Up-Front Group Co., Ltd. (株式会社アップフロントグループ) is a Japanese holding company for various entertainment companies.[1] Its subsidiaries include the talent agency Up-Front Promotion and Up-Front Works, a music production and sales company that manages such record labels as Zetima, Piccolo Town, and Hachama.
Artists
Up-Front Promotion
All groups under Up-Front Promotion are collectively known as Hello! Project.[2][3]
Groups
Soloists/Entertainers
Trainees
- Morning Musume
- Angerme
- Juice=Juice
- Camellia Factory
- Beyooooonds
- Chica#Tetsu
- Rain Forest River Ocean
- SeasoningS
- Ocha Norma
- Rosy Chronicle
- Dukuma Girls (coming soon)
- Sayumi Michishige
- Chinami Tokunaga
- Risako Sugaya
- Hello Pro Kenshūsei
Up-Front Works
Groups
Soloists/Entertainers
- Bitter & Sweet
- Brothers 5
- Dream Morning Musume
- Sharam Q
- Up Up Girls Kakko Kari
- Ai Takahashi
- Airi Suzuki
- Akira Inaba
- Akira Kagawa
- Chisato Moritaka
- Chisato Okai
- Eric Fukusaki
- Erina Mano
- Gen Takayama
- Hirofumi Bannba
- Jirou Sugita
- Junko Yanagisawa
- Kan
- Mai Satoda
- Maimi Yajima
- Mari Yaguchi
- Miki Fujimoto
- Miyabi Natsuyaki
- Natsumi Abe
- Nozomi Tsuji
- Reina Tanaka
- Saki Nakajima
- Shoko Aida
- Takao Horiuchi
- Tsunku
- You Kikkawa
- Yuko Nakazawa
Subsidiaries
Zetima
was originally founded in May 1993 as, a joint venture between the Up-Front Group and Warner Music Japan. In April 1998, Up-Front merged One Up with Y.J. Sounds to form Zetima. At the same time, Up-Front ended its distribution deal with Warner Music Japan and switched to Sony Music Entertainment Japan.
- Artists
- Shoko Aida
- Beyooooonds
- Camellia Factory
- Hello! Project shuffle units
- Akira Inaba
- Jōjō Gundan
- Kan
- Aya Matsuura
- Chisato Moritaka
- Morning Musume
- Takui Nakajima
- Yuko Nakazawa
- Ocha Norma
- Pink Cres.
- Rosy Chronicle
- Airi Suzuki
- Dukuma Girls (coming soon)
- Former artists
- Buono!
- Cute
- Country Girls
- Magnolia Factory
- Dream Morning Musume
- Lovendor
- Ongaku Gatas
- Sharam Q
Hachama
has a distribution deal with Pony Canyon.
- Artists
- Angerme
- Juice=Juice
- Akari Uemura
- Former artists
- Alma Kaminiito
- Eric Fukusaki
- Gatas Brilhantes H.P.
- Yuubi Matsui
- Peaberry
Piccolo Town
had a distribution deal with King Records from April 2001 to August 2013, when it switched to Pony Canyon in September 2013.
- Artists
- Bitter & Sweet
- Former artists
- Aa!
- Berryz Kobo
- Ciao Bella Cinquetti
- Gomattō
- Maki Goto
- Sayaka Ichii
- Yui Okada
- v-u-den
- ZYX
Rice Music
was originally founded in March 1995 as. After being absorbed into Zetima in 1998, the label was resurrected in September 2004 to focus on Kayōkyoku and enka. Like Piccolo Town, Rice Music had a distribution deal with King Records from September 2004 to August 2013, when it switched to Pony Canyon in September 2013.
- Artists
- Hirofumi Banba
- Takao Horiuchi
- Akira Kagawa
- Jirō Sugita
- Gen Takayama
- Masayuki Yuhara
- Former artists
- Akira Fuse
- Sanae Jōnouchi
- Yuki Maeda
- Nori Yamaguchi
Up-Front Works
is Up-Front Group's in-house label that specializes in limited edition releases that are sold either online or exclusively at music chains such as Tower Records. The label previously had distribution deals with Pony Canyon, Daiki Sound, and Universal Music Japan before 2019.
- Artists
- Natsumi Abe
- Akira Inaba
- You Kikkawa
- Hello! Project
- Kamiishinaka Kana
- Sayumi Michishige
- Karin Miyamoto
- Chisato Moritaka
- Saki Nakajima
- Asahi Tasaki
- Temiyamn
- Maimi Yajima
Up-Front Indies
is Up-Front Group's indie in-house label founded in May 2019.
- Artists
- Hello Pro Kenshusei
Chichūkai Label
was founded in 2003, with music inspired by those of the countries by the Mediterranean Sea, most prominently France, Italy and Greece, or even cover versions of songs from those countries. The label was handled by Epic Records Japan until December 2009, when Up-Front consolidated it with Zetima.
