Takahashi Ai, the current leader of Morning Musume, has announced her graduation from the Hello! Project group just a little while ago. The news was posted on the official Hello! Project site, and it says that she will graduate from Morning Musume and Hello! Project after the 2011 Fall Tour.
Takahashi said that when Kamei Eri, Lin Lin, and Jun Jun graduated, Tsunku told her that she should think about when she wants to graduate as well. She figured that since it’s been 10 years in Morning Musume (including being a leader for a while), and since she watched over the other members, it would be a nice time to graduate at the end of the tour.
It’s a bit of odd timing since Morning Musume just added four new members, which seemed to gain fan momentum, and they now are losing one of the most popular members in 8-9 months or so. Nevertheless, Takahashi urged fans not to worry and be at ease because they are nine strong for now
source: tokyohive
