Country Girls hiatus- Yamaki & Ozeki grad H!P 12/26/2019, Funaki grad 12/09/2020

[Amped]

Upfront statement

Thank you for supporting Hello! Project project and the Country Girls.
on December 26, the four members will graduate from Country Girls at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA.

Country Girls started in 2014 with Satoda Mai as a supervisor.
In the summer of 2017, H!P celebrated its 20th anniversary. In order to carry out more daily activities vigorously, Morito, Yanagawa, and Funaki have started concurrently working with other groups of H!P and Country Girls. For Yamaki and Ozeki, it was difficult to work together with other H!P groups because of their balance with academics. They have been active mainly after school, on holidays and during long holidays.

This year, members talked about their future activities.

Yamaki wants a break from the entertainment activities, find a job and take a new path.
Ozeki wants to challenge herself in personal entertainment activities while aiming to go on to university.
Funaki wants to learn more about dance.
After confirming that, the three members were willing to move on to the next goal, we decided to start on a new path.

Yamaki is graduating from H!P, College Cosmos, retired from entertainment,
Ozeiki is graduating from H!P, continued entertainment activities,
Funaki will graduated from H!P and ANGERME in March 2020! After graduating, she will retired from entertainment activities.
Morito continues to be Morning Musume and will be active as a member.

As for the future of Country Girls, I'm thinking of renewing and restarting with new members.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you who have supported the Country Girls so far. We look forward to your continued support in the future.

- Upfront director

Message from supervisor Satoda Mai

Country girls who took over songs from Country Musume and sang them,
I am full of gratitude for protecting the name and working.

The young girls who have made their own decisions to choose new paths by themselves
I think it’s wonderful and I want to support them.

Fans, current members,and members who have already graduated and are working hard on a new path,
I would like to thank all of you who are involved.

I'm really thankful to you!

- Satoda Mai

http://www.helloproject.com/news/11156/

[Amped]

Country Girls members expands their statements onto the blogs

Yamaki

Announcement

To everyone


Thank you very much for your constant support of Country Girls.


Following our 26th December concert at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA
Country Girls will cease activities.


And I will graduate from Hello! Project as well as Country Girls and College Cosmos, and will retire from the entertainment industry.


We apologize for the sudden surprise.
But this is the solution we arrived at after a lot of thought and discussions between us.



About 2 years ago, the word ‘graduation’ started to vaguely pop up in my mind.


The graduations of many seniors and peers,
Changes in my own environment,
And having more opportunities to be considered as an ‘adult’ after having gone past the age of 20,
Led me to think even deeper about my future.


Like what sort of woman I want to be.
Or what sort of challenges I would like to attempt in the future.


Even though I wanted to enter the entertainment industry
It wasn’t because I wanted to become an idol in particular
I wanted to enter H!P,
So to me, to graduate from H!P would be the same as graduating from this industry.


When I discussed how I felt with the members of Country Girls,
Everyone had different futures in mind.

We had multiple discussions amongst us members,
We’ve all had discussions with the office,
And our time as Country Girls was put on hold for a time.


I love Country Girls.


When we’re together, we never run out of things to talk about
We’ll all be laughing

All of us love to eat
For example, when we meet during work, we’ll be so engrossed in eating that we forget to chat

We’ll always be messing around a little, no matter when


It’s unimaginably precious to me to have members who can build such an ambience.
I never thought I would have ever met with such wonderful companions.


Whenever someone tells me that Country is a good group
I feel really proud.

They’re important, beloved, irreplaceable to me.


The 5 years I spent as Country Girls are truly a treasure to me.


We made innumerable memories.
With the members, I could do anything,
And there were also things that I was only capable of doing because I was with the members.

I love Country Girls so much that words can’t do it justice.

I leapt into this world just because I liked H!P!
But this world was far wider and more complicated than I had imagined, yet it was really captivating.

An ‘idol’ receives support, not only in singing and dancing,
But also in personal aspects as well.

Thanks to that, I was able to change,
I was able to grow,
I gained confidence.


