was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

girl group 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 2004 and associated with Hello! Project. The group's members consisted of Hello! Project Kids members

Saki Shimizu is a J-pop singer. Her career began in 2002 when she passed the audition for Hello! Project Kids, an all-female teen pop group within Hello! Project. She continued to sing in that group and became a part of two smaller groups composed of Hel ...

, Momoko Tsugunaga, Miyabi Natsuyaki,

Chinami Tokunaga (born May 22, 1992) is a Japanese singer. She is a former member of the J-pop idol group Berryz Kobo. History Tokunaga was born in Kanagawa, Japan. In 2002, she passed the Hello! Project Kids audition and became a member of Hello! Project. ...

Maasa Sudo is a Japanese actress, singer, and tarento. She is a former member of Berryz Kobo, a J-pop idol group within Hello! Project. Career Sudo was born in Tokyo. In 2002, she successfully passed the Hello! Project Kids audition. Sudo was a member o ...

Yurina Kumai is a Japanese pop singer and fashion model. She is a member of Berryz Kobo (activities suspended indefinitely) and former member of Hello! Project Kids. Her signature color is green. Born in Kanagawa, Japan. Her blood type is B, and her heigh ...

, and

Risako Sugaya is a former Japanese singer and actress. She first gained recognition when she joined Hello! Project Kids and later became one of the lead vocalists of the girl group Berryz Kobo from 2004 to 2015. Career 2002–2004: Hello! Project Kids, 4 ...

; Maiha Ishimura left the group in 2005. Berryz Kobo debuted with their first single in March of the same year. In 2007, Berryz Kobo became the youngest act ever to give a solo concert 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 ...

. In 2008, the group received the Best Asian Newcomer Award at the Asia Song Festival and a Cable Music Award at the 41st

Japan Cable Awards are an annual set of music awards, sponsored by the . The awards are presented annually since 1968 and are based on requests from the audience received by cable broadcasters. The awards is finished in 2017, Kiyoshi Hikawa, who is a Japanese enk ...

ceremony. As of December 2014, the group had released 36 singles, nine studio albums, one EP and one compilation album. Berryz Kobo's combined CD and DVD sales exceeded one million copies in Japan alone.

History

2002–2003: Hello! Project Kids

All of the group's members were initially selected during the audition for Hello! Project Kids in 2002 and undertook professional training in Hello! Project. In 2002,

and

appeared in the Minimoni movie '' Okashi na Daibōken!'' as members of the group 4Kids. In 2003, some Hello! Project Kids' members were placed in bands led by

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 ...

members. Miyabi Natsuyaki was selected to be in

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 ...

, while

and Momoko Tsugunaga were in the group ZYX. Both units were short-lived, and their activities stalled with the creation of Berryz Kobo.

2004: Formation and debut

The formation of Berryz Kobo was announced at a Hello! Project club event on 14 January 2004. The band was composed of eight members of Hello! Project Kids, who were then known as the "starting line-up". Initially it was planned to rotate all 15 members of Hello! Project Kids through the group, which would have given Berryz Kobo's members more time for school. Later, however, the idea was dismissed, and the remaining seven Hello! Project Kids members formed the group Cute in 2005. On 3 March 2004, the new band debuted with the single " Anata Nashi de wa Ikite Yukenai", which ranked 18th 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 ...

Weekly Singles Chart. Two more singles followed in April and May, and on 7 July the group released its first album, titled '' 1st Chō Berryz''. In addition to their activity as Berryz Kobo, the girls also performed as backup dancers in music videos of the newly created Hello! Project duo W.

2005: First top 10 hit and Ishimura's graduation

The single " Special Generation" was released on 30 March 2005, and ranked seventh on the

Weekly Singles Chart. It was Berryz Kobo's first single to rank in the top 10, and their first to sell more than 20,000 copies. At that time, the group's average age was less than 12 years old. On 11 September 2005, it was announced that Maiha Ishimura would graduate from the group and Hello! Project to focus on her studies. Ishimura's graduation took place on 2 October 2005, on the last night of the Berryz Kobo autumn 2005 concert tour.

