Assembled by manager and producer Tsunku, the Japanese girl group Morning Musume (also referred to as Momusu) rose to fame in the late 90s with their effervescent brand of upbeat J-pop. Born from the TV talent competition Asayan, the group initially consisted of the show’s five runner-ups: Natsumi Abe, Yuko Nakazawa, Kaori Iida, Asuka Fukuda, and Aya Ishiguro. Shortly after its inception, the group was challenged to sell 50,000 copies of their demo single “Ai no Tane,” a test they passed with flying colors in just four days. “Morning Coffee,” their debut single, came out in 1998 and hit Number 6 on the Oricon charts, followed by the addition of three new members. That same year, the J-pop idol group reached the top of the Japanese charts with their single “Daite Hold on Me!” and issued their studio debut First Time, which contained most of their previously released singles. A series of lineup changes and the creation of several subunits followed in the subsequent years, as the group landed their first Number 1 records with 4th Ikimasshoi! (2002) and No. 5 (2003), and continued to make waves in the J-pop scene with titles such as Rainbow 7 (2006), 10 My Me (2010), 13 Colourful Character (2012), and 15 Thank You, Too (2017), all of which cracked the Top 10 of the domestic charts. In 2021, Morning Musume reached Number 2 on the Japanese charts with their album 16th ~That's J-POP~ and entered the Top 5 of the Billboard Japan Hot 100 at Number 3 with the single “Teenage Solution” featuring singer Masaki Sato.