It has been announced that Hello!Project group Country Girls will be calling it quits, at least for now. The decision to suspend all activities was a mutual agreement between management and the members.

Discussions about the future of the group have been going on all throughout the year, with each member of the group deciding on a different thing to focus on. Member Risa Yamaki will be retiring from show business, and focus on getting a job outside of the industry.

Musubu Funaki will graduate from both ANGERME and Hello!Project in March 2020 to focus on dancing. Mai Ozeki would like to apply for University, but won’t retire from the entertainment world. Lastly, Chisaki Morito will remain a member of Morning Musume.

This lineup will hold their final concert on December 26th, 2019 at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA. A compliation album “Country Girls Daizenshuu” will also come out on December 4th, 2019.

In 2014 Tsunku revealed that he would like to revive Country Musume. The leader of the group Mai Satoda announced a brand new set of auditions for the group. After auditions were complete, the name of the group was formally changed to Country Girls, and they were joined by Berryz Kobo’s Momoko Tsugunaga.

After Momoko Tsugunaga graduated in June 2017, the group switched over to a new “part-time” system. Many members joined other Hello!Project groups, while the others focused on their studies.

The girls would occasionally release a digital single, while mainly performing when there was a school break, or during holidays.