846 replies to this topic

[cнarloттe]

I never realised Asuka was only twelve when she was in, but I guess it's understandable why she was only around for four singles (parents, school, et cetera).
Johnson being sixteen is surprising as well. She always looked so much older than everyone else.

[MM10Fan]

@MM10Fan:
geez, thanks.. I was searching for this "morning statistics" because some sayings of the cookies being too young
Aibon saves the day ... ^^

Your comment made me think about the average age of each generation at joining. So I calculated it and...

1. 1st generation at joining was 17 years, 8 months, 7 days old
2. 8th generation at joining was 16 years, 4 months old
3. 2nd generation at joining was 15 years, 8 months, 4 days old
4. 6th generation at joining was 14 years, 8 months, 5 days old
5. 5th generation at joining was 14 years, 9 days old
6. 3rd generation at joining was 13 years, 10 months, 30 days old
7. 4th generation at joining was 13 years, 9 months, 25 days old
8. 9th generation at joining was 13 years, 2 months, 1 day old
9. 7th generation at joining was 12 years, 9 months, 16 days old

So not counting the single person generations, the Kyuukies are the youngest incoming generation on average.

[kantutanTayo14]

Except for the 9th gen of course, every member from every gen from 1st-8th's Junjun & Linlin, has been part of a weekly oricon #1 MM single

1st,2nd: Daite hold on me
3rd: Love machine
4th: Happy summer wedding
5th: Mr. Moonlight
6th,7th: Aruiteru
8th: Shouganai Yume Oibito

[denadel]

I never realised Asuka was only twelve when she was in, but I guess it's understandable why she was only around for four singles (parents, school, et cetera).

Though the official reason for her graduating was school, she dropped out shortly after leaving MM.
Afterwards she has been honest about her reason for laving, and that is she didn't feel welcomed in the group and that she was always picked on and somewhat bullied since she was the youngest.

[malgorium]

another stupid question:
when you're calculating all this (which i greatly appreciate BTW. it's really fun), does the conclusion of a grad concert mark the actual point of departure from the group?
or is there some private ceremony that occurs at a later date (or time) that marks the final moment? ... i'm sure there's something that's just for them, even if it's not public knowledge, or even official.
of course, there has to be an exact legal date of release written on a contract somewhere.

[J-Triumf]

With the addition of Mizuki Fukumura, Tokyo has become tied with Hokkaido for the prefecture producing the most Morning Musume members (5 each).

Updating the list on the first page, with better respect to the traditional regional divisions of Japan:

Hokkaidō (5)
Ishiguro, Iida, Abe, Konno, Fujimoto

Kantō (11)
Tokyo - Fukuda, Goto, Tsuji, Kamei, Fukumura
Kanagawa - Yaguchi, Ishikawa, Niigaki
Chiba - Yasuda, Ichii
Saitama - Yoshizawa

Chūbu (4)
Niigata - Ogawa, Kusumi
Fukui - Takahashi
Aichi - Suzuki

Kansai (3)
Kyoto - Nakazawa
Nara - Kago
Shiga - Mitsui

Chūgoku (2)
Yamaguchi - Michishige
Hiroshima - Sayashi

Kyūshū (2)
Fukuoka - Tanaka, Ikuta

Tōhoku and Shikoku have yet to produce any Morning Musume members. Interesting to note that Osaka also has yet to send anyone into the group, though it has given us Tsunku and Atsuko Inaba, who have both recorded backing vocals to countless MM songs. None of the members are officially listed as being from Okinawa, though the Niigaki name originates from there, and I believe Risa may have been born there and relocated to Yokohama at a young age.

And speaking of names: with the addition of Kanon Suzuki, the group now has 3 of the top 4 most common Japanese surnames in its ranks (Suzuki, Takahashi, Tanaka). The #1 most common surname, Sato, isn't represented, yet almost was in 2006 when current AKB48 member Sumire Sato lost the 8th gen audition.

[MM10Fan]

^
Those are interesting stats. So now Tokyo is tied with Hokkaido.

Interesting to see that all the Nikkies came from the Kanto region.


^
^
malgorium, there's a quote: "The only dumb question is the question not asked." So ask away!!

As for the start and end dates I use: The start dates are the announcement dates. The TV show ASAYAN did show the actual dates the 1st - 4th generations were picked, but I think the following shows 5th - 8th generations were announced on did not, so the air-date is used for all of them. Of course now, the 9th generation becomes the first one to be announced at a concert. For the end dates, they are the final concerts (or in Mari and Miki's cases, the dates given in their resignation announcements) (and I'm not sure Aya had a final concert, so the date given in her graduation announcement). As far as I know, the fans don't know the actual start and end dates of their contracts, so the announcement dates and graduation concert dates are what are used. Hope that answers your question. Any more, let me know.