- Former artists
- Shoko Aida
- Kaori Iida
- Akira Inaba
- Noriko Katō
- Yasuko Naito
- Ruca
- Hidemi Sasaki
Former artists
Affiliated with Up-Front Promotion
Sub-units
Project groups Shuffle units
- Michiyo Heike (1997-2001)
- Morning Musume
- Asuka Fukuda (1997-1999)
- Aya Ishiguro (1997-2000)
- Sayaka Ichii (1998-2000)
- Yuko Nakazawa (1997-2009)
- Maki Goto (1999-2007)[4]
- Kei Yasuda (1998-2003)
- Natsumi Abe (1997-2004)
- Nozomi Tsuji (2000-2004)
- Ai Kago (2000-2004)
- Kaori Iida (1997-2005)
- Mari Yaguchi (1998-2005)
- Rika Ishikawa (2000-2005)
- Asami Konno (2001-2006)
- Makoto Ogawa (2001-2006)
- Hitomi Yoshizawa (2000-2007)
- Miki Fujimoto (2003-2007)
- Koharu Kusumi (2005-2009)
- Eri Kamei (2003-2010)
- Jun Jun (2007-2010)
- Lin Lin (2007-2010)
- Ai Takahashi (2001-2011)
- Risa Niigaki (2001-2012)
- Reina Tanaka (2003-2013)
- Sayumi Michishige (2003-2014)
- Kanon Suzuki (2011-2016)
- Haruka Kudo (2011-2017)
- Aika Mitsui (2007-2018)
- Riho Sayashi (2011-2018)[5]
- Haruna Ogata (2014-2018)
- Haruna Iikubo (2011-2018)
- Masaki Sato (2011-2021)
- Chisaki Morito (2017-2022)
- Kaede Kaga (2016-2022)
- Mizuki Fukumura (2011-2023)
- Ayumi Ishida (2011-2024)
- Erina Ikuta (2011-2025)
- Chinatsu Miyoshi (1999-2000)
- T&C Bomber (1999-2000)
- Atsuko Inaba (1999-2009)
- Melon Kinenbi (1999-2010)
- Aya Matsuura (2000-2017)
- Sheki-Dol (2000-2002)
- W (2004-2006)
- Ai Kago (2000-2007)[6]
- Coconuts Musume (1998-2008)
- Chelsea Ching (1998-2000)
- April Barbaran (1998-2000)
- Danielle DeLaunay (1998-2001)
- Lehua Sandbo (2000-2002)
- Mika Todd (1998-2004)
- Ayaka Kimura (1998-2008)
- Country Musume (1999-2000)
- Hiromi Yanagihara (1999)
- Azusa Kobayashi (1999-2002)
- Rinne Toda (1999-2002)
- Asami Kimura (2000-2007)
- Miuna Saito (2003-2007)
- Rika Ishii (2001-2002)
- SINA (2008-2011)
- Manami Iwashima (2005-2011)
- Asami Abe (2005-2011)
- Ai Suma (2005-2011)
- Nana Nakayama (2005-2009)
- Shim Min (2003-2006)
- V-u-den (2004-2008)
- Yui Okada (2004-2010)
- Hello! Project Kids (2002-2005)
- Berryz Kobo (2004-2014)[7]
- Maiha Ishimura (2002-2005)[8]
- Momoko Tsugunaga (2002-2017)[9][10]
- Cute (2005-2017)[11][12]
- Megumi Murakami (2002-2006)[13]
- Kanna Arihara (2004-2009)[14]
- Erika Umeda (2002-2009)[15]
- Mai Hagiwara (2002-2017)[16]
- Miki Korenaga (2004-2010)
- Angerme
- Saki Ogawa (2009-2011)
- Yuuka Maeda (2009-2011)
- Fuyuka Kosuga (2011)
- Kanon Fukuda (2009-2019)
- Meimi Tamura (2011–2016)
- Maho Aikawa (2014–2017)
- Ayaka Wada (2009–2019)
- Rina Katsuta (2011–2019)
- Kana Nakanishi (2011–2019)
- Mizuki Murota (2014-2020)
- Musubu Funaki (2017-2020)
- Momona Kasahara (2016-2021)
- Haruka Oota (2018-2022)
- Akari Takeuchi (2011-2023)
- Rikako Sasaki (2014-2024)
- Ayano Kawamura (2017-2024)
- Moe Kamikokuryo (2015-2025)
- Juice=Juice
- Aina Otsuka (2013)
- Nanami Yanagawa (2017-2019)
- Yuka Miyazaki (2013-2019)
- Karin Miyamoto (2013-2020)
- Sayuki Takagi (2013-2021)
- Tomoko Kanazawa (2013-2021)
- Manaka Inaba (2018-2022)
- Akari Uemura (2013-2024)
