| Country Girls | |
| Native Name: | カントリー・ガールズ |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Alias: | Country Musume, Kan Musume, Kan Musu, Country Musume ni Rika Ishikawa, Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto |
| Origin: | Japan |
| Years Active: | 1999–2009 (Country Musume) 2014-2019 (Country Girls) |
| Label: | zetima |
| Website: | Profile on Hello! Project Official Website |
| Past Members: | As Country Musume: Asami Kimura Miuna Saito Miki Fujimoto Asami Konno Rika Ishikawa Rinne Toda Azusa Kobayashi Hiromi Yanagihara Mai Satoda As Country Girls: Uta Shimamura Manaka Inaba Momoko Tsugunaga Nanami Yanagawa Risa Yamaki Chisaki Morito Mai Ozeki Musubu Funaki |
[1] [2] was a Japanese female idol music group that is a part of Hello! Project.
On November 5, 2014, Country Musume was rebooted and renamed with new members.[3]
Country Musume was formed in 1999 and was termed as "Country Girls from Hokkaidō." The initial group consisted of native members of Hokkaidō, Rinne Toda, Azusa Kobayashi, and Hiromi Yanagihara.
Before the release of their first single in July 1999, Hiromi Yanagihara died in a car accident. After the accident, Azusa Kobayashi departed from the group and Rinne Toda carried on as a solo artist and released two singles under the "Country Musume" name by herself. In the summer of 2000, Asami Kimura joined the group and the duo released one more single.
Their popularity rose when Morning Musume's Rika Ishikawa—who is from Kanagawa—was lent to the group in April 2001. Country Musume had their first charting single in Japan with the release of "Hajimete no Happy Birthday." The trio, under the name "Country Musume ni Rika Ishikawa," released two singles and an album. Early in 2002, Mai Satoda was recruited to the group, although she initially auditioned to be a Morning Musume member.
The quartet released one single before Toda, the remaining original member bid farewell at the end of 2002. Afterwards, Kimura, Ishikawa, and Satoda released one more single.
In mid-2003, Country Musume had a major shift in its roster. Miuna Saito, who is from Shizuoka, was recruited to the group. Instead of Rika Ishikawa, the group featured Asami Konno and Miki Fujimoto, who are both Morning Musume and Hokkaidō natives. In this new formation (named "Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto"), the quintet has released three singles. In 2004, Country Musume (except the featured singers) participated in the fifth edition of Hello! Project's Folk Song series, where various H!P artists sang covers of Japanese and Western folk songs.
Asami Kimura and Miuna Saito graduated from Country Musume and Hello! Project on its 10th anniversary concert on January 28, 2007,[4] leaving Satoda as the only remaining member.
On February 11, 2014, it was announced during the Hello! Project 2014 WINTER ~GOiSU MODE~ concert held at Sendai Sun Plaza Hall that audition applications for Country Musume would be accepted until March 31, 2014.[5] On August 7, it was announced that the Country Musume audition has come to an end without any additions.
On November 5, 2014, it was announced that Hello! Pro Kenshūsei members Risa Yamaki and Manaka Inaba, Morning Musume '14 auditionees Chisaki Morito, Uta Shimamura, and Mai Ozeki were selected to join Country Musume. Berryz Kobo member Momoko Tsugunaga was also added to the group to become their "playing manager," while Mai Satoda takes the role of "supervisor." It was also announced that Country Musume was renamed to Country Girls, hoping for the group to attract fans from overseas.
On March 25, 2015, Country Musume released their first single as Country Girls and their twelfth single overall with "Itōshikutte Gomen ne / Koi Dorobō".
On June 12, 2015, Uta Shimamura resigned from Country Girls due to issues between Up-Front and Uta's parents regarding the terms of her contract. Country Girls will continue as a five-member group, excluding group supervisor, Mai Satoda.
On June 24, Country Girls performed at the TV Tokyo Music Festival(2) along many other artists, including Morning Musume '15 and Morning Musume OG.
On August 5, Country Girls released their 2nd single "Wakatteiru no ni Gomen ne / Tamerai Summer Time."
On November 5, during Country Girls' first anniversary event in Shinjuku, it was announced that Funaki Musubu and Yanagawa Nanami would be joining the group.
On December 2, Country Girls performed at the UPDATE girls LIVE, alongside idol groups, Lyrical School and Tokyo Performance Doll.
On February 9, during the 67th Sapporo Snow Festival, Country Girls performed a special live entitled 'Country Girls Boogie Woogie LIVE'. It took place in Odori Park in front of the HTB Snow Square.
On February 18, Country Girls performed a joint live with Idol Renaissance for the DOUBLE COLOR session11 at Shinjuku BLAZE.
On February 28, Country Girls performed at the SKY PerfecTV! Ongakusai 2016.
On March 9, Country Girls released their 3rd single "Boogie Woogie LOVE / Koi wa Magnet / Ranrarun ~Anata ni Muchuu~". It is Yanagawa Nanami and Funaki Musubu's debut single.
On April 28, it was announced that Inaba Manaka would be taking a break from Country Girls' activities due to asthma. After consulting with her doctors, it was initially decided that she would be returning to Country Girls when she recovered from her illness. However, on August 4, she graduated from the group.
On September 28, Country Girls released their 4th single "Dou Datte Ii no / Namida no Request."
