Sayumi Michishige

**Sayumi Michishige** is a former sixth generation member and leader of Morning Musume, as well as the former leader of Hello! Project. She became a member of Morning Musume in 2003, as a sixth generation member alongside Miki Fujimoto, Eri Kamei and Reina Tanaka. On November 26, 2014, she passed her leadership of Morning Musume to Mizuki Fukumura and Hello! Project to Maimi Yajima when she graduated.

She is well known for portraying a narcissistic image in TV shows, often calling herself the cutest member of Morning Musume. She created “Usa-chan Peace” (Bunny Peace), which is a phrase Michishige uses to identify herself.

## History

### Early Life

Sayumi Michishige was born on July 13, 1989 in Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan. She was named "Sayumi" because her father wanted her to resemble Horie Sayumi.

When she was in elementary school, she won an award for aerobics. She also took piano lessons.

### 2002-2003

In in latter half of 2002, Michishige auditioned the Morning Musume LOVE Audition 2002 for an opportunity to join the group and successfully passed. On January 19, 2003 Michishige was introduced as a 6th generation member alongside Eri Kamei, Reina Tanaka and soloist Miki Fujimoto.

Michishige, along with Fujimoto, Kamei and Tanaka, had their first stage debut on May 5th during Morning Musume CONCERT TOUR 2003 Haru "NON STOP!", Kei Yasuda's graduation concert.

On July 30, 2003, Morning Musume's 19th single, "Shabondama," was released. This was Michishige's debut single, as well as Fujimoto, Kamei and Tanaka's.

Following her debut single, Michishige was added to Morning Musume Otomegumi, one of two Morning Musume subgroups created to have performances in towns with smaller venues. The group released two singles: "Ai no Sono ~Touch My Heart!~," which was released on September 18, 2003, and "Yuujou ~Kokoro no Busu ni wa Naranee!~," which was released on February 25, 2004.

From October 7, 2003 to September 28, 2004, Michishige appeared in the show M no Mokushiroku as a regular along with Yuko Nakazawa.

### 2004-2007

Michishige was assigned as mentor to 7th generation member Koharu Kusumi. She later admitted that she hated being Kusumi's mentor, because Kusumi had to be taught everything. Because it was too stressful for her, Michishige took out her frustration by plucking out her eyebrows. As a result, the mentor-pupil system within Morning Musume was removed until Haruna Iikubo was assigned as a mentor to the 12th generation.

In October, Michishige began hosting her own half-hour radio show, “Konya mo Usa-chan Peace," on CBC Radio every Monday at 23:30. The radio show concluded in November 24, 2014 with an 1 hour special.

On June 9, Michishige began co-hosting the radio show Young Town, following Miki Fujimotos Friday magazine scandal and subsequent resignation from Morning Musume. Her final appearance in the show was on November 22, 2014.

### 2008-2014

Michishige appeared several times on different Japanese variety TV shows, either on her own or along with other members, usually with Mari Yaguchi. In the Summer she gained decent recognition in the Japanese media due to her appearing in high-rated shows like London Hearts, Downtown DX and Odoru Sanma Goten, as well as in less popular shows. Netizens have pointed out “lately Michishige has been appearing often on TV.” A TV Guide article praised her sharp tongue. Michishige used her sharp tongue on her radio show where, on certain episodes, she would comment on something from the point of view of “Good/Angel Sayumi” and “Bad/Black/Devil Sayumi.”

It was revealed in July 2009 that Michishige would form part of Zoku v-u-den along with Junjun and Sugaya Risako.

In February, Michishige officially opened up a Gree blog.

In March, Mari Yaguchi, Satoda Mai, and Michishige were revealed to be regulars on the midnight TBS show Aimai na!. Michishige confirmed that she was going to be a regular on that show on her blog.

The official site for the Momusu Rokkies (Morning Musume 6th Generation) event titled "Morning Musume Presents Eri Kamei, Sayumi Michishige and Reina Tanaka Premium Summer Dinner Show" at Prince Hotel in Shinigawa was opened.

It was announced that Michishige would be the voice for "Harori" for the MMO game Dragon Nest.

Along with Reina Tanaka, Michishige hosted a premium Christmas dinner show. The date was December 23 and was hosted at the Prince Hotels.