- Country Girls (2014-2019)
- Uta Shimamura (2014-2015)
- Manaka Inaba (2014-2016)
- Nanami Yanagawa (2015-2019)
- Risa Yamaki (2014-2019)
- Mai Ozeki (2014-2019)
- Musubu Funaki (2015-2019)
- Chisaki Morito (2014-2019)
- Magnolia Factory (2015-2020)
- Rio Fujii (2015-2017)
- Rena Ogawa (2015-2017)
- Natsumi Taguchi (2015-2017)
- Ayaka Hirose (2015-2020)
- Minami Nomura (2015-2020)
- Ayano Hamaura (2015-2020)
- Sakurako Wada (2015-2020)
- Camellia Factory
- Risa Ogata (2015-2020)
- Kiki Asakura (2015-2023)
- Riko Yamagishi (2015-2023)
- Yumeno Kishimoto (2015-2023)
- Kisora Niinuma (2015-2024)
- Shiori Yagi (2021-2025)
- Beyooooonds
- Reina Ichioka (2018-2024)
- Yuhane Yamazaki (2018-2024)
- Rika Shimakura (2018-2025)
- Ocha Norma
- Sumire Tashiro (2021-2025)
- Kanami Ishiguri (2021-2025)
- Petitmoni (1999-2013)
- Tanpopo (1999-2011)
- Minimoni (2000-2004)
- Morning Musume Sakuragumi (2003-2004)
- Morning Musume Otomegumi (2003-2004)
- Morning Musume Tanjō 10nen Kinentai (2007)
- Buono! (2007-2017)[17][18]
- Gomattou (2002)
- Romans (2003)
- Tomoiki Ki wo Uetai (2005-2013)
- Rie Kaneko (2009-2013)
- Asuna Okai (2009-2010)
- Mia Sainen (2009-2010)
- Kaori Sano (2009-2010)
- Ongaku Gatas (2007-2010)
- Arisa Noto (2004-2009)[19]
- Yuri Sawada (2004-2009)[20]
- Nochiura Natsumi (2004-2005)
- Ecomoni (2004-2007)
- Aa! (2003-2009)
- ZYX (2003-2009)
- Def.Diva (2005-2007)
- GAM (2006-2009)
- Athena & Robikerottsu (2007-2008)
- Kira Pika (2007)
- MilkyWay (2008-2009)
- Sayaka Kitahara (2004-2011)
- High-King (2008-2015)
- Shugo Chara Egg! (2008-2010)
- Irori Maeda (2008-2010)
- Guardians 4 (2009-2010)[21]
- Lilpri (2010-2011)
- Kiiro 5 (2000)
- Aoiro 7 (2000)
- Akagumi 4 (2000)
- 3-nin Matsuri (2001)
- 7-nin Matsuri (2001)
- 10-nin Matsuri (2001)
- Happy 7 (2002)
- Sexy 8 (2002)
- Odoru 11 (2002)
- Salt5 (2003)
- 7Air (2003)
- 11Water (2003)
- H.P. All Stars (2004)
- Elegies (2005)
- Sexy Otonajan (2005)
- Puripuri Pink (2005)
- Hello! Project Mobekimasu (2011-2013)
Affiliated with Up-Front Works
- Hitomi Yoshizawa (2000-2009)
- Rika Ishikawa (2000-2009)
- Asami Konno (2001-2011)
- Makoto Ogawa (2001-2009)
- Saki Shimizu (2002-2017)
- Maasa Sudou (2002-2015)
- Yurina Kumai (2002-2015)
- Koharu Kusumi (2005-2016)[22]
Affiliated with TNX
Collectively known as Nice Girl Project!. Best known for assisting in Nintendo's Rhythm Heaven series after being discovered by Tsunku.
- Nice Girl Myu
- GTT Club
- MM Gakuen Gasshoubu
- Gyaruru
- Ami Tokito
- Nice Girl Project! Kenshusei
- Canary Club
- Tokky
External links
References
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- 所属タレント Up-Front Promotion, retrieved 2018-06-24^
- 元カントリー・ガールズ稲場愛香、Juice＝Juiceに加入 8人体制で再始動 Model Press, 2018-06-13, retrieved 2018-06-24^
- 後藤真希、芸能界引退を考えた過去 引き止めたのは？ Model Press, 2018-10-27, retrieved 2018-11-03^
- 鞘師里保に関するお知らせ Up-Front Works, 2018-12-07, retrieved 2018-12-17^
- Yuukichi Kawaguchi. 加護亜依 一部報道記事について Up-Front Agency, 2007-03-26^
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