[MM10Fan]

Sorry for the double post, but new...umm...sub-topic for this topic. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

As of Tuesday January 11, Ai-chan has now passed Yuko on the Morning Musume leader list, by my count.

1. Iida Kaori was leader for 3 years, 9 months, 15 days
2. Takahashi Ai is leader for 3 years, 7 months, 10 days
3. Nakazawa Yuko was leader for 3 years, 7 months, 9 days
4. Yoshizawa Hitomi was leader for 2 years, 22 days
5. Yaguchi Mari was leader for 2 months, 15 days
6. Fujimoto Miki was leader for 26 days

Apparently, this list conflicts with what Tsunku thinks.

From Tsunku's statement on Ai-chan's graduation a couple of days ago:

"Takahashi Ai is the 6th leader and has been in this position for 3 years and 7 months."
Right, that's what I've got.

"Takahashi Ai holds the record for being the longest in the group..."
With Risa.

"...and the longest to hold the leader position."
Huh???

I'm not sure about this regarding Yuko and Kaori.

Now for Yuko, there is a line on her Up-Front profile page here
http://www.up-front-...uko/profile.php that says she was leader for 3 years and 3 months. That would push her leader start date to around 1/15/1998, but they could be rounding the months and they might mean 1/28/1998, Morning Coffee's release date. But is that right?
I thought it might have something to do with minor debut vs. major debut, but I looked around to see when Wada Ayaka was named leader of S/mileage and it looks like it happened before their minor debut. Back then, was there ever an announcement about Yuko being leader? Was it on ASAYAN? Or was it just something that was always assumed since she's the oldest?

As for Kaori, Tsunku might be considering the fact that she was named co-leader with Kei, but I'm not sure about that either. I have the H!P 2002 Winter Concert on my drive right now, and during the member introductions, Kaori says "leader" and Kei clearly says "subleader." They also talk about Kaori as leader on an Utaban earlier in 2001. There is a note on the Japanese wikipedia MM page that says on a Yahoo! live talk in November 2007, Kei says she is the first subleader.

I'm just confused by Tsunku's statement and want to make sure the numbers I have above are correct. Though I guess these things could be "up to interpretation." Any and all opinions welcome.

[Angelia]

Riho Sayashi and Kanon Suzuki are the only members (to date) who are born after Momusu was found in 1997.

[bontakun]

Well, in honor of Takahashi Ai's graduation announcement...

Fukui prefecture, from with Ai-chan hails from, is noted for its unique style of serving katsu-don where the deep-fried pork fillet is dipped in a special sauce and served on top of white rice without eggs and onions. This was highlighted in an episode of Hello! Morning where Kei-chan and Inaba Atsuko went to visit the hometowns of Ai-chan and Aibon in search of delicious local cuisine. Ai-chan has said that this was one of the things she misses most about her hometown.

A snapshot of the dish can be found here.

[ItsudemoAibon]

Now with four new members, much more trivia can be added to this thread.

I'm not sure which one it is, but one of the four kyukkies has type AB blood, joining with Eri Kamei and Ai Kago as only three of the now 29 members who have had the rarest of blood types in Momusu.

Riho Sayashi comes from Hiroshima, marking the first time any Momuse has come from that city (or prefecture). The member who hailed from the closest to Hiroshima in the past was Sayumi Michishige from Yamaguchi-ken.

Mizuki is the latest member to hail from Tokyo. Other than Tokyo and it's surrounding suburbs (Yokohama, Chiba, Saitama, Yokosuka), the only Musumes to have come from large cities are Ayappe, Mikitty and KonKon from Sapporo and Reina from Fukuoka (but now we can add Erina from Fukuoka too). There has never been a member from Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nagoya, Nagasaki or Sendai, the other large cities of Japan.

The closest to Osaka that any members originate from is Yuko from Kyoto-ken, Aibon from Nara-ken and Aika from Shiga-ken.

Edit: I just read J-Triumf's post above and see he filled in some of this info already. But I'll just leave this here. If Kanon is from Aichi, is she from Nagoya or a smaller city in that prefecture?

[Verilian]

After reading this thread, I have concluded that if you wanted your daughter to be a debuted Japanese idol in a fairly well-known group and do well, she should:

1. Either have the last name Takahashi or Maeda. Fukuda or Suzuki are fine too, but Sato is not if you want her to debut with H!P.
2. Have the first name Ai/Megumi or Saki. Mai is fine too, and Tomomi/Ayaka if you don't mind her debuting with an agency that isn't H!P.
3. Grow to about 156cm tall.
4. Have a sibling or two, most likely sisters,
5. Either own no dogs or at least two or three.
6. Debut with her group at about age 14.

