Kei Yasuda

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Kei Yasuda (保田圭, Kei Yasuda?)
Kei Yasuda, August 2006
Background information
Also known as	Kei-chan, Kemeko
Born	December 6, 1980
Origin	Chiba, Japan
Genre(s)	Japanese Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	1998-present
Label(s)	zetima
Associated acts	Morning Musume, Petitmoni, Kiiro 5, 10-nin Matsuri, Odoru 11, H.P. All Stars, Puripuri Pink
Website	Hello! Project.com

Kei Yasuda (保田圭, Kei Yasuda^?), born in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, on December 6, 1980, is a former member and co-leader of J-pop group Morning Musume. Kei, along with Mari Yaguchi and Sayaka Ichii, were the second generation of singers to be recruited into Morning Musume. Morning Musume had only released one official single, Morning Coffee, before their joining.

[edit] Profile

• Full Name: Yasuda Kei (保田圭, Yasuda Kei^?)
• Nicknames: Kei-chan (圭ちゃん, Kei-chan^?), Kemeko (ケメコ, Kemeko^?)
• Date of Birth: December 6, 1980
• Birthplace: Chiba Prefecture, Japan
• Height: 157 cm
• Bloodtype: A

[edit] Biography

Kei Yasuda attended Kimitsu Shogyo (Commercial) High School in Futtsu city, Chiba Prefecture, but dropped out to pursue her dreams in the entertainment industry. Kei, along with Mari Yaguchi and Sayaka Ichii, were the second generation of singers to be recruited into Morning Musume.

After the second generation joined, Morning Musume went on to produce 1 album and 3 more singles until lead vocalist Asuka Fukuda decided to graduate to further pursue her studies. Kei was given almost all of Asuka's lines in future performances of these early songs. She had also collaborated with other Morning Musume members in special projects during these early days. One of the more notable ones was when she co-wrote and co-sang with Natsumi Abe the song "Sanpo" for a radio contest. It became wildly popular and a petition was circulated to make it an official single, though that never did happen.

Kei and Sayaka sang a particularly catchy duet known as "Otome no Shinrigaku" (Girl's Psychology) for Morning Musume's second album. In response to the popularity, Tsunku decided to lump them together with 3rd gen. Maki Goto to create Morning Musume subgroup Petitmoni (also known as Pucchimoni) in 2001. Their first single, "Chokotto Love", has sold over a million copies since its release date.

After Sayaka graduated from Morning Musume and Petitmoni, fourth generation Hitomi Yoshizawa was placed into the subgroup. Kei had taken on the role of leader of Petitmoni and the group continued to produce three singles and an album.

After Morning Musume's then-leader Yuko Nakazawa graduated in 2001, Kei (who was the oldest member of the group at the time) became a co-leader along with Kaori Iida.

Kei graduated in mid-2003 at the same time when Morning Musume's 6th generation became full-fledged members. Tsunku commented that this one-time 16-member formation will be the largest Morning Musume will ever be. During her graduation concert, Kei sang a remixed rock version of "Never Forget," which was also Asuka's graduation song. Additionally, as a special gift, Tsunku gave Kei a CD of her own soloist version of "AS FOR ONE DAY", her last single with Morning Musume.

Following Kei's graduation, Iida Kaori was given the title of leader of Morning Musume and Mari Yaguchi was given the title of sub-leader. Petitmoni's leadership was handed over to Hitomi Yoshizawa, and two members were added (fifth generation Morning Musume member Makoto Ogawa and Coconuts Musume's Ayaka Kimura) and Maki Goto was removed. This new line up of Petitmoni never had another release, but a few of their songs were featured on compliation albums.

Kei is still in Hello! Project after graduation and has acted in dramas outside of H!P. Within H!P, she has collaborated with Yuko Nakazawa and other H!P artists on 2 Folk Songs albums, performed and MCed in Natsumi Abe's first solo concert, sang backup for Maki Goto's single "Daite Yo! Please Go On," and had hosted Morning Musume's weekly TV show "Hello! Morning" until Rika Ishikawa took that position. Kei had participated in the H.P. All-Stars single "ALL FOR ONE & ONE FOR ALL" and the Puripuri Pink shuffle unit. Puripuri Pink was a new type of shuffle unit, since it was the first unit to feature graduated Morning Musume members, who were usually not included in the shuffles.

During a promotional appearance on Utaban in 2004, Kei even revealed that she has been learning how to play the flute.

[edit] Hello! Project Groups

• Morning Musume (1997 – 2003)
• Subgroups
  • Petitmoni (1999 – 2003)
• Shuffle Groups
  • Kiiro 5 (2000)
  • 10-nin Matsuri (2001)
  • Odoru 11 (2002)
  • H.P. All Stars (2004)
  • Puripuri Pink (2005)

Hello! Project: Morning Musume
Members: Hitomi Yoshizawa (L) | Ai Takahashi | Risa Niigaki | Miki Fujimoto (S) | Eri Kamei | Sayumi Michishige | Reina Tanaka | Koharu Kusumi
Graduated: Yuko Nakazawa | Aya Ishiguro | Asuka Fukuda | Kei Yasuda | Sayaka Ichii | Natsumi Abe | Maki Goto | Nozomi Tsuji | Ai Kago | Kaori Iida | Mari Yaguchi | Rika Ishikawa | Asami Konno | Makoto Ogawa
Discography
Singles: Demo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30| 31
Studio Albums: First Time | Second Morning | 3rd-LOVE Paradise- | 4th Ikimashoi! | No.5 (Number Five) | Ai no Dai 6 Kan | Rainbow 7
Other Albums: Best! Morning Musume 1 | Best! Morning Musume 2 | Early Single Box | 7.5 Fuyu Fuyu Morning Musume Mini
TV shows: Hello! Morning | Futarigoto | Magical Biyuuden | Musume Document 2005 | Musume DOKYU!