released on July 22, 2004. It sold a total of 91,789 copies in the music stores that report to Oricon and peaked at number three on the Oricon Charts. In July 2004, the single wa ...

" together with their former bandmates.

2005: Rise to popularity

W's second album, 2005's ''

2nd W ''2nd W'' is the second album by the Hello! Project duo W and their first album recorded and released after its members, Ai Kago and Nozomi Tsuji, "graduated" from Morning Musume in August 2004. Unlike their first album, ''Duo U&U'', which was ...

'', released in March 2005, contained Shōwa period J-pop cover songs as well as original songs. Afterwards, they released "

Ai no Imi o Oshiete! is the fifth single of the 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 Morn ...

" In the spring of 2005, W starred in their first stage musical, ''Cara & Mel: the Case of the Stolen Dangerous Violin'', at Yokohama Blitz in Yokohama and Ikebukuro Sun Shine Theater in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, from March 18, 2005 to April 10, 2005. In September 2005 the duo released their 6th single "

". The video, which features Kago and Tsuji playing multiple roles, including a reprisal of their stage musical roles of Cara and Mel. In addition to their musical career, W continued to appear on Hello! Project's weekly TV 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 ...

,'' often in tandem with Morning Musume.

2006-2007: Hiatus and disbandment

On January 11, 2006, the release of a new single, "Dō ni mo Tomaranai" on February 22, followed by their third full-length album, ''W3: Faithful'' on March 15, was announced. However, they were pushed back after photographs of Kago smoking underage were published in ''Friday'' in February 2006. Hello! Project issued a press statement saying that Kago and W's activities had been suspended indefinitely. Kago was put under house arrest for a year and was not allowed to contact Tsuji. In January 2007, Kago returned to Tokyo and did assorted clerical work at her agency's office while the company was making preparations for her comeback. Not long after, photographs of Kago smoking underage for a third time, as well as going on a "dirty weekend trip" to an with a 37-year-old man, began circulating in the media, completely tarnishing her reputation. Kago was dismissed from the company, and W disbanded as a result.

Post-W activities

Kago posted on her blog in 2014 that she and Tsuji were in contact again. In 2018, Tsuji and Kago were invited as guests at

's 20th anniversary summer concert, leading to both their names trending on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

; they were scheduled to perform together, but Tsuji dropped out from maternity leave. In 2019, they were announced as performing guests at Hello! Project's spring concert and were releasing their previously cancelled works, "Do ni mo Tomaranai" and ''W3: Faithful'', on March 30 as digital releases; "Do ni mo Tomaranai" would be bundled as a double A-side single with "Choi Waru Devil." At Hello! Project's spring concert, the two performed together in front of a crowd of 5,000 people for the first time in 13 years.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Video albums

Singles

Filmography

Television

Theatre

Tours

Headlining

* 2004 Summer First Concert Tour ~ W Standby! W &

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 ...

(2004) * 2005 Summer W &

Concert Tour: High Score! (2005)

Concert participation

Concert Tour 2004 Spring: The Best of Japan (2004) *

2004 Summer: Natsu no Dōn! (2004) *

2005 Winter: All Stars Dai Ranbu: A Happy New Power!

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 ...

Graduation Special (2005) * Hello! Pro Party! 2005:

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 ...

Captain Kōen (2005) *

20th Anniversary!! Hello! Project Hina Fes 2019 (2019)

Publications

* 20 January 2005 – 50W * U+U=W Essaybook

Notes

References

External links

W's profile on Hello! Project's official site (prior to disbandment)
{{DEFAULTSORT:W Japanese girl groups Japanese idol groups Japanese pop music groups Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2006 Hello! Project groups Japanese musical duos Musical groups from Tokyo