There’s no doubt that the fans, and no one else,
Are the reason behind how fulfilling these 5 years were.


Those who came for events
Those who sent us letters and comments
Those who would never miss our radio shows and magazine appearances

All of you have your own ways of lending your support
And all of that has been a source of encouragement for me.


I can confidently say that my greatest treasure is
The fact that, in the midst of a sea of idols,
There were people who sought me out and supported me.
Thank you so very much.


Through various challenges, I’ve changed over these 5 years of activities,
And in order to grow even further,
I decided to graduate from this world.


From now on, in a new world,
I would like to increase my life experiences
I would like to become someone who is loved as a person
And become a compassionate human.


Our remaining time is about 2 months, which is short,
But throughout that time, the 4 of us would like to give it our all.


We’ll have our 5th anniversary on the 5th of November, and the 26th of December will be our last.
Currently, we’re all putting our utmost thought into making them into ‘the best’!
Please look forward to them!


I ask for your support for Yamaki Risa as well as Country Girls until the very end!


Yamaki Risa

https://blog-project.net/yamaki-risa/270194
https://ameblo.jp/countrygirls/entry-12537082696.html

Ozeki Mai

To all of you

Good evening everyone


An announcement was made moments ago:
Country Girls will cease activities following our concert at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA on the 26th of December 2019.

And I, Ozeki Mai, will be graduating from Country Girls as well as Hello! Project on the 26th of December.


Springtime, 2017

When the new configuration for Country Girls was determined, I worried about our activities moving forward. There was a proposal to balance school and Country Girls activities and I accepted it, attending senior high while participating in activities.

After that, we entered our new configuration from July onwards
Ever since then, I’ve been thinking about my own future.


From this juncture onwards, the future I had envisioned, where Country Girls’ activities were sufficient, began to slowly change.


I wanted to challenge myself by graduating from the group and continuing on to pursue my own dreams.


When I discussed it with the members, the other members had different thoughts about the future
There were numerous discussions between the members and the people from the office,
The result is that we would cease activities.


I’m proud to be a member of Country Girls.

Many times at our live shows, I felt almost guilty at how happy I felt, surrounded by the wonderful members and fans.

I’ve always been helped out by the smiles and cheers from all of you, who constantly supported us and provided a warm ambience for us
There have even been times when my worries have been resolved through live performances.


And the same goes for the members
It’s fun to meet and chat with them. They make me naturally smile and lift my spirits. They’re indispensable to me in a special way that goes beyond friendship.
I’ve got so many memories with them that I wouldn’t know where to start.


Among those memories, there are things that I can laugh about now, as well as memories of tough times…

But I feel that those memories constantly support me.


Just those activities by themselves were important to me. Also, for the first time in my life, I had to seriously deal with taking another look at my own self.



I love Country Girls a lot, which is why I worry a lot about the group.

Lots of things were spinning in my mind, like getting separated from the members as well as how the fans would feel about it.



But for a time, when I considered questions such as what sort of person I wanted to become, or what sort of life I would lead within society in the future
I arrived at the conclusion that the way to get closest to my ideal self
Would be to bring a close to my time as an idol.


To all of you who have been supporting us, I feel that you’ll receive and think about this announcement in your own, distinct ways. I’m sure that some of you may have complicated feelings about it as well.

The members have worried about it, so I hope that you can find it in you to support the members positively as people who ‘Want to pursue their dreams’.



After my graduation, I would like to work hard on my goal to continue on to university as well on my individual activities as an entertainer, with an even wider outlook than my current activities.

I understand that it’s a harsh world. That is where I would like to experiment. I would also like to further improve my skills and grow even more.


Until the 26th of December, I, as well as all the members, will be plunging ahead as Country Girls.


About 2 months remain until we cease activities and we graduate.
I’ll use these 2 months to ensure I have no regrets. Let’s do it.


I hope for your continued support.


Country Girls Ozeki Mai

https://blog-project.net/ozeki-mai/270212
https://ameblo.jp/countrygirls/entry-12537075852.html


Funaki Musubu

‘To all of you’

Thank you very much for all your warm support.