On January 2, it was announced that 5th Generation member Risa Niigaki would graduate from Morning Musume and Hello! Project on May 18. As Michishige was the second oldest in Morning Musume and Hello! Project at the time, Morning Musume and Hello! Project leadership was passed down to Michishige after the graduation of Niigaki on May 19. She became the 8th Morning Musume leader and the 4th Hello! Project leader.

On January 23, a contest was held in Japan during a press conference to pick a new voice for Dragon Nest's Harori, an in game idol character who Michishige had previously voiced. The contest was called "God Idol! Harori Junior-Senior Battle.” The contestants were Tsugunaga Momoko, Barbie-san, and herself. The rest of the match took place online in which she came out victorious.

On October 10, Michishige opened an Ameba blog.

On January 19, both Michishige and Reina Tanaka officially had spent 10 full years in Morning Musume. With the graduation announcement of Tanaka, this meant that Michishige would become the last remaining sixth generation member of Morning Musume, as well as the last member remaining from the "Platinum Era."

On October 12, Michishige was declared the longest serving Morning Musume member, which was previously held by Risa Niigaki. On that day, she had served a total of 3,920 days in the group (Niigaki graduated with 3,919 days served).

On October 27, Michishige released a new photobook called Blue Rose.

On January 1, Michishige started off the new year with a total of 4000 days in Morning Musume.

On January 19th, Michishige became the first member to be part of the group for 11 years.

On March 31, it was announced Michishige would hold a fan club bus tour for her birthday from July 12 to July 14 in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

On April 29, during the Morning Musume '14 Concert Tour Haru ~Evolution~ concert in Yamaguchi, Michishige announced her graduation from Morning Musume and Hello! Project. She was set to graduate during Morning Musume's Fall 2014 concert tour

On June 14, Michishige, along with T.M.Revolution and w-inds, will host MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2014.

On September 20, Michishige announced that after her Yokohama arena graduation, she will be taking a break, temporary leave of entertainment activities, to rest her body and mind.

On November 26, Michishige officially graduated from Morning Musume and Hello! Project at Yokohama Arena. Michishige sang Akai Freesia as her graduation song in Morning Musume '14 Concert Tour Aki GIVE ME MORE LOVE ~Michishige Sayumi Sotsugyou Kinen Special~. Following her graduation, Michishige will take a break from the entertainment industry.

### 2016-2019

On February 4, her last appearance on Music Station before her graduation, performing "One•Two•Three (Updated)" and "TIKI BUN" with Morning Musume '14, was featured as one of the most memorable last stages performance in the past 30 years of the TV program.

On October 2, Michishige made an entry on her blog for the first time in two years, simply saying, *"Long time no see. I've tried to... update."* Thereafter, she noticeably began posting blog entries in a pattern. The first character of each entry title gradually spelled out her name, and each entry would be posted one day earlier than the one before it; the second entry was posted after 10 days, the third entry after 9 days, and so forth. Fans predicted that the dates would eventually count down to November 26, Michishige's graduation date, when she would possibly announce her return to entertainment.

On November 26, Michishige's blog entry finally spelled out "Michishige Sayumi Saisei" (道重さゆみ再生; *Michishige Sayumi Rebirth*) in hiragana, and in it she announced that should would be resuming activities next spring. Michishige aims for a "new sensation" of performance on stage, different from lives and musicals. She had begun taking vocal and dance lessons in order to bring up her stamina and would announce her exact schedule once it had been decided.

On December 26, it was announced that Michishige would be joining M-line club in 2017.

On January 27, it was announced on the M-line club website that Michishige would hold her first comeback stage, titled SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Saisei~, from March 19 to April 16 at COTTON CLUB in Tokyo. Shows from May 17 to May 21 at STUDIO PARTITA in Osaka were later announced. A soundtrack album was pre-released at the venue on April 10 and was released for general sale on July 5.

On March 18, Michishige made her first media appearance since graduating as a guest on Sanma's radio show *Young Town Doyoubi*, in which she was previously a regular.

On March 27, she brought back her former radio show for a one night special, titled *Michishige Sayumi no Konya mo Usa-chan Peace ~Ichiya Kagiri no Saisei Special~*, and previewed the studio versions of a couple of her new songs from SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Saisei~.

Michishige provided commentary for the cat photo collection *Itoshi no Paris Neko -Oshare de Kawaii Paris no Neko Café de Iyasareru!-*, which was photographed by Masa Tanaka at the two Le Café des Chats locations in Le Marais and Bastille. It was published on April 17.

