Hello! Project (ハロー!プロジェクト, Harō! Purojekuto) is a Japanese idol project, the umbrella name for a collective of female singers who are under contract with the Up-Front Group and whose recordings are produced by Tsunku.
In 1997, Japanese rock group Sharam Q, fronted by Tsunku, began auditions for a female vocalist. These auditions aired via the reality show Asayan, and resulted in Michiyo Heike being crowned winner. Tsunku, however, decided to give five of the runners-up, Yuko Nakazawa, Natsumi Abe, Kaori Iida, Asuka Fukuda and Aya Ishiguro, a chance to become a group in their own right. The girls were set the task of selling 50,000 copies of their demo single "Ai no Tane," in just five days. The girls sold the required number of copies in four days, and subsequently became an official group.