There is something that I would like to inform all of you about.


Country Girls will cease activities
On the 26th of December
Following our concert at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA.


And I, Funaki Musubu,
Will graduate from ANGERME as well as Hello! Project in March next year.


I am truly sorry
For whatever emotions that have been stirred up
By the sudden announcement, the group’s decision, as well as my own.


While the reason behind the cessation of activities and my graduation may seem related
It’s got nothing to do with the seemingly distant concurrency of activities between Country Girls and ANGERME
By looking at them separately
There are two viewpoints.



By entering ANGERME
I was able to find out about new aspects of myself and new ways of thinking
We shared lots of memories and they helped me out a lot


I really got to experience the charms of the members
I spent time thinking about ANGERME, and at the same time, taking another look at myself,
And that’s why I am who I am now.


While opinions may be divided on the concurrency,
For me, I’m glad that I was part of ANGERME.



And through my activities in ANGERME
I thought a lot more about how to express myself
It led me to dislike myself and get caught up in the snare of self-loathing,
But when I managed to break free of that, I was able to grow gradually without me realising it


I realised that I’d unconsciously had an interest in expressing myself, ever since I was small
And I’m thinking that I would like to continue that in the future

A feeling welled up in me:
I’d like to see an even wider world, beyond my imagination
Through what I’m interested in.
To enable that, I would like to distance myself from the environment of Hello! Project and take a step back from the entertainment industry for a time.



There are a wide range of ways to express oneself
At the moment, I’m choosing dancing, which is what I’m feeling the most
My ultimate goal is to someday make that into my forte
And enter a line of work where I can make use of that.


And I’ve spent about 4 years as a member of Country Girls. So many things have happened in these 4 years that it’s almost unbelievable

The illustrious PM who taught me to be an idol
The seniors, who were not only cute but also unique
And my generation-mate, with whom I immediately did away with honorifics the moment that we became part of the same generation. lol


I made a million mistakes when I first joined
I was a burden
Plus being one of the first members added to the group
Led me to exhibit a display of shyness



But without any obvious moment when it happened
They’d become a group of people who were so precious to me, without me noticing.


In the midst of that, following the commencement of the concurrency,
Partly because it was difficult to foresee us continuing on with the current situation, we took the opportunity to have a hard look at our own futures

The culmination of many discussions was the decision to cease activities
In order for each of us to move on our own paths in the future.


It truly pains my heart
To have to communicate it in this way
To all of you who have been ceaselessly waiting for us to hold events.
And thank you so very much.


In the future, I would like to focus on my yet unknown self
As well as my own self that I know well.


In this limited time, I would like to give my all to both groups, which are irreplaceable to me
I hope for your continued support of Country Girls, ANGERME,
As well as Funaki Musubu.

https://blog-project.net/funaki-musubu/270205
https://ameblo.jp/countrygirls/entry-12537135020.html

Morito Chisaki

‘To all of you.’

This is Morito Chisaki.


To all of you who have always been supporting us,

We are truly sorry for the sudden announcement.


It’s been about 5 years since the group was formed. Up to this point, we’ve gone through plenty of separations, such as the graduation of Momochi-senpai and the graduation of Yanagawa Nanami-chan. So we’ve thought a lot about our own futures.


We had multiple discussions with the members and staff and came to the resolution that Country Girls would cease our activities.

I’ve had many experiences in these 5 years and gave this a lot of thought. I think that this must have roused many confusing emotions within the fans as well.


It’s thanks to all of you who have been waiting for us that we’re able to celebrate our soon-coming 5th anniversary despite a reduction in events and live performances.


Thank you so very much.

I have a concurrent position in Morning Musume。’19 and Country Girls. Before I knew it, 2 years have passed, which must have put a heavy burden on the members as well.


I spent roughly 5 years with Risa-chan & Mai-chan and roughly 4 years together with Funa-chan
Oddly enough, they’ve become people whom I’m comfortable with, with whom I can just speak out my whims.


