Sayumi Michishige

Sayumi Michishige (道重 さゆみ) is a Japanese singer, actress and model.

She is a former sixth-generation member and former leader of the J-pop group Morning Musume.

Their musical debut came shortly thereafter, on July 30, with Morning Musume's 19th single, "Shabondama".

In 2002, at the age of 13, Michishige participated in the Love Audition 2002 held by Up-Front Agency in search of new members for the Japanese female idol group Morning Musume.

Tens of thousand of contestants auditioned, but only four where chosen in the final stage.

She joined Morning Musume in 2003 along with Eri Kamei, Miki Fujimoto, and Reina Tanaka, who all debuted with Morning Musume on the group's nineteenth single, "Shabondama".

Michishige, along with Eri Kamei, Miki Fujimoto, and Reina Tanaka were admitted to Morning Musume as sixth-generation members on January 19, 2003.

A few weeks later, she was placed in Morning Musume's subgroup Morning Musume Otomegumi, when the group was temporarily divided so it could perform in smaller towns, thereby reaching out to a greater number of fans who could not otherwise watch them perform live.

During the spring, she, along with the other sixth-generation members, made her first concert appearance on the Morning Musume Concert Tour 2003 Spring "Non Stop!" during second-generation member Kei Yasuda's leaving ceremony.

On July 16, 2003, the sixth-generation members (with the exception of Miki Fujimoto) released their first photobook and corresponding DVD, both shot in Hawaii, as part of the Alo Hello!

(アロハロ!) series.

Towards the end of 2003, Michishige began appearing in the show Revelations of M (Mの黙示録), as a regular with ex-Morning Musume member Yuko Nakazawa.

2004 saw her first appearance on an album, Best! Morning Musume 2, and in a movie—Star Sand Island, My Island – Island Dreamin (星砂の島、私の島－～Island Dreamin'～).

During the summer, Michishige appeared in her first solo photobook and was placed in a temporary unit called Ecomoni with fourth-generation Morning Musume member Rika Ishikawa.

Originally, the goal of the group was to promote environmental awareness only for the duration of the Cool Down the Hot Earth (熱っちぃ地球を冷ますんだ) festival, but their popularity led to the members being cast as voice actors for the fourth Hamtaro movie—along with Hello! Project soloist Aya Matsuura, with whom they also released the main theme for the film, titled "Tensai! Let's Go Ayayamu" (天才！Let's Go あややム)—and appeared in subsequent festivals.

In 2005, she was assigned as mentor to seventh-generation member Koharu Kusumi, until Kusumi left the group in December 2009.

Michishige was also a member of the Hello! Project unit Ecomoni, along with former Morning Musume member Rika Ishikawa.

She portrays a visual-focused, self-confident image of herself in more TV shows, often calling herself the cutest member in Morning Musume and saying that her cuteness overwhelms her poor singing skills.

In one of the skits known as Hello!

Morning Theatre on their variety show, Hello! Morning, she frequently played a character known as "Ichiban Kawaii" (Cutest).

Michishige is from Ube, Yamaguchi.

She is the youngest child in the family, she has an elder brother and an elder sister.

In 2005, Michshige and Rika Ishikawa released a duo photobook titled Angels (エンジェルズ).

Michishige also appeared as a regular news anchor on Hello!

Morning for most of the second half of 2005.

That year, she was assigned to be a mentor to seventh-generation member Koharu Kusumi, with whom she formed a duo called Rainbow Pink in the beginning of 2006.

Introducing themselves as "Shige-pink" and "Koha-pink", the group was featured on Morning Musume's seventh album, Rainbow 7, with the song "Rainbow Pink" (レインボーピンク), and subsequently on the 7.5 Fuyu Fuyu Morning Musume Mini! and Sexy 8 Beat albums, with "Wa Merry Pin Xmas!"

(わ～MerryピンXmas!) and "Takara no Hako" (宝の箱), respectively.

Following in fellow Morning Musume member Miki Fujimoto's footsteps, Michishige began hosting a radio show titled Hypernight - Michishige Sayumi Konya mo Usa-chan Peace (ハイパーナイト モーニング娘. 道重さゆみの今夜も♥うさちゃんピース) in October 2006.

Running approximately 30 minutes per episode, Michishige's show consisted of her answering fan mail and participating in several games, among which saying a given phrase/expression in reverse, and giving general advice to her listeners.

Michishige's second solo photobook, titled Longing (憧憬), was published on January 15, 2007.

Shot in Okinawa, the book featured school uniform, swimsuit, simple one-piece, and wet yukata/bathrobe shots, in an attempt to convey a more mature image of the seventeen-year-old idol.

Michishige also starred in Bow30° (「おじぎ30度」), an original internet drama created for the purpose of advertising the Family Restaurant chain Gusto (ガスト), as Ruruka Chī (地井ルルカ), a novice waitress training under the supervision of her seniors Karin Kinoshita (木下花梨) (played by Morning Musume's Ai Takahashi) and Mika Mochizuki (望月深華) (Reiko Tokita).

On June 9, 2007, Michishige began co-hosting the Young Town radio show as a result of Miki Fujimoto's Friday magazine scandal and subsequent resignation from Morning Musume.

Shortly thereafter she released her third solo photobook and DVD, 17: Love Hello, both shot on the island of Guam.

Her fourth solo photobook, Sōsō, was published in December 2007.

On January 3, 2009, for the first time since she joined Morning Musume, Michishige appeared as an independent talent on a TV show, namely the Otona Gakuryoku Kentei SP (大人学力検定スペシャル) quiz show.

Following the departure of fifth-generation member Risa Niigaki on October 12, 2013, Michishige held the longest tenure of any member in the group's history even after her graduation.

She went on to hold this record until surpassed by ninth-generation members Mizuki Fukumura and Erina Ikuta in December 2022.

Michishige was born in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.