Country Musume era Country Musume was formed in 1999 and was termed as "Country Girls from
Hokkaidō." The initial group consisted of native members of Hokkaidō, Rinne Toda, Azusa Kobayashi, and
Hiromi Yanagihara. Before the release of their first single in July 1999, Hiromi Yanagihara died in a car accident. After the accident, Azusa Kobayashi departed from the group and Rinne Toda carried on as a solo artist and released two singles under the "Country Musume" name by herself. In the summer of 2000,
Asami Kimura joined the group and the duo released one more single. Their popularity rose when
Morning Musume's
Rika Ishikawa—who is from
Kanagawa—was lent to the group in April 2001. Country Musume had their first charting single in Japan with the release of "Hajimete no Happy Birthday." The trio, under the name "Country Musume ni Rika Ishikawa," released two singles and an album. Early in 2002,
Mai Satoda was recruited to the group, although she initially auditioned to be a Morning Musume member. The quartet released one single before Toda, the remaining original member bid farewell at the end of 2002. Afterwards, Kimura, Ishikawa, and Satoda released one more single. In mid-2003, Country Musume had a major shift in its roster.
Miuna Saito, who is from
Shizuoka, was recruited to the group. Instead of Rika Ishikawa, the group featured
Asami Konno and
Miki Fujimoto, who are both
Morning Musume and
Hokkaidō natives. In this new formation (named "Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto"), the quintet has released three singles. In 2004, Country Musume (except the featured singers) participated in the fifth edition of Hello! Project's Folk Song series, where various H!P artists sang covers of Japanese and Western folk songs. Asami Kimura and Miuna Saito graduated from Country Musume and Hello! Project on its 10th anniversary concert on January 28, 2007, leaving Satoda as the only remaining member.
Country Girls era On February 11, 2014, it was announced during the
Hello! Project 2014 WINTER ~GOiSU MODE~ concert held at Sendai Sun Plaza Hall that audition applications for Country Musume would be accepted until March 31, 2014. On August 7, it was announced that the Country Musume audition has come to an end without any additions. On November 5, 2014, it was announced that Hello! Pro Kenshūsei members Risa Yamaki and Manaka Inaba, Morning Musume '14 auditionees Chisaki Morito, Uta Shimamura, and Mai Ozeki were selected to join Country Musume. On November 19, 2019, it was announced that all four members will be graduating from the group and Country Girls will suspend all activity. A final performance was held in December 26 at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA. ==Members==