Activities Outside Japan
In addition to already having official fan clubs in Taiwan and South Korea, Hello! Project and Morning Musume began actively extending its fanbase outside of Japan and primarily into the rest of Asia starting from the middle of 2007 and into 2008.
In March 2007, Morning Musume inducted its first two non-Japanese members from China, Li Chun (Junjun) of Hunan and Qian Lin (Linlin) of Hangzhou. The duo left in 2010 after the group failed to break into China due to piracy levels, leading to the group focusing on European and American fans and performing at anime EXPOs.
In addition to the unveiling of Hello! Project's Taiwanese website in 2007, Hello! Project has also launched the Taiwan H.P. New Star Audition as well; an audition aimed at recruiting new members to join Hello! Project as Hello Pro Egg members. At this audition, Morning Musume also performed as well.
The TV show Morning Musume New Star aired on Taiwan's TTV network every Saturday and Sunday at 6:30 pm with re-runs Monday to Thursday at 10:15 pm. It ended in mid-August 2008 for re-runs.
Morning Musume also held their 10th Anniversary Live Tour in Korea in June 2008.
In France, Morning Musume music videos are aired on a television channel called Nolife, a channel that features video games and Japanese music.
On February 12, 2009, it was announced that Morning Musume would be performing in the United States at the 2009 Anime Expo, the nation's largest anime convention, as one of the first official guests of honor. Niigaki stated that "The movies that Disney makes are full of dreams, but when I have children, I'd like them to know about war, the pain of death and such things, so I hope they will watch anime."
It was also announced that "3, 2, 1 Breakin' Out!", the coupling track of their upcoming single "ShÅganai Yume Oibito", would be the official theme song for Anime Expo 2009. The convention was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California on July 2 to July 5. Their concert was on Friday July 3 with a packed audience of American fans, as well as many foreign fans who traveled for the chance to see them.
On Friday, July 1, 2010, Morning Musume made their first appearance at the Japan Expo 2010 in Paris, France as guest of honor. "Tomo", the coupling track to the group's 43rd single, "Seishun Collection", was the event's theme song.
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