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Biography
Koharu Kusumi (久住 小春, Kusumi Koharu, born July 15, 1992 in Washima (now part of Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan), is a J-pop singer, actress, television personality, essayist, and model. From 2005 to 2009, she was a member of the Hello! Project group Morning Musume from 2005 to 2009, the only seventh generation member. She also served as the voice of Kirari Tsukishima, the main character of the anime series Kirarin Revolution (2006–2009), and was featured in several musical releases affiliated with the series, including both solo releases under the name Kirari Tsukishima starring Koharu Kusumi (Morning Musume) (月島きらりstarring久住小春(モーニング娘。)) and group releases for the units Kira Pika and MilkyWay. Currently, she is a member of Dream Morning Musume, a J-pop group consisting of former Morning Musume members.
As a television personality, she has made regular appearances on the TV Tokyo children's shows Oha Suta and Oha Koro, and has appeared on other shows. She became an exclusive model for CanCam a fashion magazine in 2011. She graduated from CanCam in 2015. She maintains an avid interest in healthy eating and raw food, and has written about these topics on her blog and in her 2011 autobiography and essay book, 17sai no Tenshoku.
Early life and career
2005-2009: Morning Musume
Kusumi joined Japanese idol group Morning Musume in 2005 as the only seventh generation member, a feat which earned her the nickname "Miracle" from producer Tsunku. Before she joined Morning Musume, she was the captain of her school's volleyball team. Kusumi's audition process and debut was documented during the 2005 episodes of TV Tokyo television show Hello! Morning. She debuted on the single "Iroppoi Jirettai".
Kusumi was a member of the Hello! Project kickball team Metro Rabbits H.P. from its formation in the beginning of 2006, and from April 2006 to March 2009, she was the voice actress for Kirari Tsukishima, the main character in the anime Kirarin Revolution.
In early 2007, Kusumi was chosen to be a member of Morning Musume Tanjō 10nen Kinentai — a unit created to celebrate Morning Musume's 10th anniversary as a group. Morning Musume Tanjō 10nen Kinentai also consisted of Kaori Iida, Natsumi Abe, Maki Goto, and Risa Niigaki. Their first single, "Bokura ga Ikiru My Asia", was released on January 24, 2007. Apart from her activities in aforementioned units, Kusumi was also a member of Kira Pika with Cute's Mai Hagiwara and MilkyWay with Hello Pro Egg members Yuu Kikkawa and Sayaka Kitahara. Both units were formed for the Kirarin Revolution anime, which ended in March 2009. Kusumi is a regular on the TV Tokyo children's show Oha Suta, appearing every Tuesday.
In 2009, Kusumi was assigned to be a part of ZYX-α, a revival of ZYX, along with Risa Niigaki, Erika Umeda, Saki Ogawa, Ayaka Wada, Momoko Tsugunaga, Chinami Tokunaga, and Maasa Sudo.
On September 19, 2009, Tsunku announced that Kusumi would leave Morning Musume and Hello! Project on December 6, at the final performance of Morning Musume's 2009 fall tour, Nine Smile. Kusumi was interested in pursuing a modeling career as well as other paths in entertainment, including comedy. Roughly 4,000 fans attended the graduation concert. She later joined Dream Morning Musume alongside other former-Morning Musume members in 2010 and debuted with the group in April 2011 with the album Dreams 1, which ranked 10th in the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart.
2010-present: Modeling, Acting and Show Hosting Career
After graduating from Morning Musume, Kusumi continued to appear on Oha Suta, as well as Oha Coro. In addition to her modeling career, she also appeared in a series of advertisements directed towards a healthy lifestyle. Kusumi was also invited to perform with Li Chun, Qian Lin, and Miyabi Natsuyaki to perform at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 under the group name Ex-ceed!
From December 22–27, Kusumi appeared in the stage play "Abe Naikaku" alongside Natsumi Abe and Kei Yasuda. The play is about the prime minister and politics.
In 2014, Kusumi left the children's morning show Oha Suta and later was added as host of a music talk show, Blurred Sound Pops. She also starred in two live-action dramas, Inauguration! Girl's Cabinet, and Again!!. On July 23, 2015, Kusumi announced on her blog that she had left CanCam magazine following her last appearance in the September 2015 issue. On September 15, 2015, it was announced that Kusumi would be leaving the Blurred Sound Pops talk show from October.
In May 2015, Kusumi became a host of "Boat Race Live." on BS Fuji.
In November 2015. Kusumi started working as a model for the fashion magazine "steady."
On January 9. 2016. Kusumi started hosting a weekly radio show called "This Happy Time (or KoHappy Time)." The title is a play of words on her first name.
On April 1, 2016, Kusumi started hosting a second radio program called "Kusumi Koharu's Mediaship 927" on BSN also in Niigata, Japan.
On November 29, 2016, Kusumi announced that her contract with her talent agency, JP Room, would end on November 30. She will continue to work without an agent.
Discography and releases
The following singles and albums are released under the artist name Kirari Tsukishima starring Koharu Kusumi (Morning Musume) (月島きらり starring 久住小春(モーニング娘。)).