Due to its popularity, more SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Saisei~ shows at COTTON CLUB were added, taking place from July 4 to July 8.

On July 13, Michishige celebrated her 28th birthday at a fanclub event, titled Michishige Sayumi FC Event 2017 ~Kawaii Birthday Party~, with two shows at Yamano Hall.

On September 14, she and Tanaka Reina were surprise guests at the Morning Musume Kessei 20 Shuunen Kinen Event ~21 Nenme mo Ganbatte Ikimasshoi!~. They performed "Ookii Hitomi" together and "Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai!" with Morning Musume '17.

On October 17, it was announced that Michishige would voice the character Arisa for the last episode of *Henkei Shoujo*, a web anime short series. The episode aired on October 24.

On November 21, Michishige made a surprise appearance alongside Takahashi Ai and Tanaka Reina during the Morning Musume Tanjou 20 Shuunen Kinen Concert Tour 2017 Aki ~We are MORNING MUSUME~ at Nippon Budokan. The three of them performed "Shabondama" and "Resonant Blue" with all of the current members, and Michishige performed her "Suki da na Kimi ga" duet song with Fukumura Mizuki.

On December 16 and 17, she held the Michishige Sayumi Fanclub Tour in Izu.

On February 24, Michishige was announced a model for Án MILLE's 2018 S/S Collection catalog.

From March 20 to July 8, Michishige held her second solo performance series at COTTON CLUB and STUDIO PARTITA, titled SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Shukumei~. The original soundtrack was pre-released at the venue on April 13 and was released for general sale on July 4.

On April 16, a second *Itoshi no Paris Neko* photo collection by Masa Tanaka in collaboration with Michishige, titled *Itoshi no Paris Neko 2 ~Neko to Sara to Watashi~*, was released. This installment includes gravure of Michishige as well as photos she took of her sister's cat Sara.

In July, Michishige was announced as a model for Án MILLE once again, this time for their 2018 A/W Collection.

On July 13, Michishige released her 12th solo photobook, *DREAM*. On the same day, she celebrated her 29th birthday at a fanclub event titled Michishige Sayumi Birthday Event 2018, featuring two shows at Yamano Hall.

On July 30, Michishige and Tanaka Reina held the Michishige Sayumi・Tanaka Reina 6ki 15 Shuunen Omedetou Event to celebrate the 15th anniversary since the 6th generation joined Morning Musume and debuted in the single "Shabondama".

From October 16 to November 18, she held the SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Tokyo~ performance series at COTTON CLUB and STUDIO PARTITA.

On December 1 and 2, she held the Michishige Sayumi Fanclub Tour 2018 in Hamamatsu.

On December 16, Michishige was a guest performer at the Big Honor Entertainment 30th Anniversary Dinner in Hong Kong alongside Juice=Juice.

After nearly a two-month break, SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Tokyo~ shows continued being held at COTTON CLUB from January 11 to January 20 and from March 17 to March 22.

On January 20, it was announced that Michishige would be a featured artist in Oomori Seiko's single "Zettai Kanojo feat. Michishige Sayumi" released on March 13.

From January 25 through 27, Michishige appeared and performed as a guest at Japan Expo Thailand 2019.

On February 1, she was appointed as the new image character for the 39th edition "Editor/Writer Training Course" by Sendenkaigi, the leading publishing and communications company in Japan. She will appear in posters at major Tokyo Metro stations until late July.

From April 1 onward, Michishige began serving as the narrator for Hello! Project's new TV show *AI・DOL PROJECT*.

On June 25, Michishige announced that she was a model for the September issue web catalog of the clothing brand 31 Sons de mode. The catalog was uploaded onto the brand's online store on August 2.

On July 10, she opened an official Twitter account.

On July 13, Michishige published her second personal book, titled *SAYU ~LOVE30~*, in celebration of her 30th birthday. Then that evening, she held the SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~BIRTHDAY LIVE 2019~ at Zepp DiverCity. She also held a fanclub event on July 15, titled Michishige Sayumi Birthday Event 2019, with two shows at Yamano Hall.

On July 24, she released of her first solo best album, titled SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Memorial~, which contains a selection of songs from her SAYUMINGLANDOLL performance series in addition to her Morning Musume solo songs, covers, and two new songs. It was also pre-sold at her birthday solo live on July 13.

On August 2, Michishige was revealed as the guest model for clothing brand 31 Sons de mode's September web catalog.

