All About Haruka Kudo

Introducing the 10th Generation’s Haruka Kudo

Haruka Kudo is a Japanese pop music singer, stage actress and bikini model who was one of the members of the group formerly known as Morning Musume. She was one of the group’s youngest members at the time that she joined. Haruka Kudo was born on October 27, 1999 in the northern city of Saitama. She made her entertainment industry debut in concert on May 1, 2010 at an event called Hello Fest in Odaiba Gurume Park Festival. Note: all images are from hello-online unless otherwise noted.

Kudo took part in the audition for the group’s 9^th generation of members but she did not pass the audition. Kudo was in the group that now goes by the name of Morning Musume 22. So in spite of failing the 9^th generation auditions, how did Kudo eventually join the group?

Several months later in September 2011, Kudo appeared in De-View Magazine and she was interviewed along with the leaders from the groups Morning Musume, Berryz Kobo, C-ute, S/mileage, and Erina Mano. On September 29, 2011, Kudo would finally be selected to join Morning Musume’s 10^th generation along with Haruna Iikubo, Ayumi Ishida, and Masaki Sato. These girls would be announced as members during a special concert that paid tribute to former member Ai Takahashi. So Kudo did not join the group as a result of auditions but I think when she looks back at her career, she will find this more than sufficient.

As part of a Japanese idol’s career, they are sometimes selected to star in plays. In October 2011, Kudo would star in a stage play called Reborn Inochi no Audition with Risa Niigaki, Reina Tanaka, and the other 9^th generation girls of Morning Musume. At this point, Kudo was 12 years old having starred in a stage play and joined one of the most popular musical groups in the world. Kudo would get another chance to work with Tanaka before Tanaka would graduate from the group. On April 18, 2012, it was revealed that Kudo would star in a stage play that is also a musical called Stacy’s Shoujo Saisatsu Kageki. The play would last from June 6-12 of 2012.

Later in 2012, Kudo would suffer a setback that would cause her to take a break from all activities with Morning Musume. Kudo said that she had been having pain in her left knee for a while. In spite of the pain, Kudo would still participate in the dance shot version of the song Wakuteka Take a Chance. On October 30, 2013, Kudo would take part in a birthday event with her friend and member Mizuki Fukumura. The event was called Fukumura Mizuki & Kudo Haruka Birthday Event 2013. The pair of girls would hold one event in Tokyo. On April 6, 2014, Kudo sprained her ankle during a concert with Morning Musume. She took part in the concert but she did not dance. She would later be in a wheelchair for a while.

Trivia and other interesting facts about Haruka Kudo

• Kudo is known as the tomboy of the group and called herself “the little brother” character of Morning Musume.
• Kudo’s Morning Musume audition number was 242.
• She has a husky sounding voice.
• Kudo believes that she can’t lose at anything because of her husky voice and sports skills.
• Kudo broke Ai Kago’s 11 year record by becoming the youngest girl ever to join Morning Musume.
• Aika Mitsui is so influenced by Kudo that she said if she had the chance to become another member of Hello! Project, she would want to be Kudo.
• Haruka’s name means far off or distant.
• Haruka Kudo is the first 10^th generation member to release a solo photo book and a solo DVD.
• Haruka is scared of haunted houses.
• Haruka Kudo is the 2^nd member in Morning Musume history to be the youngest member after another generation joined. Asuka Fukuda was the first one to do so.
• When Kudo was younger, her parents gave her many Morning Musume CD’s except for Ai No Tane which is treasured by her father.
• Kudo says that her biggest wish in life is to meet Eiichiro Oda, the creator of her favorite manga called One-Piece.
• Haruka Kudo is the youngest girl to ever make an appearance on the cover of Big Comic Spirits Magazine.
• She does not know how to cook very well.
• She can juggle though.
• Kudo says that if she were not in Morning Musume, she would want to be a Disney show dancer and a Disney cast member.
• Haruka Kudo is the favorite member of Sakura Oda.
• Since also becoming a member of Hello! Project, Kudo has been in at least one stage play each year.

Kudo’s Photo Book Releases

In addition to her work with Morning Musume 16, Kudo has also now released three photo books. Her debut photo book is called Do and this one was released when she was just 12 years old. It only sold 586 copies though. On October 10, 2014, Kudo held a release event for her 2^nd photo book called Ashita Tenki ni Naare! The photo book was shot on the island of Okinawa and shows the full extent of Haruka Kudo as she says. Kudo also said that when she was there, she became hooked to Okinawan shallots and taco rice. Kudo revealed that she mistakenly thought that taco rice is rice with octopus. But taco rice is actually toco-flavored ground beef topped with rice it is an Okinawan specialty. Kudo even eats this in Tokyo now. Kudo released her 3^rd solo photo book on March 7, 2016 called Harukaze. Kudo revealed in November 2015 that she thinks she will be with the group ten years later. She also said that she may even become the group’s leader one day. If the future is any indication, if Kudo rises in popularity, this may just happen.

Update: that ten year hypothesis by Kudo is not going to come to fruition. On April 29, 2017, she announced during the Morning Musume concert with the theme of “The Inspiration” that she intends to graduate from Morning Musume 17. Her stated reason for the decision was so that she could focus on an acting career. She may also have a role model for herself as well. Kudo also said that one of her goals was to be able to reach the height of Suzu Hirose’s career and become an “asadora” or morning drama heroine. Note: Suzu Hirose is an actress and the fact that Kudo wants to be as successful as her really says something about her ambition. In February 2019, Kudo announced that she would be involved with creating a long T-shirt and zip parka because she was collaborating with the clothing brand called KANGOL REWARD. Also, as of this writing in 2021, Kudo now has five solo photo books. These last two are Kudo Haruka (2017) and Lively (2020). It was also on April 16, 2020 that she released another set of collaboration T-shirts with the clothing brand called KANGOL REWARD and these were made to order.