Morning Musume。Changes Group Name To “Morning Musume。’14”

The producer of Morning Musume。, Tsunku♂, has announced on his blog and official website that Morning Musume。will be changing their group name on January 1, 2014.

According to the announcement, the new name would be “Morning Musume。’14.　 Tsunku♂ explained, “In order for the group to continue their activity for the next 10, 20, or 30 years, I wanted to ensure that it would be easier for people to find answers to questions such as, ‘when was the single, “xxxx”, released’, or ‘when was so-and-so a member of the group’, by adding the year to the group’s name”.

As a result, beginning January 1, 2015, the group would become “Morning Musume。’15” (Morining Musume One Five).

The announcement of this controversial move has got fans debating over the merits of such decision; however, Tsunku♂ has added that if the change would create more confusion than the alleviation thereof, he may decide to revert the group name back to its original state.

The group’s 55th single would be released on January 29th, 2014. If it marks first place on the Oricon chart, it would become the fourth consecutive single release for them to rank-in at 1st place, which would set a new record for the group.

Official Website: http://www.helloproject.com/morningmusume/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Morningmusume.Official
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/morningmusumeofficial

Morning Musume。