Michishige Sayumi

Also known as :  Sayumin, Shige-san, Sayu, Shige-pink, Misshige
Born                 :  July 13, 1989 Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
Genres             :  Japanese pop Occupations Singer

Personal Life

Sayumi Michishige 道重 さゆみ Michishige Sayumi?, (named after Sayumi Horie) born July 13, 1989 in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan is a sixth generation member of the J-pop group Morning Musume and has the third longest tenure of any member in the group (behind Risa Niigaki and Ai Takahashi and tied with Reina Tanaka). As of May 18, 2012 right after Risa Niigaki's graduation, Tsunku announced on Ultra Smart 2012 concert that she is the new leader of Morning Musume.   She joined Morning Musume in 2003 along with Eri Kamei, Miki Fujimoto and Reina Tanaka, which all made their debuts with Morning Musume in the group's nineteenth single, "Shabondama". In 2005 she was assigned as mentor to 7th generation member Koharu Kusumi, until Kusumi's graduation in December 2009.   Michishige was also a member of the Hello! Project unit Ecomoni, along with former Morning Musume member Rika Ishikawa.   When Michishige passed the audition to join Morning Musume, Tsunku, Morning Musume's producer, commented that her singing was weak. After the audition, Michishige took 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, often calling herself the cutest member in Morning Musume and saying that her cuteness overwhelms her bad singing voice. 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).

Sayumi Michishige,  officially became a 6th generation member of Morning Musume, along with Eri Kamei, Miki Fujimoto and Reina Tanaka, on January 19, 2003, when the results of the Love Audition 2002 were made public. Just a few weeks later, she was placed in Morning Musume Otomegumi subgroup, when the group was temporarily divided so it could perform in smaller towns, thereby reaching out to a greater number of fans who couldn't otherwise have the privilege of watching them perform live. During the spring she, along with the rest of the 6th generation members, made her first concert appearance on the Morning Musume Concert Tour 2003 Spring "Non Stop!" during Kei Yasuda's graduation.