Sayumi Michishige
Sayumi Michishige (?? ???, Sayumi Michishige?), born July 13, 1989 in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, is a sixth generation member of the J-pop group Morning Musume.
She joined Morning Musume in 2003 along with Eri Kamei, Miki Fujimoto and Reina Tanaka and debuted with the single Shabondama. Since 2005 she has been mentoring the 7th generation member Koharu Kusumi.
Sayumi is also a member of the Hello! Project unit Ecomoni, containing herself and now-former Morning Musume member Rika Ishikawa.
When Sayumi passed the audition to join Morning Musume, Tsunku, Morning Musume's producer, wrote in a comment about her that her singing is weak. After the audition Sayumi has taken voice lessons to improve her singing, but even she admits that her own singing is still bad.
She portrays an extremely narcissistic image of herself in TV shows. She often calls herself the cutest member in Morning Musume and says that her cuteness overwhelms her bad singing voice.(Music Fighter 2005-07-16 [1])
"Usa-chan Peace" is a phrase, which Sayumi uses to identify herself. While saying "Usa-chan peace" she holds her index and middle fingers in V shapes next to her ears.
Nickname: Sayumin (????, Sayumin?), Shige-san (????, Shige-san?), Sayu (??, Sayu?)
Date of Birth: July 13, 1989
Birthplace: Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan
Bloodtype: A
Height: 160 cm
Hobbies: Purikura, using phones, collecting hair ornaments
Talents: Tetris, Tennis
Special Skill: Can sleep anywhere
Favourite Food: Spaghetti, Chocolate
Least Favourite Food: Avocado, Mango[1]
Favourite Colour: Pink
Mottos:
Yoshi! Kyo mo Kawaii (??!!???????, Yoshi! Kyo mo Kawaii?) (I'll be cute today too)
Usa-chan Peace (????????, Usa-chan Peace?) (Bunny Peace)
Sayumi Michishige was chosen as a 6th generation member for Morning Musume in the LOVE Audition 2002 audition. Choosing her along with Eri Kamei, Miki Fujimoto and Reina Tanaka was formally announced on January 19, 2003. Just a few weeks later she joined Morning Musume Otomegumi when the Morning Musume subgroups Morning Musume Sakuragumi and Morning Musume Otomegumi were formed. During the spring she had her first concert appearances in the Morning Musume CONCERT TOUR 2003 Spring "NON STOP!" concert tour. These concerts were also the only concerts that have featured 16 Morning Musume members, being the first concert for the 6th generation and the graduation concert for Kei Yasuda.
During the summer the 6th generation released their Hello Hello! series DVD and photobook that were made in Hawaii and they finally had their musical debut, when Morning Musume released its 19th single Shabondama. Although Sayumi didn't get many solo lines in the song, a part where she shouts "Shabondama" did get her some attention on TV shows. Close to the end of the year 2003 she started appearing in the show M no Mokushiroku as a regular with ex-Morning Musume member Yuko Nakazawa. Her appearances on the show lasted for nearly a year.
The next year started with her first appearance on an album, Best! Morning Musume 2, and in a movie, Hoshisuna no Shima, Watashi no Shima - Island Dreamin'. During the summer she appeared in her first solo photobook and formed a temporary group called Ecomoni together with the older Morning Musume member Rika Ishikawa. Originally the goal of the group was to promote environmental awereness only for the duration of the Acchi Chikyuu wo Samasunda 2004 environmental festival, but their popularity led to the members of the group being cast as voice actors for the fourth Hamtaro movie, along with Hello! Project soloist Aya Matsuura. They also released a single of a song that they sung for the movie. She has appeared as a member of Ecomoni in subsequant environmental festivals in the following years.
In the year 2005 she had a duo photobook called Angels together with Rika Ishikawa. The photobook has been called an Ecomoni photobook, because both of its members appear in it, but officially the photobook has nothing to do with Ecomoni. She also appeared as a regular news anchor in the Japanese variety show Hello! Morning for most of the second half of 2005. Sayumi was chosen to be a mentor for the new 7th generation member Koharu Kusumi after she joined. They also appeared together in the beginning of 2006 in a duet called Rainbow Pink on Morning Musume's newest album Rainbow 7. Recently Sayumi joined the new Hello! Project kickball team called Metro Rabbits H.P..