Ai no Tane

Ai no Tane (愛の種; Seeds of Love) is Morning Musume's first indies single, which was labeled as an ASAYAN Project. Producer Tsunku challenged the five girls who lost the audition to sell 50,000 copies of this song they recorded together to get a record deal. It was released on November 3, 1997. The single sold 50,000 by November 30.
This song also appears on "Morning Coffee", the Morning Musume debut single that was released a couple months later, on their first album First Time, and on their album Best! Morning Musume 1. The instrumental version of this song appears on the Morning Musume Early Single Box.
A remake, titled "Ai no Tane (20th Anniversary Ver.)", by the special anniversary unit Morning Musume 20th was released on November 3, 2017, exactly 20 years after the original. This version was later re-released as a 7 inch vinyl.
==Tracklist==
#Ai no Tane
==Featured Members==
*Nakazawa Yuko
*Ishiguro Aya
*Iida Kaori
*Abe Natsumi
*Fukuda Asuka
==Single Information==
;Ai no Tane
*Lyrics: Saeki Kenzo
*Composition, Arrangement, Chorus, Producer: Sakurai Tetsutarou
*Drums: Yokozuna Yuji
*Base: Masahiko Rokukawa
*E. Guitar: Tsuchiya Kiyoshi
*A. Piano, Keyboards: Kono Shin
*Chorus: Morning Musume.
*Dance Choreographer: Natsu Mayumi
==Performances==
===TV Performances===
*[1998.01.11] ASAYAN
*[1999.01.03] ASAYAN
===Concert Performances===
*Hello! First Live at Shibuya Kohkaido
*Hello! Project 2017 WINTER ~Kaleidoscope~
*Morning Musume Tanjou 20 Shuunen Kinen Concert Tour 2017 Aki ~We are MORNING MUSUME~
===Event Performances===
*[2010.11.13] Morning Musume 1-Ki Member FC Event ~M. -1 Pentagon Triangle~
*[2023.02.01] Morning Musume '23 Makino Maria Birthday Event - Makino Maria
*[2023.05.26] Hello! Project 25 Shuunen Morning Musume 2ki Yasuda Kei Yaguchi Mari Presents "2 (ni)" - Yasuda Kei, Yaguchi Mari, Katsuta Rina, Akiyama Mao, Hirai Miyo, Kitahara Momo, Kajishima Aya
*[2023.08.03] Morning Musume '23 Shin Member Ohirome FC Event ~ 17ki Inoue Haruka・Yumigeta Ako ~ - Yumigeta Ako
==Five-Day Campaign==
Despite failing the Sharam Q Josei Rock Vocalist Audition held by in association with the TV show ASAYAN, on September 7, 1997, five of the finalists—Nakazawa Yuko, Ishiguro Aya, Abe Natsumi, Iida Kaori, and Fukuda Asuka—were given the chance to make their major debut as a group with Sharam Q's frontman Tsunku as their producer, but only if they could sell 50,000 CDs by hand in five non-consecutive days of sales events."新展開突入!!!" (in Japanese). ASAYAN. 1997-09-07. (Archived)"発売スケジュール決定!!!" (in Japanese). ASAYAN. 1997-09-28. (Archived) A week later, on September 14, Tsunku decided on Morning Musume as the name of the group based on the image of "breakfast filled with variety and volume, great value meal, easy to approach and familiar to everyone"."モーニング娘。" (in Japanese). ASAYAN. 1997-09-14. (Archived) On October 5, "Ai no Tane" was announced as the title of their single."楽曲タイトル大発表!!!" (in Japanese). ASAYAN. 1997-10-05. (Archived)
The five-day campaign began on November 3 at HMV Shinsaibashi in Osaka,"「愛の種」明日発売！" (in Japanese). ASAYAN. 1997-11-2. (Archived) where they sold 16,610 copies. They had their second day of sales events on November 9 at both HMV Canal City and HMV Tenjin in Fukuoka, where they sold 9,004 copies."「愛の種」大阪・福岡結果報告！" (in Japanese). ASAYAN. 1997-11-16. (Archived) On November 24, at Kirin Beer Garden in Sapporo, they managed to sell 14,853 copies. During this event, Iida Kaori was hospitalized because her contact lens broke and caused temporary blindness, but was able to come back before the fourth day."「愛の種」札幌情報！" (in Japanese). ASAYAN. 1997-11-23. (Archived) After three days, only 9,533 copies needed to be sold for Morning Musume to reach the 50,000 goal.
The fourth day of "Ai no Tane" sales took place on November 30 at Nagoya Baseball Stadium, and Fukuda Asuka's parents had also come from Tokyo to attend. The event began at 10:00 AM, and the 50,000 sales mark was reached by 2:30 PM. To show their gratitude, Morning Musume performed "Ai no Tane" and shook hands with the fans at the venue."「愛の種」発売4日目名古屋" (in Japanese). ASAYAN. 1997-12-07. (Archived)
Sharam Q's chief manager Wada Kaoru later on met with the Morning Musume members to deliver an announcement from Tsunku. They would make their major debut January 28, 1998, and they would begin recording three demo songs for their debut single."50,000枚完売！モーニング娘。" (in Japanese). ASAYAN. 1998-12-07. (Archived)
==Trivia==
*Some copies of the single were numbered. People would get autographs and different photocards if they went to the signing events.
==Videos==
==References==
==External Links==
*Wikipedia: , 
*Lyrics: 
cs:Ai no Tane
es:Ai no Tane
it:Ai no Tane
zh:愛之種
Category:Morning Musume Singles
Category:1st Generation Morning Musume Singles In
Category:1997 Singles
Category:5 Members Line-Up
Category:Morning Musume Debuts
Category:Indie Singles