Kobushi Factory have held their final live at Tokyo Dome City Hall without an audience due to the spread of COVID-19. All members will leave Hello! Project except Rei Inoue. They will be remembered for their vocal skills, a capella versions, and lyrics of persistence.

The Slow News team has been dedicated to bringing you the least up to date H!P news since January 2023, but it's time for a new start. From now on, we aim to be more up to date with current H!P events, delivering news as it breaks.

The graduation concert of BEYOOOOONDS/CHICA#TETSU’s Rika Shimakura will be held on June 9th at Budokan, titled “BEYOOOOONDS CONCERT 2025 SPRING ～Take Me Out To The BUDOOOOOKAN！「Treasury Island」～”. The title is a literal translation of her last name, Shimakura.

Morning Musume ‘25 member Rio Sakurai has started a personal Instagram account. The now 19-year old joined the group in 2022 as the only member of the 16th generation of Morning Musume. instagram.com/rio_sakurai.of…

BEYOOOOONDS to release photo book on May 30th titled “NOW AND FROM NOW ON”. It follows their adventures in Mishima City, Shizuoka Prefecture from Mishima Station, to Mishima Skywalk, to the specially made BEYOOOOONDS manhole by JR Central.

YouTube programs “Hello! Station” & “M-Line Music” will be renewed, with start times of Wednesday and Friday respectively at 7pm JST. As well as concert footage and corners, the renewed programs include vocal recordings and music video shooting, replacing the axed “Upcoming”.

16 year old Asahi Tasaki from Nagasaki has won first place in the 2nd Forest Award NEW FACE Audition. Second and third place went to Soramoyuuto and CALGO respectively, while Yuka Miyazaki won the Promotional Award/Samantha Thavasa Award. Do you see her joining an H!P group?

Hi there and Happy New Year 2025! Waiting for news about the first concert of the year (Hello! Project 2025 Winter Fes) and any announcements. Wishing for a prosperous year for each group, especially Rosy Chronicle, not too many grads, and a year without scandal!

ANGERME’S AYANO KAWAMURA WINS SOLOFES Incorporating tap dance into her performance of Juice=Juice’s “Sunao No Amaete”, Kawamura was voted MVP with 11 votes. She will produce her own program as a prize. Will we see a tap dance performance as iconic in Hello! Project again?

Next up in our Hello! Station #228 recap, 19th July 2017: The Kenshusei introduction movie for this episode introduces Shimakura Rika, who joined the KSS in March this year. Which current group do you think she will debut in? Or will she be part of a new one?

Kobushi Factory sub-leader Rio Fuiji has had her contract terminated due to lack of compliance with rules. It has not been specified what this entails. The 18 year old announced her graduation from the group on May 12th citing her dream of becoming a teacher or nurse.

Aika Mitsui will graduate from Morning Musume (but not Hello! Project) on May 18th with Risa Niigaki due to her left ankle fracture. Though she has recovered, Morning Musume’s intense dancing means she cannot continue. Will we ever see another double graduation in this group?

Sayumi Michshige has graduated from Morning Musume ‘14 and Hello! Project. The 6th gen member is the longest serving member of the group at 4329 days, an unbreakable record. She will take temporary leave from entertainment to rest her mind and body.

An incredible first week for BEYOOOOONDS’ debut single! 99,875 copies sold on Oricon and 94,375 on Billboard! It is still shy of Morning Musume ‘19’s last single which - 109,824 on Oricon and 144,747 on Billboard. Will we ever see another H!P group outsell the flagship?

The new Hello! Project shop in Akihabara will opens for the first time TODAY at 10am!! Location: 6th floor of the Sakai Suehiro building, 6-chōme-14-2 Sotokanda, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 101-0021, a 1-minute walk from Suehirocho station.

Juice=Juice have released the MV for "DOWN TOWN" from their upcoming 14th single, which releases on April 28th 2021. For the first time since 2013, the MV does not have English subtitles. Do you think subtitled MVs will ever make a comeback? youtube.com/watch?v=7xD8OR…

For the “Koi wa Accha Accha” single, ANGERME has launched the Accha Accha campaign where fans can post to SNS with the hashtag #アッチャアッチャ. They’ve also made 13 MVs for the song. We think this strategy is forced and fear UFP won’t capitalise on organic trends in future.

On M-Line Music last week: Another performance from Miyo and Miyamoto Karin’s M-Hello event Vol. 4, this time they perform “Hai to Diamond”! 💜💜💎

On January 1 2014, Morning Musume will begin using a year-based naming format, changing their name to "Morning Musume '14." The format is to help fans identify the era of specific singles or member lineups, with the goal of supporting the group's continuity for decades to come.

Beginning on July 19th 2025, all Kobushi Factory songs will be added to streaming services. They are the latest former H!P group to appear on streaming after many former acts were added on January 3rd 2025. However, we think current H!P won’t be on streaming any time soon.