Onyanko Club

The biggest and the BEST! As far as membership size and quality went, nobody beat the Onyanko Club (means "Kitten Club"). The enourmous group produced such celebrities as Sayuri Kokusho, Marina Watanabe, Shizuka Kudo, Akiko Ikuina, Makiko Saito, Minayo Watanabe, Mamiko Takai, Satomi Fukunaga, Sonoko Kawai, Eri Nitta, Akie Yoshizawa and Yuuyu (Yukiko Iwai). Three sub-groups also emerged - Nyangilas, Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi and Ushirogami Hikaretai. The Onyanko Club had their own TV show called Yuyake Nyan Nyan (means "sunset meow meow"). Here they would showcase their latest songs and interview other idols. They would also audition new members right on the show and vote in the ones ones they liked. Male audience members could compete in a contest for the opportunity of having their picture taken with their favourite Nyan Nayn. The girls traveled to various locations (even San Francisco and Los Angeles!) for shoots and the later episodes got wackier having contests such as members competing (arm-wrestling!) to see who would get to sing their latest single on the show.

The club had 2 strict rules - no smoking and no boyfriends - which is why a few members were expelled or dropped out. In the end, Onyanko Club counted 52 members! The show was even featured on another TV series "Sukeban Deka II."

above: the Onyanko Club on vacation in San Francisco and Disneyland, California

They had such hits as "Oyoshinenatte ne Teacher", "Maaka na Jitensha", "Valentine Day Kiss" and the classic "Sela Fuku o Nugasanai de" (who doesn't know this song???). The rotating membership allowed them to replace any members that went solo and recruit new talent. Everybody had a favourite Nyan Nyan.

Onyanko Club's final concert was on September 9, 1987. 30 current and former members got together for a one night only show to say their last farewells to their fans. It was one of the darkest days in idol history. ONYANKO!!!

The Onyanko Club were guest stars twice on Sukeban Deka II.
Akie Yoshizawa is front row, second from left playing the character of Yukino Yajima.
Yoko "Nanno" Minamino is front row, center, as Saki Asamiya II,
and Haruko Sagara is to her right as Kyoko Nakamura.

Can you name all of these Nyan Nyans?

The line up for the Final Concert 9/9/87.

The infamous "Sela Fuku o Nugasanai de" single

ROLL CALL

01	Mika Okuda	02	Michiko Enokida	03	Kayoko Yoshino
04	Eri Nitta	05	Miharu Nakajima	06	Aki Kihara
07	Mamiko Tomoda	08	Sayuri Kokusho	09	Mika Nagoya
10	Mayumi Sato	11	Satomi Fukunaga	12	Sonoko Kawai
13	Kazuko Utsumi	14	Harumi Tomikawa	15	Rika Tatsumi
16	Mamiko Takai	17	Sanae Junoichi	18	Ruriko Nagata
19	Yukiko "Yuuyu" Iwai	20	Yoko Teramoto	21	Tamaki Gomioka
22	Mako Shiraishi	23	Kaori Hayashi	24	Fumiyo Mita
25	Akie Yoshizawa	26	Akasaka Yoshie	27	Aki Matsumoto
28	Mutsumi Yokota	29	Watanabe Minayo	30	Chiaki Mikami
31	Yuko Yajima	32	Susan Kumiko Yamamoto	33	Tomoko Fukawa
34	Mami Yumioka	35	Takako Okamoto	36	Marina Watanabe
37	Kaori Onuki	38	Shizuka Kudo	39	Maki Takabatake
40	Akiko Ikuina	41	Noriko Kaise	42	Makiko Saito
43	Toshie Moriya	44	Naoko Takada	45	Yumiko Yoshida
46	Sanae Nakajima	47	Yuriko Yamamori	48	Kayo Agatsuma
49	Mitsuko Yoshimi	50	Miyuki Sugiura	51	Kumiko Miyano
52	Wakako Suzuki	B4	Hiroko Tominaga	B5	Mayumi Yamazaki

Ok, I've been getting a lot of email about why I consider Morning Woodsume to be a cheap ripoff of Onyanko Club, so I'm going to spell it out once and for all to you dingdongs.

Onyanko Club (Original) Morning Woodsume (cheap rip off)

Formed 1985 Formed 1999

Invented multi-membership (over 6 members) Copied multi-membership

Members "graduated" Copied members "graduated"

Formed offshoot groups Copied concept of offshoot groups

Had token half-Japanese (Susan Kumiko Yamamoto) Has token half-Japanese (Mika Todd)

Has member's song - "Kaiin Bango no Uta" Copied concept of member's song - "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari"

But there is something the Morning Woodsume has that Onyanko didn't:

Onyanko Club (Original) Morning Woodsume (cheap rip off)

Did NOT have 12 year old Pedo-Bait Has 12 year old Pedo-Bait

And there you have it. I'm sure MM copied more concepts, but I hate them so much that I just don't want to look any further. Bottom line is - MM is a cheap copy of Onyanko Club. There is NOTHING original about MM. Nothing. It's been done before. Bigger and better. Now, shut the hell up!