Singles
| Title | Release date |
|---|---|
| "Koi Kana" | July 12, 2006 |
| "Balalaika" | October 25, 2006 |
| "Happy" | May 2, 2007 |
| "Chance!" | November 7, 2007 |
| "Papancake" | July 16, 2008 |
| "Hapi Hapi Sunday!" | February 4, 2009 |
Singles with Kira Pika
| Title | Release date | Oricon Weekly Single Chart |
|---|---|---|
| "Hana o Pūn / Futari wa NS" | August 1, 2007 | 9 |
Albums and mini-albums
| Title | Release date |
|---|---|
| Kirarin Revolution Song Selection (きらりん☆レボリューション ソング・セレクション) | October 18, 2006 |
| Mitsuboshi (☆☆☆(みつぼし)) | February 28, 2007 |
| Kirarin Revolution Song Selection Vol. 2 (きらりん☆レボリューション・ソング・セレクション2) | September 12, 2007 |
| Kirarin Land (きらりん☆ランド) | December 19, 2007 |
| Kirarin Revolution Song Selection Vol. 3 (きらりん☆レボリューション・ソング・セレクション3) | July 23, 2008 |
| Kirarin Revolution Song Selection Vol. 4 (きらりん☆レボリューション・ソング・セレクション4) | August 27, 2008 |
| Kirari to Fuyu (きらりと冬) | December 17, 2008 |
| Kirarin Revolution Song Selection Vol. 5 (きらりん☆レボリューション・ソング・セレクション5) | March 18, 2009 |
| Best Kirari (ベスト☆きらり) | March 11, 2009 |
Essay books
| Title | Issue date | Publisher ISBN | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17sai no Tenshoku (17歳の転職, A Career Change at 17) | February 10, 2011 | Up-Front Books ISBN 978-4-8470-1965-4 | First essay book |
Photobooks
| Title | Issue date | Publisher ISBN | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Koharu Kusumi (久住小春) | March 24, 2006 | Wani Books ISBN 978-4-8470-2923-3 | First Solo photobook |
| Pop (POP 久住小春ソロ写真集) | September 20, 2007 | Kadokawa Publishing Group ISBN 978-4-04-894499-1 | Second solo photobook |
| Koharu Nikki (久住小春写真集「小春日記。」) | July 25, 2008 | Wani Books ISBN 978-4-8470-4102-0 | Third solo photobook |
| Happy Memorial Photobook (月島きらり starring 久住小春(モーニング娘。)『ハッピーメモリアル☆フォトブック) | December 1, 2008 | Shogakukan ISBN 978-4-09-132290-6 | Released for Kirarin Revolution, credited as Kirari Tsukishima starring Koharu Kusumi (Morning Musume) |
| Sugar Doll (久住小春写真集「Sugar Doll」) | September 27, 2009 | Wani Books ISBN 978-4-8470-4202-7 | Fourth solo photobook |
Acting
Television shows
| Show | Start date | End date | Station |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hello! Morning (ハロー！モーニング。) | 2005 | April 1, 2007 | TV Tokyo |
| Musume Dokyu! (娘DOKYU!) | July 4, 2005 | December 6, 2009 | |
| Oha Suta (おはスタ, as Kirari Tsukishima) | 2006 | March 27, 2009 | |
| Oha Suta (おはスタ, as herself) | March 28, 2009 | March 31, 2014 | |
| Kirarin Revolution (きらりん☆レボリューション, as Kirari Tsukishima (voice)) | April 7, 2006 | March 27, 2009 | |
| Haromoni@ (ハロモニ@) | April 8, 2007 | September 28, 2008 | |
| Chichin Puipui | February 20, 2009 | ||
| Inauguration! Girl's Cabinet (発足！ギャル内閣, as Yamato Singh) | January 8, 2014 | March 19, 2014 | TV Chiba |
| Blurred Sound Pops (音ボケPOPS, as herself) | April 6, 2014 | September 13, 2015 | BS-TBS |
| Again!! (アゲイン!!, as Abe TamaTakashi) | July 20, 2014 | September 22, 2014 | MBS |
| Boat Race Live (BOAT RACE ライブ , as herself) | May 17, 2015 | March 26, 2017 | BS Fujii |
| Toto Television (トットてれび, Cameo appearance as one of the "Three Bubbles.") | April 30, 2016 | June 11, 2016 | NHK |
| Woman Prisoner 7 (女囚セブン , as Koharu) | April 21, 2017 | Present | TV Asahi |
Radio
| Program | Start date | End date | Station |
|---|---|---|---|
| TBC Fun Fīrudo Mōretsu Mōdasshu (TBC Funふぃーるど・モーレツモーダッシュ) | November 7, 2005 | November 18, 2005 | TBC |
| This Happy Time (or KoHappy Time) (こはっぴーTIME) | January 9, 2016 | Present | 79.0 FM Port, Niigata |
| Kusumi Koharu's Mediaship 927 | April 1, 2016 | March 31, 2017 | BSN: Broadcasting System of Niigata, Inc. |