Information:
Tsunku, who was at the time the vocalist for a group called Sharan Q, was auditioning for a female vocalist for the group. He was doing these auditions televised on a program called Asayan. The winner of these auditions was Heike Michiyo, with the losing finalists being Iida Kaori, Abe Natsumi, Nakazawa Yuko, Ishiguro Aya, and Fukuda Asuka. though Heike won the audition, she never got the promised position. Tsunku launched a solo career for her, but the real winners ended up being the losers of the audition. They were put into a new group run by Tsunku called Morning Musume. This, however, was not done without a bit of a challenge. Tsunku told them that if they could sell 50,000 copies of "ai no tane" (Morning Musume's demo), then he would take them in. They obviously managed to do this, completely by themselves.

In 1998, Tsunku decided that the group needed three more members. After holding auditions, he came up with Yaguchi Mari, Ichii Sayaka, and Yasuda Kei. Tsunku would from this point hold auditions to recruit members for the "next generation" of Morning Musume, when he felt the time was right. This would also mean members would be graduating from the group.

In 1999, Fusuda Asuka graduated from Morning Musume to continue her education. Gotou Maki also joined the same year, as the only third generation member.

Early in 2000, Ishiguro Aya left the group to pursue a career in fashion design. This same year, the fourth generation members were selected: Ishikawa Rika, Kago Ai, Tsuji Nozomi, and Yoshizawa Hitomi. Also, Ichii Sayaka left the group to pursue a singer/song writing career.

In 2001, Nakazawa Yuko (the oldest member of the group) graduated to pursue a solo career. This year, the fifth generation was selected: Ogawa Makoto, Takahashi Ai, Niigaki Risa, and Konno Asami. In 2002, Gotou Maki graduated to pursue a solo career.

In 2003, the 6th generation was selected via "Love Audition 2002": Michishige Sayumi, Tanaka Reina, Kamei Eri, and Fujimoto Miki. Yasuda Kei also graduated this same year. She's still involved in the entertainment industry (in particular a drama actress). Abe Natsumi would be the next to graduate in 2004, to pursue a solo career. Tsuji Nozomi and Kago Ai would also graduate, to move on to become the duet W (which would later be dissolved due to various scandals).

In 2005, Iida Kaori would also graduate. This year, Yaguchi Mari would also suddenly resign from the group. Auditions were also held and a new member was selected: Kusumi Koharu. Ishikawa Rika would also graduate this year.

In 2006, Konno Asami also graduated from Hello! Project. Ogawa Makoto left Hello! Project in order to study abroad, but has said that she intends to return eventually. In this same year, auditions would also be held to induct a new member, who would end up being Mitsui Aika.

In 2007, Yoshizawa Hitomi (the leader of the group at the time) would also graduate. It would also be revealed that Morning Musume would be expanding out into other parts of Asia. Two new members, Li Chun and Qian Lin would make their debut in the group this year as "exchange students".

Bloodtypes: Iida - A, Abe - A, Nakazawa - O, Ishiguro - A, Fukuda - B, Yaguchi - A, Yasuda - A, Ichii - A, Gotou - O, Yoshizawa - O, Ishikawa - A, Tsuji - O, Kago - AB, Takahashi - A, Konno - B, Ogawa - O, Niigaki - B, Fujimoto - A, Kamei - AB, Michishige - A, Tanaka - O, Kusumi - A, Mitsui - O.