I don’t know whether 5 years or 4 years is considered long or not, but these past 2 years feel even shorter than the time before then.

And yet, whenever I meet with them, we’ll never stop talking, they can always make me laugh.


It’s all very, very important to me.

I hope that you can support and kindly watch over us as we pursue our individual dreams.


And I will be continuing on with activities as Morning Musume。’19. That has already become something that’s important to me. I hope that you can support me as always.


Only a little time remains for us as Country Girls, but I hope that we can make more wonderful memories with those I adore – the members and the fans.


I kindly ask that you continue to support Morning Musume。’19, Country Girls, and Morito Chisaki.


In these roughly 2 months, I hope to receive all your love for Country as well. lol


Morito Chisaki

https://blog-project.net/morito-chisaki/270189
https://ameblo.jp/countrygirls/entry-12537111350.html

[koregaboku]

This is surprising but not that unexpected. I am, however, pleasantly surprised that UF* maintained them as a semi-active group for two years.

I'm a bit more surprised about this in relation to Angerme though. Within a span of less than a year they'll have gone through four graduations (Ayaka, Rina, Kana, Funaki). That's pretty crazy.

[Celedam]

And through my activities in ANGERME
I thought a lot more about how to express myself
It led me to dislike myself and get caught up in the snare of self-loathing,
But when I managed to break free of that, I was able to grow gradually without me realising it


I realised that I’d unconsciously had an interest in expressing myself, ever since I was small
And I’m thinking that I would like to continue that in the future

A feeling welled up in me:
I’d like to see an even wider world, beyond my imagination
Through what I’m interested in.
To enable that, I would like to distance myself from the environment of Hello! Project and take a step back from the entertainment industry for a time.

Wait, what?

[JonCC]

Country Girls, Ozeki, Yamaki, that all makes sense.

Funaki less so. Seems to be cutting short a promising career.

Hope we get a last photobook out of her before the end.

[otaku_blue]

I'm pretty upset but if that's what the girls want, then I support them fully in their own paths.

[Amped]

They should give Funaki a chance to live out her dream being a subleader or leader of ANGERME, maybe she will change her mind.

[Zunu]

1) Funaki's message seems uncharacteristically frank compared with the usual H!P graduation apology. I regard that as a good thing. It's refreshing that the girls are able to more or less speak their mind instead of sticking to the usual platitudes.

2) I'm assuming "illustrious PM" means "illustrious Playing Manager" aka Momoko. Someone who I really miss the holy hell out of right now. It would be awesome if she made some kind of response or public appearance as a result of this. Same with Yanamin.

3) About these rapid fire Angerme graduations, I wonder if anything is driving that? Have conditions in the group changed in a way that is causing members to feel less attached to the unit?

[Sohee]

I can't say I'm horribly sad about this. I will miss Ozeki, but with H!P OG's being able to do various things and all these days, I hope she will get to shine on her own (and maybe work with other OGs) afterwards. Assuming she stays with UF.

Other than that, I'm so happy that UF is a nice company that listens to the girls and let them think about these things for longer and such. It's really refreshing. Funaki studying dance seems like the right path for her, too. She's one hell of a performer.

Having that said, I do hope that they reboot Country Girls as a... shuffle/rotating group or something that will be alive every now and then cause man I want my retro cute songs.

Also, I'm glad Chisaki is staying in MM at least, considering she was my favorite member after Manaka.

[Nayoko-Kihara]

I'm sad (especially about Yamaki, since she's retiring) but I also understand that this was going to happen eventually, and I feel like we all knew Risa was pretty much just here because she loved H!P. I hope Ozeki/Funaki stay with UF.

In regards to Funaki specifically, I don't have any personal experience with it but I've been told in the past that dance careers are usually short-lived (unless you become an instructor or choreographer). If she really wants to puruse it in that sense, I think she's making an understandable choice in going now vs later.

I do think they should've held off on the announcement to possibly continue the group with new members for at least a few days, maybe a week or two. I'm not mad about the idea of the group continuing in some form though. I wonder if this means we should expect another ANGERME addition at the beginning of next year?