Morning Musume

Morning Musume (モーニング娘。 lit. Morning Daughters or Morning Girls) is a Japanese girl group, whose act generally revolves around singing and dancing to upbeat melodies. Sometimes referred to as , they are the lead and oldest group of Hello! Project, which is masterminded by Naoki Yamazaki of Up Front Agency and managed by producer Tsunku of Sharam Q, who composes nearly all the lyrics and melodies of their songs. They hold the record of having the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon charts and the seventh highest overall sales of any group in Japan with 16,860,000 sales.

The orginal five members were discovered by the Japanese show ASAYAN in a compition to find a new female vocalist for Tsunku's band Sharam Q. The winner was Heike Michiyo, but Tsunku called back the five losers - Nakazawa Yuko, Ishiguro Aya, Iida Kaori, Abe Natsumi, and Fukuda Asuka - and said if they could sell 50,000 copies of their single 'Ai no Tane' they would win a record deal and he would become their producer. They passed the challenge and he named the five Morning Musume.

The group is known for ever fluctuating line-up, with "graduations" and auditions held nearly every year. 2008 was the only year so far when no changes in the line-up occurred. Over the years, the group produced several splinter groups, and often worked with other Hello! Project acts, including Country Musume, Berryz Kobo, Melon Kinenbi, and v-u-den.

Since their expansion into the Chinese market in 2007, the group officially adopted the name Jou An Sao Nu Jou (Zǎo Ān Shào Nǚ Zǔ, Traditional Chinese:早安少女組, meaning, "good morning girl's group").