Sayumi Michishige (道重 さゆみ, Michishige Sayum, (named after Sayumi Horie) born July 13, 1989 in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan) is a sixth generation member and current leader of the
J-pop group
Morning Musume. With 5th generation member
Risa Niigaki´s graduation on October 12, 2013, Michishige currently has the longest tenure of any member in the group´s history.
She joined
Morning Musume in 2003 along with
Eri Kamei,
Miki Fujimoto and
Reina Tanaka, which all made their debuts with Morning Musume in the group's nineteenth single, "
Shabondama". When Michishige passed the audition to join
Morning Musume,
Tsunku, Morning Musume's producer, commented that her singing was weak. After the audition, Michishige took voice lessons to improve her singing, but even she admits that her own singing is still bad. In 2005 she was assigned as mentor to 7th generation member
Koharu Kusumi, until Kusumi's graduation in December 2009. Michishige was also a member of the
Hello! Project unit
Ecomoni, along with former Morning Musume member
Rika Ishikawa.
She portrays an extremely
narcissistic image of herself in TV shows, often calling herself the cutest member in Morning Musume and saying that her cuteness overwhelms her bad singing voice. In one of the skits known as Hello! Morning Theatre on their variety show,
Hello! Morning, she frequently played a character known as "Ichiban Kawaii" (Cutest).
With her graduation announced for Morning Musume's Fall 2014 concert tour, the group will consist only of the three most recent generations since the introduction of the 4th generation members in 2000.
Michishige is from Ube, Yamaguchi. She is the youngest child in the family, she has an elder brother and an elder sister.
In 2002, at age 13 Michishige participated the
Love Audition 2002 held by Up-Front Agency in search for new members for the Jpop group Morning Musume. Tens of thousand of contestants auditioned, only 4 where chosen in the final stage. Michishige, along with
Eri Kamei,
Miki Fujimoto and
Reina Tanaka were admitted to Morning Musume as the 6th generation member on January 19, 2003.
A few weeks later, she was placed in
Morning Musume Otomegumi subgroup, when the group was temporarily divided so it could perform in smaller towns, thereby reaching out to a greater number of fans who couldn't otherwise have the privilege of watching them perform live. During the spring she, along with the rest of the 6th generation members, made her first concert appearance on the
Morning Musume Concert Tour 2003 Spring "Non Stop!" during
Kei Yasuda's graduation.
On July 16, 2003, the 6th generation members (with the exception of
Miki Fujimoto) released their first
photobook and corresponding
DVD, both shot in Hawaii, as part of the
Alo Hello! (アロハロ!?) series. Their musical debut came shortly thereafter, on July 30, with Morning Musume's 19th single
Shabondama. Although Michishige didn't get many solo lines in the song, one of those instances—in which she shouts "Shabondama"—did get her some attention on TV shows. Towards the end of 2003 Michishige began appearing in the show
Revelations of M (Mの黙示録, M no Mokushiroku?), as a regular with ex-Morning Musume member
Yuko Nakazawa.
2004 saw her first appearance on an album,
Best! Morning Musume 2, and in a movie—"
Star Sand Island, My Island - Island Dreamin'"
(星砂の島、私の島－～Island Dreamin'～, Hoshisuna no Shima, Watashi no Shima - Island Dreamin). During the summer Michishige appeared in her first solo photobook and was placed in a temporary unit called
Ecomoni with 4th generation Morning Musume member
Rika Ishikawa. Originally, the goal of the group was to promote environmental awareness only for the duration of the "
Cool Down the Hot Earth"
(熱っちぃ地球を冷ますんだ, "Atchii Chikyū wo Samasunda"?) festival, but their popularity led to the members being cast as voice actors for the fourth
Hamtaro movie—along with
Hello! Project soloist
Aya Matsuura, with whom they also released the main theme for the film, entitled
Tensai! Let's Go Ayayamu (天才！Let's Go あややム, Genius! Let's Go Ayayamu?)—and appeared in subsequent festivals.