Following this logic, Tsunku's next addition to Momosu should be named Maeda Saki (because Takashi Saki and Maeda Ai/Megumi sound awkward), who is 156cm tall, has two sisters, and three dogs, and had just turned 14 with a birthday in February.

After this, Tsunku will realize that he has a "Saki" in every group, and form a unit named Sakiki, whose first single's title will play upon the sound "ki", and includes an exclamation mark somewhere in the title. It will be a high-energy dance unit with awesome vocals.

Edit: On a more serious note, I think this shows a few things that you need to be a successful idol that might not be so apparent (aside from talent/cuteness/personality):

Siblings, so that you'd be better socialized and know how to work well in groups. More likely girls than boys, so you'd know how to compete as well as get along with them. Also, possibly so you'd be less spoiled and more driven to seek things out on your own.

Dogs, for (most likely) responsibility, or responsible parents who can handle having children and dogs that you can learn from - and lots of them too!

A good name. This is trickier because of the 100 ways to spell Saki, but Ai/Megumi has connotations of love, Ayaka loveliness/grace, Tomomi friendliness and beauty, and Mai with dance but... all of these good qualities for an idol to have.

[MM10Fan]

...Ayappe, Mikitty and KonKon from Sapporo...

From what I can find, Mikitty is from Takikawa, not Sapporo.

If Kanon is from Aichi, is she from Nagoya or a smaller city in that prefecture?

From the Japanese wikipedia, they source an article saying she's from the old Mikawa province, now eastern Aichi prefecture. So no to Nagoya, but still don't know what city she's from.

[ItsudemoAibon]

So only KonKon is from Sapporo? I always wondered if she knew the girls in Zone, they're about the same age........of course, I know they've met on TV shows and such things.

One more thing I would add in the "if you want to be an H!P idol you better.............." would be to come from Western Japan if possible, if not, then the Kantou. It's been a while since they've picked anyone from north of Tokyo.

[MM10Fan]

^

You said Ayappe earlier, remember? So only Ayappe and Konkon are from Sapporo.

[MM10Fan]

New list:

Today, Thursday March 17, 2011, Ai-chan passes Iida Kaori in time as leader, becoming the longest serving leader in Morning Musume history.

Time as Leader:
1. Takahashi Ai is leader for 3 years, 9 months, 16 days
2. Iida Kaori was leader for 3 years, 9 months, 15 days
3. Nakazawa Yuko was leader for 3 years, 7 months, 9 days
4. Yoshizawa Hitomi was leader for 2 years, 22 days
5. Yaguchi Mari was leader for 2 months, 15 days
6. Fujimoto Miki was leader for 26 days

[MM10Fan]

Sunday March 27, 2011, Mitsui Aika has passed Tsuji Nozomi and Kago Ai on the Morning Musume tenure list to move up to 16th.

1. Takahashi Ai and Niigaki Risa are at 9 years, 7 months, 1 day
3. Michishige Sayumi and Tanaka Reina are at 8 years, 2 months, 8 days
5. Kamei Eri is at 7 years, 10 months, 26 days
6. Iida Kaori is at 7 years, 4 months, 23 days
7. Yoshizawa Hitomi is at 7 years, 20 days
8. Yaguchi Mari is at 6 years, 11 months, 11 days
9. Abe Natsumi is at 6 years, 4 months, 18 days
10. Ishikawa Rika is at 5 years, 21 days
11. Yasuda Kei is at 5 years, 2 days
12. Ogawa Makoto is at 5 years, 1 day
13. Konno Asami is at 4 years, 10 months, 27 days
14. Kusumi Koharu is at 4 years, 7 months, 5 days
15. Fujimoto Miki is at 4 years, 4 months, 13 days
16. Mitsui Aika is at 4 years, 3 months, 17 days
17. Tsuji Nozomi and Kago Ai are at 4 years, 3 months, 16 days
19. Li Chun and Qian Lin are at 3 years, 9 months
21. Nakazawa Yuko is at 3 years, 7 months, 8 days
22. Goto Maki is at 3 years, 1 month, 1 day
23. Ishiguro Aya is at 2 years, 4 months
24. Ichii Sayaka is at 2 years, 18 days
25. Fukuda Asuka is at 1 year, 7 months, 11 days
26. Fukumura Mizuki, Ikuta Erina, Sayashi Riho and Suzuki Kanon are at 2 months, 25 days

[Syd]

Goto Maki's number was 305. She was a 3rd generation member and the 5th Morning Musume member to have left the group. Very interesting isn't it?