In November 5, during the Country Girls Live Tour 2016, Fuyu day concert at Shinjuku ReNY, Country Girls' second anniversary, Tsugunaga announced that she will be graduating from the group and Hello! Project on June 30, 2017.[6]
On November 19, 2019, it was announced that all four members will be graduating from the group and Country Girls will suspend all activity. A final performance was held in December 26 at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA.
The group was supervised by Mai Satoda (a former member of Country Musume)
Colors = id:member1 value:red legend:1st_Generation id:member2 value:rgb(1,0.25,0.25) legend:2nd_Generation id:member3 value:rgb(1,0.50,0.50) legend:3rd_Generation id:member4 value:rgb(1,0.75,0.75) legend:4th_Generation id:member5 value:yellowgreen legend:5th_Generation id:member6 value:limegreen legend:6th_Generation
id:support value:brightblue legend:Morning_Musume_members id:supervisor value:green legend:Supervisor
id:Lines1 value:lavender legend:Singles id:lines3 value:orange legend:Digital_Singles id:Lines2 value:purple legend:Studio_Albums
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BarData =
bar:Rinne text:"Toda" bar:Azusa text:"Kobayashi" bar:Hiromi text:"Yanagihara" bar:Asami text:"Kimura" bar:S-Mai text:"Satoda" bar:Miuna text:"Saito" bar:Momoko text:"Tsugunaga" bar:Risa text:"Yamaki" bar:Manaka text:"Inaba" bar:Chisaki text:"Morito" bar:Uta text:"Shimamura" bar:O-Mai text:"Ozeki" bar:Nanami text:"Yanagawa" bar:Musubu text:"Funaki" bar:Rika text:"Ishikawa" bar:Konno text:"Konno" bar:Miki text:"Fujimoto"
PlotData=
width:7 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from bar:Rinne from:27/04/1999 till:13/10/2002 color:member1 bar:Azusa from:27/04/1999 till:23/08/1999 color:member1 bar:Hiromi from:27/04/1999 till:16/07/1999 color:member1
bar:Asami from:30/05/2000 till:28/01/2007 color:member2
bar:S-Mai from:02/01/2002 till:31/03/2009 color:member3 bar:S-Mai from:01/04/2009 till:04/11/2014 color:member3 width:1 bar:S-Mai from:05/11/2014 till:end color:supervisor width:3
bar:Miuna from:27/04/2003 till:28/01/2007 color:member4
bar:Uta from:05/11/2014 till:12/06/2015 color:yellow bar:Momoko from:05/11/2014 till:30/06/2017 color:pink bar:Risa from:05/11/2014 till:26/12/2019 color:yellowgreen bar:Manaka from:05/11/2014 till:04/08/2016 color:red bar:Chisaki from:05/11/2014 till:26/12/2019 color:orange bar:O-Mai from:05/11/2014 till:26/12/2019 color:blue
bar:Nanami from:05/11/2015 till:11/03/2019 color:purple bar:Musubu from:05/11/2015 till:26/12/2019 color:yellow
bar:Rika from:18/04/2001 till:23/07/2003 color:support bar:Konno from:24/07/2003 till:15/08/2004 color:support bar:Miki from:24/07/2003 till:15/08/2004 color:support
LineData = at:23/07/1999 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:30/11/1999 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:27/04/2000 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:31/07/2000 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:18/04/2001 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:17/10/2001 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:17/04/2002 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:13/11/2002 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:24/07/2003 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:05/12/2003 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:04/08/2004 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:25/03/2015 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:05/08/2015 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:09/03/2016 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:28/09/2016 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1 at:08/02/2017 color:Lines1 layer:back width:1
at:11/08/2017 color:Lines3 layer:back width:1 at:24/12/2017 color:Lines3 layer:back width:1 at:24/08/2018 color:Lines3 layer:back width:1 at:24/08/2019 color:Lines3 layer:back width:1
at:12/12/2001 color:Lines2 layer:back width:1 at:23/08/2006 color:Lines2 layer:back width:1 at:10/12/2008 color:Lines2 layer:back width:1 at:28/06/2017 color:Lines2 layer:back width:1 at:06/03/2019 color:Lines2 layer:back width:1 at:04/12/2019 color:Lines2 layer:back width:1
| Title | Release date | Members | ||
| 1 | Toda, Kimura, Ishikawa | |||
| 2 | Kimura, Satoda, Saito | |||
| 3 | Satoda |
| No. Overall | No. by Name | Title | Release date | Oricon Weekly Singles Chart | Members |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | - | Yanagihara, Kobayashi and Toda | ||
| 2 | 2 | - | Toda | ||
| 3 | 3 | - | |||
| 4 | 4 | - | Toda and Kimura | ||
| Country Musume ni Ishikawa Rika | |||||
| 5 | 1 | 4 | Toda, Kimura and Ishikawa | ||
| 6 | 2 | 6 | |||
| 7 | 3 | 4 | Toda, Kimura, Satoda and Ishikawa | ||
| 8 | 4 | 8 | Kimura, Satoda and Ishikawa | ||
| Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto | |||||
| 9 | 1 | 7 | Kimura, Satoda, Saito, Konno and Fujimoto | ||
| 10 | 2 | 15 | |||
| 11 | 3 | 13 | |||
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN[7] | |||
| Album | |||
| 19 | ||
| Seasons |
| 63 | |
| 22 | ||
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN | |||
| Single | |||
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| — | ||
| — | ||
| — | ||
| — | ||