In 2005, Michshige and Rika Ishikawa released a duo photobook entitled
Angels (エンジェルズ?). Though it has been called an Ecomoni photobook because both members appear in it, officially
Angels has nothing to do with the unit. Michishige also appeared as a regular news anchor on Hello! Morning for most of the second half of 2005. That same year she was assigned to be a mentor to 7th generation member
Koharu Kusumi, with whom she formed a duo called
Rainbow Pink in the beginning of 2006. Introducing themselves as "Shige-pink" and "Koha-pink", the group was featured on
Morning Musume's 7th album,
Rainbow 7, with the song
Rainbow Pink (レインボーピンク?), and subsequently on the
7.5 Fuyu Fuyu Morning Musume Mini! and
Sexy 8 Beat albums, with
Wa~Merry Pin Xmas! (わ～MerryピンXmas!?) and
Takara no Hako (宝の箱, Treasure Box?), respectively.
Following in fellow
Morning Musume member
Miki Fujimoto's footsteps, Michishige began hosting a radio show entitled "Hypernight - Michishige Sayumi Konya mo Usa-chan Peace"
(ハイパーナイト モーニング娘。道重さゆみの今夜も♥うさちゃんピース?) in October 2006. Running approximately 30 minutes per episode, Michishige's show consists of her answering fan mail and participating in several games, among which saying a given phrase/expression in reverse, and giving general advice to her listeners.
In early December 2006 it was announced Michishige would be given a second solo photobook, entitled
Longing (憧憬, Doukei?), released shortly thereafter on January 15, 2007. Shot in
Okinawa, the book featured school uniform, swimsuit, simple one-piece and even wet yukata/bathrobe shots, in an attempt to convey a more mature image of the seventeen year old idol.
Michishige has also starred in "Bow30°"
(「おじぎ30度」?), an original internet
drama created for the purpose of advertising the
Family Restaurant chain Gusto
(ガスト?), as Ruruka Chī
(地井ルルカ?), a novice
waitress training under the supervision of her seniors Karin Kinoshita
(木下花梨?) (played by Morning Musume's
Ai Takahashi) and Mika Mochizuki
(望月深華?) (Reiko Tokita).
On June 9, 2007, Michishige began co-hosting the
Young Town radio show as a result of Miki Fujimoto's
Friday magazine scandal and subsequent resignation from Morning Musume. Shortly thereafter she released her third solo photobook and DVD,
17: Love Hello, both shot on the island of
Guam. Her fourth solo photobook,
Sōsō was released in December.
In 2008, like in previous singles (a notable exception being
Namida ga Tomaranai Hōkago), Michishige was given a relatively minor role both in
Resonant Blue and
Pepper Keibu, with the exception of a solo line in the latter. Her radio show was extended from 30 to 60 minutes and she also released her fifth solo photobook.
On January 3, 2009, for the first time since she joined Morning Musume, Michishige appeared as an independent talent on a TV show, namely the Otona Gakuryoku Kentei SP
(大人学力検定スペシャル, Adult Knowledge Test Special?) quiz show. A cast of 30 performers (including former v-u-den member
Yui Okada and second generation Morning Musume member
Mari Yaguchi) gathered to answer a series of questions taken from elementary school textbooks. From a total of 60 questions she managed to score 22 (37%) and placed 29th. Later that year, Michishige was assigned to be a part of the new shuffle group
zoku v-u-den, a revival of v-u-den, along with
Risako Sugaya (of
Berryz Kobo) and
Junjun (also of Morning Musume).
When on May 18, 2012
Risa Niigaki graduated, Sayumi Michishige was declared the new Morning Musume leader.
On April 29, 2014, during the Morning Musume '14 Concert Tour Haru ~Evolution~ concert in Yamaguchi, Michishige announced her graduation from Morning Musume and Hello! Project. She is set to graduate during Morning Musume's Fall 2014 concert tour.
The phrase Usa-chan Peace
(うさちゃんピース, Bunny Peace) has become a trademark of Michishige. While saying this phrase, she places her hands next to her ears and holds her index and middle fingers in V shapes to imitate rabbit ears. According to Michishige, Usa-chan Peace became her trademark pose gradually. At first she used it when taking
print club photos with her sister, but after seeing how cute it looked, she started adopting it on official photoshoots and related events.
The Usa-chan Peace pose has been widely reproduced in
Hello! Project productions (such as the aforementioned Bow 30° drama, in the second episode of the first series) and events, but also outside the scope of
Tsunku's all-girls franchise, most notably in the 132nd
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa prize award ceremony. For the commemorative photograph of the event,
Kazushige Abe (阿部 和重?) held his hands in a manner patterned after the Usa-chan Peace sign, in a clear homage to Michishige's invention.
Reference:
Wikipedia
