Ikuta Erina (生田衣梨奈), ninth-generation member and current leader of Morning Musume, has announced her graduation from both the group and Hello! Project at the end of the current spring concert tour. While the exact date of her final performance has yet to be confirmed, she made the announcement back in January.
Before her departure, Ikuta will release her third photobook, “présent,” set to go on sale on May 15. The photobook will be published by Odyssey Books and distributed by Wani Books. As usual, it will come with both a regular cover and a special Amazon edition cover—you can check them out below.
Ikuta Erina ‘présent’ photobook covers
Ikuta has revealed that she plans to continue her career as a solo artist after graduation. Interestingly, more and more graduating members are choosing to pursue solo careers instead of either retiring from entertainment or staying within the company as “talents,” which was the more common path for many years.
Some behind the scenes photos?
Ikuta has shared a few photos on social media, which appear to be behind-the-scenes shots from the “présent” photobook.
The announcement and her new milestone
The day she announced her graduation also marked another milestone—Ikuta officially became the first member in Morning Musume history to reach 14 years in the group. On the same day, she posted a heartfelt message on Instagram, sharing her thoughts along with two photos that captured the moment.
In her message she reflected on her 14-year journey, which began on January 2, 2011, expressing gratitude for the support and love she received. Being part of Morning Musume allowed her to experience many emotions—joy, tears, and growth—alongside her fellow members, and she deeply values what Hello! Project has taught her about teamwork and perseverance.
Since becoming leader in 2023, she has been inspired by her juniors’ passion and worked to help them shine even more. However, she has now found a new dream she wants to pursue as an individual. Encouraged by her fans’ support, she has decided to step forward without the “Morning Musume” name and chase this dream as Ikuta Erina.
To fully embrace this next chapter, she will also leave her agency after 14 years. However, she reassures everyone that she will continue working in the entertainment industry without pause—because she loves being “Eripon.”
She feels honored to have spent half of Morning Musume’s 27-year history in the group and wants to make the most of her remaining time before graduation. She hopes to give back to the fans and create even more memories together.
She ends her message by encouraging fans to continue dreaming with her as she takes on this new challenge.
Though her graduation date remains unannounced, I’ll update as soon as more details are available!
Acerca de Morning Musume
Morning Musume (モーニング娘。; Morning Girls), currently known as Morning Musume ’24 (モーニング娘。’24, read as Morning Musume Two-Four), is the lead group of Hello! Project. The group was formed in 1997 on a talent show called ASAYAN.[1] It quickly became, and currently is, one of Japan’s top all-girl groups with a number of hit records and albums. On merchandise using the English name, the group’s name is commonly stylized with a kuten (。) as it would appear in the Japanese name.
Morning Musume (モーニング娘。) es el grupo principal de Hello! Project. Formado en 1997 en un programa de búsqueda de talentos llamado ASAYAN, Morning Musume rápidamente se convirtió, y sigue siendo, uno de los grupos más populares de todos los tiempos en Japón. El nombre del grupo en japonés se escribe con un punto (kuten[。]) al final, y a veces se usa en la versión en inglés, pero en este blog nunca lo uso, porque causa problemas.
El grupo usa un sistema de generaciones y graduaciones que mantiene la alineación constantemente cambiante. Antes las nuevas generaciones solían elegirse por audiciones, pero ahora no siempre es el caso.
Desde su formación, el productor original del grupo, Tsunku, era el responsable de componer y escribir la mayoría de las canciones. También estaba encargado de revisar los diseños de las portadas, los atuendos, maquillaje, presentaciones en vivo, etc. Esto fue hasta 2014, cuando Tsunku renunció a su puesto de director general, sin embargo él ha seguido trabajando con Morning Musume y otros grupos de H!P en diferentes puestos, y sigue escribiendo y componiendo muchas de sus canciones.
Morning Musume es uno de los grupos femeninos más exitosos de Japón, con el record de mayor número de singles en el Top 10 de la lista semanal de Oricon, con 73 singles en el top10 hasta el año pasado, eso son todos sus singles. Por lo que también tienen el record de más singles en el top10 de manera consecutiva.
Como dato cultural extra, prácticamente sí hay un single de Morning Musume que no quedó en el Top10 de Oricon, pero ése fue lanzado con otro nombre porque según recuerdo fue para promoción de un producto, entonces no está a nombre de Morning Musume, a pesar de que las integrantes de ese grupo son exactamente las que estaban en Morning Musume en ese momento. El single se llamó Appare Kaitenzushi! (あっぱれ回転ずし!) y el grupo se llamó Muten Musume (むてん娘。).
Ikuta Erina Announces Graduation and New Photobook ‘présent’