Koharu Kusumi

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, actor, television personality, essayist, and model. From 2005 to 2009, she was a member of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello%21_Project 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 currently makes 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 fashion magazine in 2011. 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.

Biography
Koharu Kusumi joined 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello%21_Morning Hello! Morning]. She made her debut on the single "Iroppoi Jirettai".

Kusumi was a member of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello%21_Project 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" (僕らが生きる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 currently 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 graduate from Morning Musume and Hello! Project on December 6, at the final performance of Morning Musume's 2009 fall tour, Nine Smile.[1] [2] According to Kusumi's official announcement, she had interests in becoming a model.[3] She later stated she would also like to try other career paths, such as comedy.[4] Roughly 4,000 fans attended the graduation concert.[5] Her graduation marked the end of the longest stable lineup of Morning Musume, as it was the first change in the group's roster since the departure of Miki Fujimoto two and a half years earlier, in June 2007.

After her graduation, she opened her own blog, and was announced to be joining "M-Line", the official fanclub of former Morning Musume members. She continued to appear on Oha Suta, as well as Oha Coro, and, as well as her modeling, branched out into food and health, appearing in a series of advertisements.[6]

In 2010, It was announced that Koharu Kusumi will be joining the group "Dream Morning Musume" alongside other former-Morning Musume members.

On September 24 it was announced that Kusumi Koharu has signed with a new model agency called ILLUME.

Discography and releases
For releases as a member of Morning Musume, please see the Morning Musume discography.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. )?).