The journey for Morning Musume。 members over the years has been a long and successful one. For recent graduated members Kamei Eri, JunJun and LinLin, their story was no different.
Kamei Eri of Tokyo joined Morning Musume。 in 2003 after auditioning for the group during the 2002 Love Auditions. Kamei's first recordings were on the 2003 single Shabondama. Her first Morning Musume。 album was one year later, Ai no Dai 6 Kan. Kamei blossomed quickly in the group, taking part in Morning Musume。 Sakuragumi and the shuffle unit H.P. All Stars. She also hosted a segment during the variety television show "Hello! Morning" for one year. Her activities within Morning Musume。 continued over the years and in 2009, she joined the fourth generation line-up of the Hello! Project group Tanpopo.
Along with Kamei's activity under Hello! Project, she did a variety of solo work, furthering her career during the same time. Along with the release of eight photo books, she also released two solo DVDs. Starting in as early as fall 2003, Kamei also performed in a variety of television shows and musicals, including Cinderella. From 2005 to her graduation, Kamei also appeared on several radio broadcasts.
The first non-Japanese member, JunJun, born Lǐ Chún from Hunan, China, joined Morning Musume。 at the same time as LinLin. In 2006, she participated in the Chinese female singing contest, Super Girl. Although she didn't win, she was invited to participate in a secret audition in Beijing for Morning Musume。 conducted by Tsunku♂. In 2009, JunJun joined the Morning Musume。 second generation shuffle group, zoku v-u-den.
LinLin, born Qian Lin in Hangzhou, China, joined Morning Musume。 in March 2007 after passing the Hello! Project Egg auditions. She became the second non-Japanese member in the group's history. In 2009, she became the leader of the revived Hello! Project group Minimoni.
Introduced as eighth generation members, both girls were announced to be joining as "foreign students." During their time in Morning Musume。, the girls participated in three albums, Platinum 9 DISC , 10 My Me and Fantasy! Juichi, as well as numerous live and television performances.
The three girls appeared with Morning Musume。 together over the years at overseas events, including the Anime Expo in California in 2009 and Japan Expo in Paris in summer 2010.
On August 8th, it was announced by Tsunku♂ that the three girls would be graduating from both the group and Hello! Project during the Morning Musume。 fall tour, Morning Musume。 2010 Rival Survival. While the reasons for graduation of JunJun and LinLin were not disclosed, Kamei revealed her activities with the group were to cease because of continual issues with atopic dermatitis, a skin disorder which chronically relapses. Their final performance under Morning Musume。 was on December 15, 2010.
Shortly after their graduation, the three girls came together to record the following video for JaME readers.
Many thanks to Hello!Project and M. Denno for the translation.
