Hello! Project Wiki/News/2015

;December 30, 2015 - Kobushi Factory granted Best Newcomer Award
:At the 57th Japan Record Awards live TBS broadcast, Kobushi Factory was announced as the winner of the Best Newcomer Award.
:Kobushi Factory was formed on January 2, 2015, and had their major debut on September 2, 2015. Their first year as a group, already marked with successes such as their debut and first live tour, comes to a fitting end with this significant award.
:Source: TBS Twitter
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;December 20, 2015 - Tamura Meimi to Graduate from ANGERME and Hello! Project
:Tamura Meimi has announced she will be graduating from ANGERME and Hello! Project, in order to focus on working to become a musical actress. Her precise graduation time is not yet known beyond spring 2016. Meimi will be the first 2nd generation S/mileage / ANGERME member to graduate.
:An English translation of her full statement can be found at UP-FRONT LINK using the link below.
:Source: UP-FRONT LINK, Hello! Project
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;December 9, 2015 - YouTube Videos Unblocked in the U.S.
:In late October all Hello! Project videos on YouTube were blocked in the United States when trying to view them through standard means, in trouble related to new agreements all content providers had to sign relating to the new YouTube RED service. It appears these problems are taken care of, however, as the videos are now unblocked.
:Videos related to NEXT YOU, the group Juice=Juice is portraying in Budokan, are still not viewable, but for a different reason. Those videos have been explicitly blocked to viewers outside of Japan by those in charge of it.
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;December 4, 2015 - Morning Musume to Return to United States
:It has been announced that Morning Musume '16 will be guests at the Anime Matsuri convention in Houston, Texas from February 26 through 28 next year. This is their first visit to the U.S. since their New York concert in 2014.
:Little else is known at the moment, but you can check Anime Matsuri's website for information on attending and further information as it comes.
:Source: Hello! Project
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;November 11, 2015 - Kamikokuryo Moe Becomes Only ANGERME 4th Generation Member
:At a release event for their latest single, the results of this year's ANGERME audition were announced. The sole winner: Kamikokuryo Moe.
:A 16-year old first-year high-schooler from Kumamoto, Moe is new to the company, in contrast to the third generation which came entirely from the Kenshuusei.
:No word on exactly when she will start performing regularly with the group, but early next year is a safe guess. This will bring the group back to 9 performing members following the graduation of first generation member Fukuda Kanon on November 29.
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;November 5, 2015 - Country Girls Adds Two Members
:In its early active years, the original Country Musume's lineup was frequently changing. The resurrected Country Girls continues this tradition on the anniversary of their announcement by adding two new members, both from Hello Pro Kenshuusei.
:Funaki Musubu was one of the seven finalists in the first Morning Musume 12th gen audition. Though there were no winners, all finalists joined Kenshuusei in late 2013, including fellow Country Girls member Yamaki Risa. Being born May 2002, she becomes the new youngest member of Hello! Project.
:Yanagawa Nanami is one of the most recent additions to Kenshuusei, joining in April of this year. She is also 13, having been born in January 2002.
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;October 29, 2015 - Sayashi Riho to Graduate from Morning Musume at Year's End
:In a surprise announcement, Sayashi Riho has said she will be graduating from Morning Musume on December 31, the last day of Morning Musume '15. However, she will remain part of Hello! Project. It is said that in the future she will increase her focus on dancing.
:Sayashi joined Morning Musume in early 2011 as part of the 9th generation, and is the first of her generation to graduate.
:Statements from staff and Riho herself translated into English can be read at UP-FRONT LINK.
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;October 25, 2015 - Hello! Project Videos Blocked from U.S. Viewing on YouTube
:Recently people in the U.S. have found themselves unable to watch Hello! Project and other UP-FRONT videos online. The culprit, as it turns out, is YouTube RED. The upcoming subscription service allows people to do things like watch YouTube videos without any ads. It requires updating agreements with content providers, some of which have not done so--at least not yet. Without the new agreements signed, YouTube has blocked the videos from being shown. Since YouTube RED is so far only imminent in the United States, only viewers there are currently affected. This affects both videos in the official channels, as well as those uploaded by other people which have been detected to include content in question.
:It is unknown whether UP-FRONT will sign the new agreement, or if not whether they will make their videos easily available to U.S. viewers in some other way. Since they do have staff that communicates in English with international fans on Facebook and Twitter, this is likely something that will come up soon.
:This article ARAMA! JAPAN has further information, and a large list of Japanese music channels now known to be blocked in the U.S.
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;June 25, 2015 - New Audition for ANGERME 4th Generation
:On Hello! Project Station #123 a new audition was announced, 2015 ANGERME Shin Member Audition. Recent mistakes made on another audition website hinted toward an impending ANGERME audition, but now it's official.
:The requirements are like those of most recent H!P auditions: females from age 10-17 who aren't currently with an agency. Applications will be taken from July 2 - August 16. There is not currently a website for the audition.
