Country Musume
| Country Girls | |
|---|---|
| Native name | カントリー・ガールズ |
| Also known as | Country Musume, Kan Musume, Kan Musu, Country Musume ni Rika Ishikawa, Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto |
| Origin | Japan |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1999–2009 (Country Musume) 2014– (Country Girls) |
| Labels | zetima |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | Profile on Hello! Project Official Website |
| Members |
Momoko Tsugunaga Risa Yamaki Chisaki Morito Mai Ozeki Nanami Yanagawa Musubu Funaki Mai Satoda (Supervisor) |
| Past members | As Country Musume: Asami Kimura Miuna Saito Miki Fujimoto Asami Konno Rika Ishikawa Rinne Toda Azusa Kobayashi Hiromi Yanagihara As Country Girls: Uta Shimamura Manaka Inaba |
Country Musume (カントリー娘。 Kantorī Musume?) is a Japanese female idol group that is a part of the Hello! Project.
On November 5, 2014, Country Musume was renamed to Country Girls (カントリー・ガールズ Kantorī Gāruzu?).
Country Musume was formed in 1999 and was billed as "Country Girls from Hokkaidō". The initial group consisted of members and natives of Hokkaidō; Rinne Toda, Azusa Kobayashi, and Hiromi Yanagihara.
Shortly, before release of their first single in July 1999, Yanagihara died in a car accident. After the tragedy, Kobayashi departed from the group and Toda carried on as a soloist, releasing two singles under the "Country Musume" name by herself. In the summer of 2000, Asami Kimura was added to the group and the duo released one more single.
Their popularity rose when Morning Musume's Rika Ishikawa—who is from Kanagawa instead of Hokkaidō—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 for 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.
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