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Asami Konno (紺野 あさ美, Konno Asami ^?), born May 7, 1987,^[1] is a Japanese pop singer, best known as former fifth generation member of the all-girl Japanese pop group Morning Musume. She joined the group in the August 2001, along with fellow fifth generation members Ai Takahashi, Makoto Ogawa, and Risa Niigaki.

Biography

Konno joined the J-pop group Morning Musume in 2001.^[2] Although her performance in the Love Audition 21 (Loveオーディション 21, LOVE ōdishon nijuichi ^?) has been called mediocre even by the judge of the audition and producer of Morning Musume, Tsunku, he said that she passed the audition because of her potential and the amount of effort she put into it.^[3]

She debuted on the group's thirteenth single, "Mr. Moonlight: Ai no Big Band", released on October 31, 2001.^[4] In the same month, during a filming of music variety show Utaban, she injured her leg and was not able to participate in the remaining performances of the group's national tour at that time.

Her first album appearance was 4th Ikimasshoi!, released on March 27, 2002.^[5]

In May of the same year, Konno was unexpectedly given the lead role for the second half of Morning Musume's annual play, Morning Town. In the summer of that year, she also debuted in a shuffle unit, as part of Odoru 11. Coincidentally, she was separated from all the other fifth generation members, who were in Happy 7.

Later in September, all the fifth generation members were placed into a subgroup. Along with Risa Niigaki, Konno was put into Tanpopo as the third generation.^[1] They only released one single before becoming inactive.^[6]

Konno, along with many other members of Morning Musume at that time, starred in a drama entitled Angel Hearts which was released in 2002.

In 2003, when Morning Musume was split into two groups (Sakuragumi and Otomegumi) after the sixth generation members had joined, she was placed into Sakuragumi, which released two singles.^[7] Gatas Brilhantes H.P., Hello! Project's futsal team, was also formed that year. Konno became one of its founding members, quitting only when she was graduating from Hello! Project.

In July of the same year, she was added into Country Musume, (whose theme was "girls from Hokkaidō") with fellow member Miki Fujimoto. Under this new formation, named "Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto", three singles were released.^[8] She also made a guest appearance in a drama, Kochira Hon Ikegami Sho 2 (which Ai Kago starred in as a regular) that year, as a hit-and-run victim's sister.^[9]

She is considered to be one of the most intelligent members after achieving the highest mark during a special episode of Mecha-Mecha Iketeru! in early 2003 where the "Bakajo Test" was given to see who was the "idiot girl" of Morning Musume. She is also athletic, according to another special episode of Mecha-Mecha Iketeru! later that year (after the sixth generation joined) focusing on sports, placing as the fifth most athletic Morning Musume member.

In late 2004, Tsunku's choice of putting Konno on the main vocals for "Namida ga Tomaranai Hōkago" yet again surprised many people, as it is known that she has rather weak vocals when compared to the other members of Morning Musume.

In March 2006, she proved her athletic abilities by placing first in the 1500 meter race at Hello! Project's 2006 sports festival in the time of six minutes and thirteen seconds, getting her the MVP award plus defeating the previous winner, Maimi Yajima, whom Konno had lost to in Hello! Project's 2003 sports festival.^[10] On July 23, 2006, Konno graduated from Morning Musume and Hello! Project to continue her studies at a university.^[1][2][11] The last single and album she participated in were "Ambitious! Yashinteki de Ii Jan"^[12] and Rainbow 7 respectively.

The news of Konno's acceptance to Keio University, one of the top private universities in Japan, known for producing two prime ministers, was announced on December 11, 2006 by several news sources.^{[13][14][15][16]} On December 28, 2006, she has confirmed these claims personally, in a message she sent to Hello! Project which was posted on the main website.^[17]

Although she was officially no longer part of Hello! Project at the time, on January 28, 2007, she appeared on stage at Hello! Project's 10th anniversary concert (the first graduated member to do so), giving her last messages to Asami and Miuna of Country Musume, who were graduating that night.^[18][19][20]

On June 18, 2007, Up-Front Agency confirmed that Konno was returning to Hello! Project to rejoin members of Gatas Brilhantes H.P. in the group Ongaku Gatas. Their first single, titled "Narihajimeta Koi no Bell" was released on August 22, 2007. Konno will remain an active member within the agency and Ongaku Gatas while continuing her university studies.^[21]

Appearances

Filmography

DVDs

Dramas

• 2002 – Angel Hearts
• 2002 – Ore ga Aitsu de Aitsu ga Ore de (おれがあいつであいつがおれで ^?)
• 2003 – Kochira Hon Ikegami Sho 2 (こちら本池上署2 ^?) (Guest appearance in episode 11)^[9]
• 2004 – New Cyborg Shibata (新サイボーグしばたっ!!, Shin Saibōgu Shibata!! ^?)
• 2005 – Fight! Cyborg Shibata 3 (闘え!!サイボーグしばた 3, Tatakae!! Cyborg Shibata 3 ^?)

Movies

• 2002 – Tokkaekko (とっかえっ娘。 ^?)
• 2003 – Koinu Dan no Monogatari (子犬ダンの物語 ^?)

Photobooks

Source: ^[26]

Radio

TV shows

Notes and references

External links

This article contains Japanese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji and kana.

• Official Hello! Project profile
• (Lovely Konkon Info) Asami Konno's fansite & Blog
• Hello! Database entry
• Hello! Project Stats
• Asami Konno at the Internet Movie Database