Bokunojpop.com

Yet another scandal hit Morning Musume last week as the tabloid trash magazine Friday reported that she had a secret relationship with comedian Tomoharu Shoji. The future of her career from that point was up in arms because of Up-Front's strict dating policies, and it has been revealed that she has decided to resign from the group.

She officially gave her resignation letter in yesterday to the offices of Up-Front to quit the group. She says she acknowledges that she did break the 'no-boyfriend-rule' and as the leader of Morning Musume, felt that she had to step down. She also apologized to her agency and the fans who supported her while she was in the group for the troubles she has caused, and asked that they continue to support her in her career. This latest scandal is almost identical to when Yaguchi Mari was forced to quit when she was leader of the group.

From her, she plans to continue working within Hello! Project. It is still planned that she will continue with Matsuura Aya in GAM and there are reports of her continuing with her solo career which was paused when she joined Morning Musume back in 2003.

Sub-leader Takahashi Ai is planned to take over the group as the new leader, with Niigaki Risa becoming sub-leader. With Miki leaving, it marks the 5th leader to step down from Morning Musume. Fujimoto Miki was one of the most popular members in Morning Musume, who sang a lot of the lead lines. With her leaving, many fans are left wondering if this is the end of Morning Musume.