Special Sub-Topic: Morning Musume Trivia Click Here To Play: Morning Musume Trivia

Who is Morning Musume's producer?

Tsunku. Originally a member of the band SharanQ, Tsunku is the producer and primary lyricist for Morning Musume. His name is often followed by the "male" symbol, and he makes most major decisions about the band, so far as graduations and sub-groups go. Ayumi Hamasaki is a singer and producer in her own right, but she has nothing to do with Morning Musume (Except as the subject of some fun impressions). Zetima is Morning Musume's record label, and Gainax is an anime studio.

What is the name of the larger group to which Morning Musume belongs?

Hello Project. Often written "Hello! Project", or abbreviated "H!P". Hello Project is basically everyone produced by Tsunku. It includes Morning Musume, all the MoMusu subgroups, the Hello Project Kids, Coconuts Musume, Melon Kinenbi, Maki Goto, Aya Matsuura, Yuko Nakazawa, and Michiyo Heike. They tour together, and coordinate their releases.

Which of the following is not a subgroup of Morning Musume?

Coconuts Musume. Coconuts Musume is not a subgroup because most of its members are not members of Morning Musume, although they are all members of Hello Project. Originally 5 members, Coconuts Musume is made up of girls from Hawaii. At the time of this writing, they are down to two - Mika and Ayaka.

Which of the following is a subgroup of Morning Musume?

Tanpopo. Tanpopo is the only group mentioned whose principal members are part of Morning Musume. ZYX is composed of Mari Yaguchi and several Hello Project Kids, and Country Musume is composed of members from the "country" region of Japan, Hokkaido. Their numbers are bolstered by adding Morning Musume members, notably Rika Ishikawa, Asami Konno, and Miki Fujimoto.

Which of the following does not fit?

Sexy 8. All of the choices were shuffle groups, but Sexy 8 was not part of the 2003 shuffle. A shrewd Tsunku decided several years ago that, since there were so many members of the Hello Project, he would split them up once a year into themed groups, and have them release competing singles. This has added an element of internal competition to Morning Musume, and given many often overshadowed members a chance to shine.

Which of the following does not fit?

Mari Yaguchi. Rika, Hitomi, Nozomi, and Ai Kago made up the 4th generation of girls to enter Morning Musume. Tsunku and the TV show "Asayan" hold auditions periodically to enlist new members into Morning Musume. Girls who join through the same audition are referred to as "generations". As of this writing, Morning Musume is in its 6th generation. Mari was part of the 2nd generation.

Which of the following Name - Nickname match-ups is incorrect?

Natsumi - Gocchin. Natsumi's usual nickname is Nacchi; Gocchin belongs to Maki Goto. Rika's nickname spawned a character who appeared on Hello Pro-Wide, the Hello Project news show. Hitomi's nickname is based on her family name, Yoshizawa. Kaori's nickname is a reference to her height - she is the tallest member of Morning Musume.

How many singles did the original Morning Musume have to sell to get their start?

50,000. The original five members of Morning Musume, Yuko Nakazawa, Aya Ishiguro, Asuka Fukada, Natsumi Abe, and Kaori Iida, had 5 days to sell 50,000 singles as part of an Asayan promotion to get their debut. They met their challenge in only 4 days.

Which Hello Project member is known for accosting the girls in Morning Musume and quizzing them on their English?

Ayaka Kimura. In her segment "Ayaka no Totsugeki Eikaiwa" (Ayaka's English Conversation Attack) on "Bishoujo Kyouiku" (Pretty Girl Training), Ayaka from Coconuts Musume would ask members of Morning Musume to learn a phrase in English, or ask them to answer questions in English. Members who got did well received dessert treats. In a few memorable segments, Nozomi turned the segment around on Ayaka, hosting "NONO no Totsugeki DANCING!"

Who was a solo artist in her own right before joining Morning Musume?

Miki Fujimoto. All of those listed have or have had successful solo careers, but Maki's and Yuko's started after they left, or "graduated" from Morning Musume. As of this writing, Aya Matsuura has not and is not expected to join Morning Musume. Miki Fujimoto joined with the 6th generation.

What was odd about the 3rd audition to join Morning Musume?

There was only one winner. The third audition resulted in only one winner, Maki Goto. All the other auditions have yielded at least 3 new members.

What is it called when a girl leaves Morning Musume?

Graduation. Tsunku uses the japanese word "sotsugyou" (graduation) to announce when a Morning Musume member is leaving the group. This is done for various reasons. Asuka Fukada graduated to continue her education, while Maki Goto graduated to pursue a career as a solo artist.

What was "Pinch Runner"?

A movie. Released shortly after Maki joined the group, "Pinch Runner" was a movie featuring Natsumi Abe as the sole member of a school track team. Morning Musume and Hello Project have made several of their own musicals, such as "Love Century" after the 4th generation joined. Evening Shujin (Evening Husbands) was a Morning Musume parody group.

What was "Space Venus"?

A Playstation game. "Space Venus" for Playstation let you play around with making a Morning Musume video, and included several high-quality music videos. The current Hello Project TV show, "Hello Morning", comes on weekends on Fuji TV.

What does the "'Love Machine' Curse" predict?

Predicts when members will leave. The cover of the first single Maki Goto appeared in, "Love Machine", has given rise to what is known as the "'Love Machine' Curse". If one looks at the columns on the cover from right to left, the first six people are arranged in order of their graduations. Nozomi and Ai Kago's January 2004 graduation announcement debunked the "'Love Machine' Curse", as they were not in Morning Musume at that time.