2006: Jiriri Kiteru

The 10th single, " Jiriri Kiteru," was released on the 29th of March. It was ranked in sixth place on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, setting a new high for the group.

2007: Youngest concert at Saitama Super Arena

In February 2007, Berryz Kobo made news headlines after it was announced that the group would be holding a concert at

on 1 April. The tickets for the two performances (a total of 20,000 seats) sold out almost two months before the premiere, and the group became the youngest act ever to perform a solo concert at the arena. At the time its members' average age was 13.8, with the previous record of 16.3 set by

four years earlier. On 27 June, Berryz released their 14th single " Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba." It ranked fourth on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, becoming their highest-selling single.

2008: Awards and NHK ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen''

On the 12th of March 2008 the group released "

Dschinghis Khan Dschinghis Khan (; "Genghis Khan") was a German Eurodisco pop band. It was originally formed in Munich in 1979 to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest with their song " Dschinghis Khan". The original group led by original members Henriette Str ...

," their first cover song and, as of 2012, their highest- selling single. In October, Berryz Kobo participated at the 2008 Asia Song Festival in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

, representing Japan alongside

W-inds is a Japanese pop boy band managed by Vision Factory and signed to the Pony Canyon label since 2000. The group consists of Ryohei Chiba and Keita Tachibana; Ryuichi Ogata left the group in 2020. Tachibana is the lead singer of the group, while ...

and Anna Tsuchiya. Berryz won the festival's Best Asian Newcomer Award alongside the SM Entertainment group

Shinee Shinee ( ; ko, 샤이니, Syaini; ja, シャイニー, Shainī; stylized as SHINee) is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group's musical impact in their native country has earned them numerous accolades and th ...

. On 12 December, they performed at

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. Eve ...

's 20th anniversary concert at the Nippon Budokan. The group took part in the 41st show at

Nakano Sun Plaza , formerly Nakano Sun Plaza, is a hotel in Nakano, Tokyo. The hotel includes a concert hall, the Nakano Sunplaza Hall (formerly Nakano Sun Plaza Hall). Built in 1973,

on 17 December, performing "

," for which they received a , awarded to the most requested song on the Cansystem

cable radio Cable radio or cable FM is a concept similar to that of cable television, bringing radio broadcasting into homes and businesses via coaxial cable. It is generally used for the same reason as cable TV was in its early days when it was "community ...

network. The year ended with the group's debut at the 58th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, an annual music show broadcast on 31 December. They performed a number together with

and Cute.

2009: Influenza and collaboration with Inazuma Eleven

In March, Berryz Kobo First Fan Club Tour in Hawaii '09 was held in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, where the band performed exclusively for the members of the Japanese fan club. It was the group's first overseas fan club tour. The 22 March concert in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

was cancelled just a few days before the date, because two members, Miyabi Natsuyaki and

, were suffering from influenza. On 25 April the girls celebrated the group's 100th solo concert in

Utsunomiya, Tochigi is the prefectural capital city of Tochigi Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 519,223, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Utsunomiya is famous for its '' gyoza' ...

during their spring concert tour Sono Subete no Ai ni. On 3 June, the group released their 20th single and their first double A-side single, " Seishun Bus Guide/Rival." "Seishun Bus Guide" was a closing theme for the anime series ''

Inazuma Eleven is an association football-themed media franchise created by Level-5. The franchise began with the release of ''Inazuma Eleven'' in 2008, with the game series selling over 8 million copies worldwide by 2016. In addition to video games, the franchi ...

''. On 21 June, the group held a mini-concert in

, which became their first commercial solo concert outside Japan. In autumn 2009, the group was again affected by influenza. On Tuesday, 13 October, fans were notified that Momoko Tsugunaga was diagnosed with influenza and would be absent from the concert scheduled for Saturday. The next day, Miyabi Natsuyaki was reported to be diagnosed as well after having felt sick the previous evening, and it was announced that the Sunday concert had to be cancelled due to

and

also having influenza. The next day, Hello! Project reported that

caught influenza, affecting five of the seven members. In the beginning of November, the influenza got to

, followed by

a couple of days later; causing them to miss the 7 and 8 November concerts.

