1st Gen Morning Musume members celebrate their 25th anniversary

Back in 1997, through the TV show “Asayan”, Sharan Q vocalist/producer Tsunku debuted five members of his female pop group, Morning Musume.

The five were runner-ups to the audition, with the winner, Heike Michiyo chosen to become a solo artist. And members Abe Natsumi, Nakazawa Yuki, Iida Kaori, Fukuda Asuka and Ishiguro Aya would be issued a challenge. Sell 50,000 copies of your demo single “Ai no Tane” with only five days of promotion events and sure enough the girls did it in four days.

And with the accomplishment, the five were given a chance to release their first official single “Morning Coffee” on January 28, 1998 which sold 200,790 copies.