Iida Kaori

Iida Kaori (飯田圭織) was an original member and former leader of Morning Musume. She graduated in 2005, and is currently a soloist within Hello! Project.

Profile

 * Name: Iida Kaori (飯田圭織)
 * Nickname: Johnson, Kaorin, Kao-tan
 * Birthdate: 1981.08.08
 * Birthplace: Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan
 * Blood type :  A
 * Height: 168 cm (5'6")
 * Hobbies: Drawing, cooking
 * Special skills: Communicating, making puns
 * Favorite words: LOVE & PEACE
 * Favorite color: Red
 * Favorite flowers: Roses, tulips
 * Favorite season: Summer
 * Favorite food: Oysters, scallions, cream bread
 * Disliked food: Fried tofu, bacon
 * Hello! Project Groups:
 * Morning Musume (1997–2005)
 * Morning Musume Tanjou 10nen Kinentai (2007)
 * Subgroups:
 * Tanpopo (1998–2002)
 * Morning Musume Otome Gumi (2003–2004)
 * Concert Units:
 * Hello! Project Akagumi (2005)
 * Elder Club (2006–2007)
 * Shuffle Units:
 * 2000: Aoiro 7
 * 2001: 10nin Matsuri
 * 2002: Odoru 11
 * 2003: 11WATER
 * 2004: H.P. All Stars
 * 2005: Puripuri Pink

History
Iida Kaori was one of the five original members of Morning Musume. She graduated on 30 January 2005, thus giving her the longest tenure of not only the first generation but of any Morning Musume member, with 7 years and 4 months.

While she was a member of Morning Musume she released her own solo work - two singles and two albums. After her graduation she remained a soloist within Hello! Project releasing two more albums.

In April 2005, a few months after her graduation, she held her first dinner show singing cover songs and original songs.

On 6 July 2007 it was announced that Iida was 10 weeks pregnant with her first child and to marry ex-7HOUSE member Kenji. [1] Then, in late July, it was announced that the marriage papers were filed on the day after the pregnancy and marriage announcement, 7 July 2007. [2] On 22 January 2008 Iida gave birth to a healthy baby boy. [3]

Iida will end her maternity leave and resume entertainment duties on 7 July 2008, where she will perform at Cool Earth Ambassador 2008. [4]

Compilation Albums

 * [2004.02.11] 地中海サウンドスケイプ Vol.1~地中海レーベルベストセレクション (Chichukai Sound Scape Vol.1 ~Chichukai Label Best Selection~)

Photobooks



 * [2002.05.01] かおりKAORI圭織 (Kaori KAORI Kaori) amazon.co.jp
 * [2003.09.??] ポケットモーニング娘. 〈Vol.2〉 (Pocket Morning Musume. (Volume 2)) (With Abe Natsumi, Yaguchi Mari, Goto Maki) amazon.co.jp
 * [2004.01.30] エーゲ海―相田翔子&飯田圭織 (The Agean Shoko Aida & Kaori Iida) (With Aida Shoko) amazon.co.jp
 * [2005.03.16] Hello! Project 2005 Winter オールスターズ大乱舞 ~A HAPPY NEW POWER! 飯田圭織卒業スペシャル (Hello! Project 2005 Winter All-Stars Dairanbu ~A HAPPY NEW POWER! Iida Kaori Sotsugyo Special~) amazon.co.jp

DVDs



 * エーゲ海 (Aegekai) 相田翔子&飯田圭織 (Iida Kaori & Aida Shoko)
 * ガッツ石松主演 五重塔 (Goju no To) [5]
 * ナマタマゴ Nama Tamago

Concerts

 * [2007-01-24] Sharan Q Live Tour 2006 Aki no Ran Zurui Live Live Live
 * [2007.??.??] 湘南SPECIAL LIVE 2007 ～あじさい～Vol.6 飯田圭織 (Shounan SPECIAL LIVE 2007 ~Ajisai~ Vol. 6 Iida Kaori)

Essay Books



 * [2001.12.??] 心のスケッチブック. (Kokoro no Sketch Book) amazon.co.jp
 * [2002.12.??] ライオンのマルジャン (Lion no Marujan) (With Kamata Toshi) amazon.co.jp

Trivia

 * As a member of Morning Musume, Iida has the most singles under her belt with a grand total of 26 (counting "Ai no Tane"). Runner-ups are Yaguchi Mari, Yoshizawa Hitomi, Niigaki Risa and Takahashi Ai, each with 25.
 * Is an experienced acoustic guitar player.
 * Her nickname "Johnson" comes from the hosts of Utaban constantly referring to her as such. The origin comes from the 16 February 1999 episode where Ishibashi Takaaki decided to associate each member with a baseball player (so he could remember them more easily), and Iida supposedly resembled Davey Johnson. Iida's nickname is the only one that stuck.
 * Is the only member of Hello! Project to have been in a shuffle unit each year, and each year she has been in the largest group, with the exception of 2005, in which she was in Puripuri Pink which tied Elegies for largest, both with four members.
 * Attended Hokkaido Sapporo Tousei High School and later transferred to Tokyo Municipal Yoyogi High School, where she was the same year as SPEED member Uehara Takako.
 * Loves to draw and has published a few children's books. She also drew the artwork for her first and second album, and she also drew the back cover of fellow H!P Soloist Maeda Yuki's Sarasara no Kawa.
 * Her long hair was a trademark of her image, but she cut it short not long after her graduation from Morning Musume. Since then, she has grown it out long again.
 * Fans and members have remarked that she must be "communicating with aliens," due to her frequent blank and spacey expressions.
 * She is the one who came up with the nickname "Ayaya" for Matsuura Aya.
 * Maeda Yuki joined Hello! Project thanks to Iida.
 * Prior to joining Morning Musume, she appeared in a battery commercial back in Sapporo. She was even a finalist in Komuro Tetsuya's auditions held by ASAYAN at the same time.
 * She once said in an interview that her future dream was to be a happy mother.
 * She considers herself her rival.
 * As shown on ASAYAN, she was the original main vocalist for Morning Coffee but Tsunku changed his mind and switched it to Abe Natsumi.
 * Has the record for the longest amount of time as leader of Morning Musume. She was leader for 3 years, 9 months and 14 days. She is also the youngest person to become leader, being only 19 at the time.
 * After her marriage on 7 July 2007, she became the second Hello! Project member, after Kominato Miwa of T&C Bomber, to be married while being an active member, as she was still in the middle of a concert tour for Morning Musume Tanjou 10nen Kinentai.
 * She was the one to notice on the cover of "LOVE Machine" that the order that the girls were positioned (starting with from the right at Ishiguro Aya moving down from the top of the rows and ending at Yaguchi Mari) was the same exact order in which they graduated from Morning Musume.
 * She is currently the tallest member Morning Musume ever had, standing at 168 cm (5'6").