2010: More ''Inazuma Eleven'' endings

In spring, the group performed in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

, Thailand, for the first time. On 3 March, the group released their third double A-side single, " Otakebi Boy Wao!/Tomodachi wa Tomodachi Nanda!" The single debuted on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart at number three, making it their highest-ranking single to date. It also stayed in the top 10 for a second week, ranking ninth. In July they released a new single, " Maji Bomber!!," which was used as an ending theme for both the anime ''

'' and the game the anime was based upon. Their next single and their final ''Inazuma Eleven'' ending theme, " Shining Power," was released on 10 November.

2011: Oricon Daily number 1 and first concert in America

On 3 March, the anniversary of the group's debut, the group began its seventh-anniversary tour. Berryz Kobo's 25th single "

Heroine ni Narō ka! is the 25th single by the Japanese girl idol group Berryz Kobo. It was released in Japan on March 2, 2011, and debuted at number 7 in the weekly Oricon singles chart. Track listings CD single # # # "Heroine ni Narō ka!" (Instrumental A ...

" ("Let's be Heroines") reached number one on the

Daily Singles Chart for 6 March. The concert that was scheduled for 12 March in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, was abruptly canceled due to the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six mi ...

which hit the day before. All of the group's members were safe, but the tour had to be stopped. The concerts were either canceled or postponed until the end of March. At the end of March, Berryz Kobo released their seventh album, '' 7 Berryz Times''. In April, the group performed at Sakura-Con 2011, an

anime convention An anime convention is an event or gathering with a primary focus on anime, manga and Japanese culture. Commonly, anime conventions are multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels or college campuses. They feature a wide variety of activ ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington, United States. This was the first performance by Berryz Kobo in the United States. The group participated in events such as autograph sessions, question and answer sessions, and a concert. 3,500 people were reported to have attended the concert. On 8 June, the group released their 26th single, " Ai no Dangan". On 10 August, the group released their 27th single, titled " Aa, Yo ga Akeru".

2012

In 2012, Berryz Kobo's leader

announced on her official blog that on 21 March, the new Berryz Kobo single " Be Genki! (Naseba Naru)" would be released. The group's eighth album '' Ai no Album 8'' was released on 22 February. On 8–10 June, the group appeared at AnimeNEXT in

Somerset, New Jersey Somerset is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Franklin Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. their second live performance in USA. On 20 June, the group released its second collaboration CD single with fellow Hello! Project Kids group Cute, named " Chō Happy Song" ("Super Happy Song.") The title tune is an overlay of two previously published songs, Berryz Kobo's "Because Happiness" and Cute's "Shiawase no Tochū" ("On the Road to Happiness") from their 2012 albums, which were composed and produced by Tsunku intentionally to form a new song when played simultaneously. The trick was originally scheduled to be announced at a summer Hello! Project concert, but was uncovered by fans in mid-April. The song became widely discussed on the Internet, and the set of three tracks, "Because Happiness", "Shiawase no Tochū", and "Chō Happy Song", was hastily released as a digital download single on 28 April. On 25 July, the group released their 29th single, " Cha Cha Sing," a cover song of the popular Thai song " Row Mah Sing" by artist Thongchai McIntyre. The single was the group's first to include a solo song, "Momochi! Yurushite-nyan Taisō," which was performed by member Momoko Tsugunaga.

2013

It was announced on 19 May in Tokyo's Hibiya Park that Berryz Kobo would be holding a concert at the Nippon Budokan arena on 29 November 2013. On 2 October, the group released their 33rd single, "Motto Zutto Issho ni Itakatta," which became their highest selling single (with a reported total of 40,845 copies,) beating

's 37,096 copies. On 11 November, Berryz Kobo held their special concert at the Nippon Budokan.

2014: Tenth anniversary and indefinite suspension

It was announced on 2 August 2014, at the summer Hello! Project concerts that Berryz Kobo would be going on an "indefinite suspension starting Spring 2015". The girls decided together that they would like to explore other opportunities. The decision to call this an "indefinite suspension" was made since the girls felt calling this move a "disbandment" would cause Berryz Kobo to disappear or fade away. The group continued its activities until the spring of 2015, when their final appearances and performances would be announced and take place. Tsunku added he would "like to see them chase new dreams" and asked for continued support throughout their remaining time as an active group. On 24 February 2015, Shimizu and Tokunaga announced on their blogs they would remain with the company as advisors, where they would act as the "go-between" for the staff and members. The next day Sugaya announced she would take time off to focus on her personal life. The following day Kumai stated on her blog that she would finish her university degree and would pursue a modeling career.