[ItsudemoAibon]

I admit total ignorance of Mikitty's hometown, Takikawa, so I did some research on it. It's an hour north of Sapporo by train, making Mikitty the Momusu from the farthest north place of origin out of the 29 girls. I read that she went to high school in neighboring Akabira but dropped out when she became an idol. Akabira was a coal-mining town (the coal long since gone) but Takikawa was known for other things. This is from their webpage:

Conveniently located between the cities of Sapporo and Asahikawa, Takikawa is a major thoroughfare in the heart of Hokkaido!
While Takikawa is known outside of Hokkaido for marinated Genghis Khan, onions, and apples, it is more than just a place to eat;
please take a look at the data below and see for yourself!

It seems that most of the tourist offerings in Takikawa feature the natural environment. They have a petting zoo there which reminds me of one of the later Hello! Mornings where the girls went to a petting zoo and played a lot of games including a frisbee toss with some dogs. If I recall, that was in Hokkaido, now I wonder if they went and visited Mikitty's hometown..........

I tried to find more information about Ayappe's city of origin, almost all web sources just list her hometown as "Hokkaido" which, of course, is a prefecture (and island) not a city. Finally I found a source that indicated her high school as Hokkaido Sapporo Seiryo High School--so I guess that's proof that she's from Sapporo (I think in the MM audition video she mentions where she's from). I also found out that she was going to Hokusho Junior College majoring in art when she auditioned and got accepted into Morning Musume. Remember, she was the second oldest of the original five at 19 years old. Before KonKon went to Keio U., Ayappe was the only Momusu to have ever attended college.

So that means that out of 29 girls, only two have come from the city of Sapporo and only those two ever went to college!

Meanwhile, I was watching the DVD Magazine #36 and realized that the four kyukkie members all have different blood types. If I recall, Mizuki had type O, Eripon had A, Zukki type B and Riho had the rare AB type. That now means that of the 29 girls, only three have AB type: Aibon, Eri and Riho.

The blood type distribution of the current members is this:

A -- Ai, Sayumi, Erina

B - Risa, Kanon

O - Reina, Aika, Mizuki

AB - Riho

Back to the geographical trivia, ever since Koharu graduated, there have been no current members from north of Tokyo. As a matter of fact, the kyukkies' origins represent a line from Tokyo west to Fukuoka with Mizuki from Tokyo, Zukki from Aichi, Riho from Hiroshima and Eripon from Fukuoka. With Zukki and Riho, Morning Musume now has it's first members from their home prefectures.

With Mizuki being from Tokyo, the list of Tokyo-born members is now Asuka, Maki, Nozomi, Eri and Mizuki, matching Hokkaido as the place where the highest number of Momusu come from. Adding the entire 2nd Generation of Kei, Sayaka and Mari, 4th Generation members of Yossie and Rika and 5th Generation member Risa, 11 of the 29 girls hail from the Kantou region. Mizuki is the first person selected from the Kantou since Eri back in 2003.

Now, considering that almost all of the current members hail from west of Tokyo, only two are native Edo-ben speakers, Risa and Mizuki. The other seven are native dialectical speakers.

[MM10Fan]

Sunday April 24, 2011, Mitsui Aika has passed Fujimoto Miki on the Morning Musume tenure list to move up to 15th.

1. Takahashi Ai and Niigaki Risa are at 9 years, 7 months, 29 days
3. Michishige Sayumi and Tanaka Reina are at 8 years, 3 months, 5 days
5. Kamei Eri is at 7 years, 10 months, 26 days
6. Iida Kaori is at 7 years, 4 months, 23 days
7. Yoshizawa Hitomi is at 7 years, 20 days
8. Yaguchi Mari is at 6 years, 11 months, 11 days
9. Abe Natsumi is at 6 years, 4 months, 18 days
10. Ishikawa Rika is at 5 years, 21 days
11. Yasuda Kei is at 5 years, 2 days
12. Ogawa Makoto is at 5 years, 1 day
13. Konno Asami is at 4 years, 10 months, 27 days
14. Kusumi Koharu is at 4 years, 7 months, 5 days
15. Mitsui Aika is at 4 years, 4 months, 14 days
16. Fujimoto Miki is at 4 years, 4 months, 13 days
17. Tsuji Nozomi and Kago Ai are at 4 years, 3 months, 16 days
19. Li Chun and Qian Lin are at 3 years, 9 months
21. Nakazawa Yuko is at 3 years, 7 months, 8 days
22. Goto Maki is at 3 years, 1 month, 1 day
23. Ishiguro Aya is at 2 years, 4 months
24. Ichii Sayaka is at 2 years, 18 days
25. Fukuda Asuka is at 1 year, 7 months, 11 days
26. Fukumura Mizuki, Ikuta Erina, Sayashi Riho and Suzuki Kanon are at 3 months, 22 days