[citation needed] Morning Musume was formed in 1997 by rock singer-songwriter turned record producer Tsunku, who later composed the vast majority of the group's songs over the decade.

Tsunku decided to form a girl group consisting of five of the runners-up: Natsumi Abe, Yuko Nakazawa, Kaori Iida, Asuka Fukuda, and Aya Ishiguro.

[4] They managed the feat in four promotion days (spread out over November 1997) in a very grassroots manner, and Tsunku began his mission to create the most famous all-girl group in Japan.

Despite having "Love Machine" and "Koi no Dance Site" on its track list, it did not manage to claim the number one spot, but did sell more than 800,000 copies, making it Morning Musume's highest-selling studio album to date.

After their debut single, "Happy Summer Wedding",[16] (continuing the legacy of number one hits with 1,370,000 copies sold,) Sayaka Ichii left to pursue her own music career.

Meanwhile, Mari Yaguchi had started performing informally with Ai Kago and Nozomi Tsuji in concerts as Mini Moni, a group tailored towards younger audiences with all the members being less than 150 cm (about 5 ft) tall.

British newspaper The Guardian described the promotional video echoed the song's "strangeness" by placing the group in the middle of what appeared to be a gigantic public bathroom, displaying the girls dancing amongst the urinals and posing for photographs in the stalls; supposedly as a response to hidden camera footage of the members that had recently surfaced, filmed from a toilet in their production offices.

Tsunku removed Kaori Iida, Mari Yaguchi, and Ai Kago from Tanpopo, adding in Asami Konno, Risa Niigaki, and Ayumi Shibata of Melon Kinenbi to join Rika Ishikawa.

Makoto Ogawa and Ayaka Kimura of Coconuts Musume joined Hitomi Yoshizawa in Petitmoni to replace Kei Yasuda and Maki Goto, but the group did not even release a single, only performing in concerts.

Eri Kamei, Sayumi Michishige, and Reina Tanaka successfully passed the traditional auditions; however, Miki Fujimoto was a solo singer in Hello!Project at the time.

After appearing on the New Year's music program "Kōhaku Uta Gassen" with several Morning Musume members dancing as backup, Tsunku added her as part of the sixth generation.

The sixth generation's first single was "Shabondama",[30] which featured "break-up" lyrics, a seemingly spontaneous dance routine, and rolled "r"s. Mari Yaguchi became Morning Musume's sub-leader after Kei's departure and was also put in charge of training and assisting the trainee group of Hello!

Morning Musume Otomegumi, which had more upbeat pop songs with a slight rock flavor, featured Kaori Iida, Rika Ishikawa, Nozomi Tsuji, Makoto Ogawa, Miki Fujimoto, Sayumi Michishige, and Reina Tanaka.

However, on January 9, 2005, Tsunku surprised everyone by announcing that no one in the Lucky 7 audition would be added to Morning Musume, citing that he had set his expectations extra-high this year in hopes of finding an "ace".

In November 2004, Morning Musume released "Namida ga Tomaranai Hōkago",[36] a ballad that featured Asami Konno, Miki Fujimoto, Sayumi Michishige, and Rika Ishikawa.

On January 30, 2005, then-leader and the last member from the first generation Kaori Iida left to pursue a solo singer/artist career, with Mari Yaguchi taking on leadership role with Hitomi Yoshizawa as subleader.

On December 31, 2007, Morning Musume performed in the 58th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen with a remixed version of their song "Love Machine" along with Cute and Berryz Kobo.

Ai Takahashi, Eri Kamei, Sayumi Michishige, and Reina Tanaka participated in the musical Ojigi 30 Degrees at the Shinjuku Theater from February 26 to March 2.

On January 21, Tsunku announced at the au Presentation Spring 2014 that Morning Musume would be part of a commercial along with comedians Morisanchuu, forming a new unit called Morimusu.

In February, Morning Musume cheered and sang an official song produced by Tsunku, titled "Kimi no Kawari wa Iyashinai", for the 2014 Sochi Olympics Japanese Team.

Announced on February 9, 2015, Morning Musume '15 performed the "Ima Koko Kara" (イマココカラ, From Here and Now) for the Pretty Cure All Stars: Spring Carnival movie that aired a month later.

On April 10, Morning Musume '17 was appointed the official Ouen Taishi, or Cheer Ambassadors, of the "Ceka Paka Play Dream Campaign" for the Nihon Seimei Ce-Pa Koryusen (the Nippon Professional Baseball interleague) that would begin on May 30.

A week later, on November 17, they performed in the Anisong World Matsuri at Anime NYC 2018 in New York City, which included a panel and autograph signing session the day before.

During their release event at Ikebukuro Sunshine City Fountain Square, it was announced that the 15th generation would be revealed on June 22 at 5:00 PM JST in a YouTube live stream.

[111] On June 22, the 15th generation were announced in a YouTube live stream on Morning Musume's official channel at 5:00 PM JST, The new members were revealed to be Rio Kitagawa, child actress and model Homare Okamura and former Hello!

[citation needed] On July 10, it was announced that Oda Sakura was diagnosed with cervical degenerative disc disease by the doctor after experiencing severe pain around her left shoulder blade the day before.

On May 23, it was announced that Morning Musume 25 Shuunen Kinen Shin Member Audition -Asu wo Tsukuru no wa Kimi- winners Haruka Inoue and Ako Yumigeta has joined the group as the 17th generation.

The audition process has been described by Ai Takahashi as involving a training camp of three days and two nights, in which participants were expected to learn a new song, a dance routine and a script.

Two months before on August 16, members Fukumura Mizuki, Kudo Haruka, and Ogata Haruna visited Taipei for a press event outside of the Red House Theater to promote the concert.

The Golden Arrow Award is presented by the Japan Magazine Publishers Association (JMPA) to recognize excellence in domestic media, such as in film, television, and music.