Country Girls are Coming to Steal Your Love This March! Major Debut Announced in Hokkaido!

| Idol | Posted by Kai Okudara on Jan.29.2015

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Country Girls, the reboot of the group Country Musume. which was active from 1999 until 2007, received great news at Hello! Project’s Hokkaido concert on January 24th. In addition to Momoko Tsugunaga (Berryz Koubou) joining the group as a member after March 3rd, the indies debut that was planned was upgraded to a major label debut!

Country Girls will be making their major debut on March 25, 2015 with the double A-side single “Itooshikutte Gomen ne/Koi Dorobo” as announced via a message from Mai Satoda, the supervisor of the group and former member of Country Musume. It was particularly significant that the news was delivered in Hokkaido since Country Musume. was formed with the image of “country girls from Hokkaido”. The titles of the songs roughly translate to “I’m sorry that I’m so adorable” (Itooshikutte Gomen ne) and “Love Thief” (Koi Dorobo). Check out the video by Jiji Press below to hear them talk about the debut and see the moment when it was announced.

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Tsugunaga, as the member with the most experience due to being in Hello! Project since 2002, pledged to be a good example to the younger members. She joked that she thought “Itooshikute Gomen ne” might have been written for her since she often says “gomen ne. Yurushite-nyan!” (I’m sorry. Forgive meow!). Risa Yamaki commented that Satoda suggested the name change in order to have Country Girls be more recognizable to non-Japanese fans and be invited to perform overseas in the near future. When asked about the 10-year age difference between her and Tsugunaga, Mai Ozeki blurted out “she’s like an aunty”, before changing her answer to, “She’s like a pretty older sister”. A shocked Tsugunaga responded with, “If I’m an aunty then what about Satoda?”, inadvertently making things worse.

Even though only one member of the group, Manaka Inaba, is actually from Hokkaido, that detail has not really been a requirement for a group originally billed as “country girls from Hokkaido” as long as they fit the image. Does this mean that there is a chance that the members will spend some time working on a farm in the near future?

Country Girls have events scheduled where fans can reserve the single beginning on February 1 and release events during the week of the single’s release. They will also be appearing at Hello! Project concerts to meet and greet fans.

Country Girls members
Momoko Tsugunaga (Berryz Koubou) Birthday: March 6, 1992 Birthplace: Chiba, Japan
Risa Yamaki Birthday: October 14, 1997 Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan
Manaka Inaba Birthday: December 27, 1997 Birthplace: Hokkaido, Japan
Chisaki Morito Birthday: February 19, 2000 Birthplace: Tochigi, Japan
Uta Shimamura Birthday: June 24, 2000 Birthplace: Kanagawa, Japan
Mai Ozeki Birthday: February 10, 2002 Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan

Country Girls official site: http://helloproject.com/countrygirls/