Performances outside Japan

Berryz Kobo have performed and made appearances outside Japan numerous times. In 2009

M-net 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, ...

and

Up-Front Works 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, ...

arranged a Berryz Kobo mini-concert in South Korea on 21 June at

Yonsei University Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the " SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in th ...

Auditorium, titled Berryz Kobo Mini Live in Korea. This was the group's first concert outside Japan. In 2010 Berryz Kobo was chosen over

and Cute to perform in Thailand. Their concert was held on 27 March at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium, formally known as Rajamangala National Stadium. This was the group's second performance outside Japan. On the last day of the group's Autumn 2010 concert tour, captain

announced that they would be performing at the

Sakura-Con in

, the United States on 22–24 April 2011. Their American concert debut at Sakura-Con 2011 had an audience of 3,500. Fans traveled from all over the world, including many parts of the US, Canada, France, Mexico, and Japan to support the group as they celebrated their seventh year together. During the weekend the members appeared at the event's opening and closing ceremonies, participated in a live audience Q&A, held two 60-minute sessions where they signed autographs, and performed an hour-long concert consisting of 14 songs. This was the group's third performance outside Japan, and first outside Asia. Berryz Kobo was the third Hello! Project major act to perform outside Asia following

(in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, 2009 and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, 2010), and

Erina Mano is a Japanese idol singer and actress formerly associated with Hello! Project. She joined in 2006 as a member of Hello Pro Egg, as a trainee. In 2007, she became a member of the Hello! Project futsal team Gatas Brilhantes H.P. and its musical gr ...

(in Los Angeles, 2010). On 8–10 June 2012, the group performed at AnimeNEXT, an

Somerset, New Jersey Somerset is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Franklin Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States.Saki Shimizu is a J-pop singer. Her career began in 2002 when she passed the audition for Hello! Project Kids, an all-female teen pop group within Hello! Project. She continued to sing in that group and became a part of two smaller groups composed of Hel ...

- captain * Momoko Tsugunaga *

* Miyabi Natsuyaki - sub-captain *

Former members

* Maiha Ishimura (2004–2005)

Discography

; Studio albums * '' 1st Chō Berryz'' (2004) * '' Dai 2 Seichōki'' (2005) * '' 3 Natsu Natsu Mini Berryz'' (2006) * '' 4th Ai no Nanchara Shisū'' (2007) * '' 5 (Five)'' (2008) * '' 6th Otakebi Album'' (2010) * '' 7 Berryz Times'' (2011) * '' Ai no Album 8'' (2012) * '' Berryz Mansion 9kai'' (2013) ; Mini-albums * '' Special! Best Mini ~2.5 Maime no Kare~'' (2005) ; Compilation albums * '' Berryz Kobo Special Best Vol. 1'' (2009) * ''

Berryz Kobo Special Best Vol. 2 is the second greatest hits album by Japanese girl Japanese idol, idol group Berryz Kobo. It was released on 26 February 2014 on the label Piccolo Town. Release The album was released in 2 versions: a regular edition and a limited edition. The ...

'' (2014) * (2015)

Bibliography

Concert tours

Awards

Asia Song Festival

, - , 2008 , Berryz Kobo (group) , Best Asian Newcomer Award ,

Japan Cable Awards

The are sponsored by the . , - , rowspan="2", 2008 , rowspan="2", "

" , Cable Music Award , , - , Grand Prix* , * awarded to the most requested song of the year on the cable radio

References

External links

*
Berryz Kobo's leader Saki Shimizu's official Ameblo blog

List of reviews: Berryz Kobo
- Hotexpress {{Authority control 2004 establishments in Japan Child musical groups Hello! Project groups Japanese electropop groups Japanese girl groups Japanese idol groups Japanese pop music groups Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups from Tokyo