From November 3 to November 9, Michishige performed her first set of SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Kibou~ shows at COTTON CLUB.

On December 20, Michishige became the face of the "Ii Sumaho wa, OCN Mobile ONE." campaign for NTT Communication's cheap smartphone service OCN Mobile ONE.

On December 31, she was a special guest in the first part of the Hello! Project COUNTDOWN PARTY 2019 ~GOOD BYE & HELLO!~ at Nakano Sun Plaza.

### 2020-2024

From January 11 to January 19, she performed a second set of SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Kibou~ shows at COTTON CLUB. After a three month break, a third set of shows was set to be performed from April 4 to April 12.

On February 3, Michishige was revealed as the cover model for Omura Atsushi's novel *Shion wa, Boku ni Osekkai*.

On February 5, she was announced as the guest model for clothing brand 31 Sons de mode's March web catalog.

On March 14 and 15, she was set to hold the Michishige Sayumi Fanclub Tour 2020 in Yamanashi Ka・ra・no♡Kawaii Tokoro!!. It was later postponed in consideration of a new policy established by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19. On July 1, it was announced that the fanclub tour was cancelled.

On March 26, it was announced that the third set of shows for SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Kibou~ were postponed to due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These shows were later cancelled.

On May 11, Michishige Sayumi was featured as a guest model for *Bijin Hyakka no Shin Rensai vol.3*, the June issue of a fashion magazine by the fashion brand *31 Sons de mode*.

On July 12, she celebrated her 31st birthday at a fanclub event titled Michishige Sayumi Birthday Event 2020 ~Kotoshi wa Zen'yasai~ with two shows at Shinagawa Intercity Hall. In compliance with government policy, cheering, crowding, standing, and closeness in the venue were prohibited, and wearing masks was required to enter.

On June 21, it was announced that the cancelled third set of shows for SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Kibou~ were rescheduled for July 2021.

On July 13, she celebrated her 32nd birthday at a fanclub event titled Michishige Sayumi Birthday Event 2021 with two shows at Zeep DiverCity. In compliance with government policy, cheering, crowding, standing, and closeness in the venue were prohibited, and wearing masks was required to enter.

On September 1, she released her second solo best album, titled SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~SAYUTOPIA~, which contains songs from the SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Kibou~ original soundtrack and two new songs. It was also pre-sold at the third set of SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Kibou~ performances on July 16.

In January, Michishige participated in modeling outfits based on Miyama Ayumi's illustrations of the Pokemon Piplup (ポッチャマ; *Pochama*). Her image was used to promote the art exhibit at the PUBLIC TOKYO meets PROJECT POCHAMA popup store in Shibuya, available from January 29 through February 6.

From May 23 to June 1, she held the SAYUMINGLANDOLL ~Mirai~ solo performance series at COTTON CLUB.

On July 16, she celebrated her 33rd birthday at a fanclub event titled Michishige Sayumi Birthday Event 2022 with two shows at Zepp Haneda. In compliance with government policy, cheering, crowding, standing, and closeness in the venue were prohibited, and wearing masks was required to enter.

On January 1, she was transferred from UP-FRONT PROMOTION to J.P ROOM alongside Masaki Sato, Manaka Inaba, Chisaki Morito, Risa Ogata and Kaede Kaga.

On July 13, she celebrated her 34th birthday at a fanclub event titled Michishige Sayumi Birthday Event 2023 with two shows at I'M A SHOW.

On December 27, it was announced that Michishige Sayumi has been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and will be restricting some activities until her symptoms improve. She had been overly picky and irritable in certain areas of work, and had reported a strong feeling of anxiety and fear. She will continue with concert appearances as before while paying attention to the progress of her symptoms and consulting with a doctor.

## Appearance

She wears a pink shirt, with pink shorts and pink shoes. She has black hair, with a pink bow on it.

## Trivia

* She was the first unfortunate victim in Homer Kills Morning Musume/Gets Grounded. Her fellow generation members died soon after.
* She marked her appearance as a special guest in Kai Lan misbehaves with a special guest.
* Her official YouTube username is 11YearGirl Est. 2002
	+ This is due to her lasting 11 years in Morning Musume.
		- Michishige also has the longest tenure with a whooping 4329 days! That's 11 years, 10 months and 7 days until Mizuki Fukumura and Erina Ikuta both beat her record of the longest tenure of the group.