:This is the second audition for S/mileage / ANGERME. In 2011 the S/mileage Shin Member Boshuu! resulted in the 2nd generation members, while 1st and 3rd generations were drawn from the Egg / Kenshuusei program without an audition.
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;June 14, 2015 - Kobushi Factory Major debut announcement
:During the first day of June Nama Tamago Show! it was announced that Kobushi Factory will have their major debut this fall. Their first major single, Dosukoi! Kenkyo ni Daitan / Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san no Uta / Nen ni wa Nen (Nen'iri Ver.), is set to be released on September 2, 2015.
:"Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san no Uta" is a cover of a Sharan Q song, and is the theme for the drama Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san.
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;June 12, 2015 - Shimamura Uta leaves Country Girls and Hello! Project
:In a surprise announcement today, it was stated that Country Girls member Shimamura Uta is now gone from the group. Apparently contract negotiations between her family and UP-FRONT reached a point where it was clear they would not come to an agreement. As a result, her current contract has been cancelled.
:Country Girls will continue on with its remaining five performing members and supervisor.
:Source: HelloProject.com, UP-FRONT LINK
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;May 20, 2015 - Fukuda Kanon to graduate from ANGERME and Hello! Project
:On the latest Hello! Project Station, Fukuda Kanon announced that sometime this fall she will be graduating from ANGERME and Hello! Project. According to the news article on the Hello! Project website, Kanon plans on returning to university after her departure.
:Kanon first joined Hello! Project in 2004 at the age of 9 as one of the first generation members of Hello Pro Egg (now Kenshuusei). In 2009 she became one of the founding members of S/mileage (now ANGERME).
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;April 30, 2015 - New Kenshuusei unit formed, named Tsubaki Factory
:A new Hello Pro Kenshuusei unit has been formed in late April 2015. The name Tsubaki Factory is a combination of a plant (Tsubaki meaning Camellia) and the word Factory. Its members and name were helped chosen by former Berryz Koubou member and current Hello! Project Advisor Shimizu Saki. Just like Kobushi Factory the unit is supposed to inherit Berryz Koubou spirit.
:Members of Tsubaki Factory are Ogata Risa, Yamagishi Riko, Niinuma Kisora, Tanimoto Ami, Kishimoto Yumeno, and Asakura Kiki. The new group will first perform at the Hello Pro Kenshuusei Happyoukai 2015 ~Haru no Koukai Jitsuryoku Shindan Test~ event on May 4.
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;April 13, 2015 - J-MELO New Song Project with Morning Musume '15
:The NHK World television program on Japanese music, J-MELO, is once again taking user input for the creation of a Morning Musume song. In 2013 they took in people's messages on love, and the result was the song What is LOVE?, used for a time as the program's ending theme.
:This time there is no set theme--they're asking for ideas, messages, even images that might somehow inspire the song or be used on the show. The site does not make mention of who will actually be writing and composing the song.
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;April 4, 2015 - Confirmed: Tsunku's vocal cords removed
:Appearing at Kinki University's opening ceremonies, Tsunku announced that after his laryngeal cancer returned last year, his vocal cords were removed and he can no longer sing or even speak. There were reports to this effect in previous months, but they went unconfirmed.
:Tsunku's music career began with him primarily a singer, progressing to songwriting, then further to producing other musical acts including most of Hello! Project throughout its history.
:Sources: Oricon, Arama! Japan
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;February 25, 2015 - "2015 Hello Pro Kenshuusei Unit" named with help of new Hello! Project Advisor
:The actual name for the new Kenshuusei unit announced at the beginning of January has been revealed: Kobushi Factory (こぶしファクトリー). The word kobushi has multiple meanings. In this case it is supposed to represent both the coming of spring and grace of the Kobushi Magnolia (辛夷), as well as the strength of a fist (拳). Factory seems to cement it as a successor to the outgoing Berryz Koubou--koubou (工房) means workshop.
:The name was apparently chosen with the assistance of Shimizu Saki, who after the cessation of Berryz Koubou activities on March 3 will take on the role of "Hello! Project Advisor", self-described as a sort of "bridge" between the staff and members. Tokunaga Chinami will also become an Advisor.
:Kobushi Factory's first DVD single will be Nen ni wa Nen / Survivor, and first be sold at showings of Week End Survivor.
:Sources: Sponichi Annex, Shimizu Saki's blog, Tokunaga Chinami's blog
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;January 2, 2015 - New Hello! Project unit formed from Kenshuusei
:On January 2, during the Hello! Project 2015 WINTER concert, a new Hello! Project unit consisting of Hello Pro Kenshuusei members Fujii Rio, Hirose Ayaka, Nomura Minami, Ogawa Rena, Hamaura Ayano, Taguchi Natsumi, Wada Sakurako and Inoue Rei was announced. The group name will be revealed sometime in February and their first indie single will be released sometime in March 2015.
:From March 27 to April 5, the unit will be starring in the Engeki Joshibu musical Week End Survivor alongside Sudo Maasa.
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Category:2015