is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese pop rock band composed of lead singer , on guitar, on drums and on keyboards.

Biography

They debuted with in 1992. They were not an instant hit initially, but their fourth single broke the top 50 of the Oricon

Oricon

, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

 charts. Eventually, the single got a lot of attention since it was used in the DNA^2 Anime series, breaking into the top 10. The next single , also broke into the top 10. "Zurui Onna" is the 84th best-selling single in Japan of all-time. Their 11th single, , topped the charts in 1996.

In 1997, the band held an audition on the evening show ASAYAN to find a new female vocalist. While the audition eventually yielded winner Michiyo Heike

Michiyo Heike

, is a Japanese singer-songwriter from Mie, Osaka. She first become known after her appearance on the show Asayan in the late 1990s, becoming the first member of the future "Hello! Project"...

, the competition would be the impetus for the formation of Morning Musume

Morning Musume

, sometimes referred to as is a Japanese idol girl group, whose act generally revolves around singing and dancing to upbeat melodies. They are the lead group of Hello! Project, which is managed and produced by Tsunku, who composes nearly all the lyrics and melodies of their songs...

. Runners-up Yuko Nakazawa

Yuko Nakazawa

is a Japanese pop and enka singer, and actress, best known as one of the original members of the all-female J-pop group Morning Musume. She is currently a member of Dream Morning Musume.- Biography :...

, Natsumi Abe

Natsumi Abe

is a Japanese singer and actress, a former member of Morning Musume, and currently a member of Dream Morning Musume.-Career:On August 13, 2003, she released her first single, "22 Sai no Watashi," which means "Me, 22 years old," just a few days after her 22nd birthday...

, Kaori Iida

Kaori Iida

is a Japanese pop singer and actress, associated with Hello! Project and best known as a founding member of the girl band Morning Musume. She has also recorded with the Morning Musume side project band Tanpopo and is currently a solo artist...

, Aya Ishiguro

Aya Ishiguro

is a singer, writer, TV personality and fashion designer in Japan, most famous for her participation in pop group Morning Musume. She was born in Hokkaidō, Japan on May 12, 1978.Aya Ishiguro was a runner-up in a 1997 contest to find a new female rock idol...

, and Asuka Fukuda

Asuka Fukuda

is a Japanese pop singer, and she was a member of Morning Musume from 1997 until April 18, 1999.In 1997, Fukuda joined Morning Musume along with Yuko Nakazawa, Aya Ishiguro, Natsumi Abe, and Kaori Iida. Although she was the youngest member at that time, she was the first to graduate in April 1999...

 took up Tsunku's offer after the competition to form a group he would personally produce if they could sell 50,000 copies of their debut independent single Ai no Tane

Ai no Tane

is the unofficial debut single of Japanese pop idol group Morning Musume, released under a defunct independent sub-label of Zetima Records on November 3, 1997...

in five days. The mission was accomplished in four.

After the 2000 release of , the band went on hiatus. During this period, Tsunku focused on establishing Morning Musume's career and the formation of Hello! Project

Hello! Project

is the umbrella name for all female idol Japanese pop recording artists collective that are under contract with the Up-Front Group. The "mothership" group of Hello! Project is the super-group Morning Musume. Hello! Project's current leader is Risa Niigaki, the leader of Morning Musume...

 stable. Makoto would frequently act as an emcee during these concerts.

During the end of 2006 and early 2007, Hakate, Makoto, and Taisei would frequently appear on the short music show Uta Doki! to play their respective instruments in support of the guest vocalist.

Sharam Q is now active again, having released a new single entitled in November 2006. Tsunku

Tsunku

, better known professionally as , is a prolific Japanese record producer, songwriter, and vocalist.He is best known for having two major roles in the Japanese music landscape: first as the lead singer of the popular rock group Sharam Q, and now as the producer, primary composer, lyricist and main...

 originally wrote and composed the song for Morning Musume, who debuted their recording two weeks before Sharam Q's rendition.

Singles

#	Title	Release Date	Oricon Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...  Ranking
1		1992.07.22	Did not chart
2		1993.02.24
3		1993.05.08
4		1994.01.21	47
5		1994.07.27	28
6		1994.10.21	9 *First million seller single
7		1995.05.03	2 *Second million seller single
8

} ||align="center"| 1995.08.23 || align="center"|3
|-
| 9 || || align="center"| 1995.10.21 || align="center"|3
|-
| 10 || || align="center"| 1996.04.24 || align="center"|3
|-
| 11 || || align="center"| 1996.07.24 || align="center"|1 *First single to reach #1
|-
| 12 || Nice Boy! || align="center"| 1996.11.14 || align="center"|4
|-
| 13 || || align="center"| 1997.04.16 || align="center"|3
|-
| 14 || || align="center"| 1997.08.21 || align="center"|10
|-
| 15 || || align="center"| 1998.02.18 || align="center"|7
|-
| 16 || || align="center"| 1998.05.13 || align="center"|13
|-
| 17 || || align="center"| 1998.10.07 || align="center"|10
|-
| 18 || || align="center"| 1999.02.17 || align="center"|24
|-
| 19 || || align="center"| 2000.03.23 || align="center"|23
|-
| 20 || || align="center"| 2006.11.29 || align="center"|23
|}

Albums

#	Title	Release Date	Oricon Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... Ranking
1		1992.09.23	Did not chart
2		1993.03.24
3		1994.02.23	39
4		1994.11.02	25
5		1994.07.27	2
6		1996.06.29	2
7	Golden Q	1996.12.18	1
8		1998.03.25	6
9

} ||align="center"| 1999.03.25 || align="center"|10
|-
| 10 || Best of History ||align="center"| 2001.04.04 || align="center"|17
|}