Featured Idol Friday: Kobushi Factory

1/8/2016

Happy Aloha Friday folks! If anyone has ever been to Hawai’i, then you are sure to know that Fridays are known as Aloha Friday (the best day of the week)! Not only is today Aloha Friday, but it also happens to be Feature Idol Friday again as well! With this installment of our Feature Idol Friday we will be talking about Kobushi Factory (こぶしファクトリー).

[Editor's Note: For a bit of information on the reference "Aloha Friday" check here!]

On January 2nd of 2015, in the midst of the annual Hello! Project WINTER concert, the announcement of a new group was made. This group would be made up of 8 members, Rio Fujii, Ayaka Hirose, Minami Nomura, Reina Ogawa, Ayano Hamaura, Natsumi Taguchi, Sakurako Wada, and Rei Inoue. The name for this group would remain unknown until February 25th, when they were given the name of Kobushi Factory.

When it comes to meaning, the word Kobushi can have a few. In the case of this group, Kobushi is said to contain the meaning of both the coming of spring and the refinement of the kobushi magnolia (辛夷) as well as the strength of a fist (拳). As far as the factory goes, it is a tribute to the ever so fantastic group Berryz Koubou (工房) where the “Koubou” means “Workshop.”

Kobushi released their first Indie DVD single on March 26th of 2015 titled “Nen ni wa Nen / Survivor” (念には念 “Be Double Sure” / サバイバー). Survivor is the theme song of the musical Week End Survivor which starred the 8 members of Kobushi Factory as well as Sudo Maasa (Berryz工房). I really enjoyed the stern, serious feel of Survivor as it seemed to make the song very powerful. I would recommend using this song as a warmup song for working out!

Survivor Rec/Off-shoot Video

Nen ni wa Nen is definitely one of those songs that you can just blast at full volume and dance and sing along as loud as you can while having a crazy amount of fun!

Nen ni wa Nen PV

On June 14th, it was announced that Kobushi Factory were going to have their major debut on September 2nd with a single titled "Dosukoi! Kenkyo ni Daitan / Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san no Uta / Nen ni wa Nen (Nen'iri Ver.)." (ドスコイ！ケンキョにダイタン / ラーメン大好き小泉さんの唄 / 念には念（念入りVer.）) Since Kobushi Factory haven’t even been around for an entire year yet, this was a very big announcement, because only a few groups have made their major debuts in such short amount of time. Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san no Uta (A cover of "Ramen Daisuki Koike-san no Uta" by Sharam Q) is another one of those songs that you dance yourself silly to. Its fun and simple dance will undoubtedly keep you scooping noodles, draining the water, and eating ramen for days to come!

Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san no Uta PV

If you thought the Ramen song was fun, just wait until you hear Dosukoi! Kenkyo ni Daitan. Not only is this song one of my favorite hype songs of all of 2015, it was also a huge factor in the winning of an award later in the year.

Dosukoi! Kenkyo ni Daitan PV

On November 20th during the 57th Japan Record Awards, Kobushi Factory were presented with the Newcomer Award as well as being nominated for the Best Newcomer Award. As you might have guessed, Kobushi were also the winners of the Best Newcomer Award which is a fantastic feat to accomplish!

Kobushi Factory - Best Newcomer Award + Dosukoi! Performance

kobushi Factory[Best Newcomer Award] by seattle8021

More good news for Kobushi fans is that there has just been an announcement made that they will be having their 2nd single released on February 17th and it will be titled Sakura Night Fever / Chotto Guchoku ni! Chototsu Moushin / Osu! Kobushi Tamashii (桜ナイトフィーバー／チョット愚直に！猪突猛進／押忍！こぶし魂)! So far the released from Kobushi Factory has been awesome and I cannot wait to see how great this upcoming single will be!

-Eric (BerryzGenius)

For More Information:
Second Single Information
Official Hello! Project Profile
Kobushi Factory (Magnolia Factory) Introduction In English by Mitsui Aika