The Issue of Leadership

There have been a few things recently that has made me ponder the leaders, both past, present, and potential ones.  Before I talk about the upcoming leaders I want to recognize the ones that I believe were/ are outstanding.  In general there is a certain role I believe a well-suited leader should play and what characteristics they need.  I believe a proper leader isn't the most popular member; they can be one of the popular members but they shouldn't be both the main ace and leader.  For example: Team A (Acchan and Takamina), Berryz Koubou (Risako and Saki), Team K (Yuko and Sayaka), Arashi (Jun and Ohno), and SDN48 (Meetan and Nonti).  From my observations I also think a leader should have a present personality.  Why present?  I don't know if strong is the right word, but in a way yes.  Like Ohno has a present personality, but he is quiet (part of his funny personality).

Morning Musume Ex-Leader: Hitomi Yoshizawa (Yossie)
I don't know how to describe her leadership (especially since I wasn't present), but the whole group chemistry felt right when she was the leader.  She was the only leader of Morning Musume that I thought of that I believe is/was exceptional.  While I did think Johnson and Takahashi were/are good leaders I don't think they were best suited for the position.  However, strong-willed leaders like Nakazawa, Yaguchi, and Fujimoto fit the role perfectly they each had their faults.  Yossie had the strong-will and personality to be a strong member to rally around, but she also had the reliability that is needed.  Nakazawa was kind of at war with the rest of the group, so her leadership was weak in the beginning.  Both Mari and Mikitty abandoned Morning Musume because of their personal lives outside of the group.  It didn't make them bad people because they were owning up to what they've done, but it wasn't helpful for the unit.

AKB48
Team A's Captain: Minami Takahashi (Takamina)
I've always believed that she was the best person to be Team A's captain (although I think Mariko could if she wanted to).  It wasn't till I watched the documentary aired by NHK (1/8/2011) that I truly saw her for what a wonderful leader she is.  Like Yossie she has the talent, the dependability, and strength for a superb leadership.  Just seeing how hard she worked and her speaking to other members I saw why Akimoto sees her as such an ace.

Team K's Captain (Resigned): Sayaka Akimoto (Sexy)
Like Takamina, Sexy's strength and leadership was reaffirmed while viewing the program.  Even when she isn't the captain, it still feels like she is.  What I will miss most when she graduates is the position she'll leave open.  When I think of her talent and such I am sure that she will continue to be amazing after she graduates (no announcement so don't freak out).  The only person I see leading Team K is Sayaka.  She holds herself to a higher standard, which is why she stepped down and also why she was such a amazing captain.

Honorable Mentions
Noro Kayo (SDN48)
Shimizu Saki (Berryz Koubou)
Urano Kazumi (Ex-Captain of AKB's Team B)
Ohno Satoshi (Arashi)

Morning Musume's Future
Niigaki Risa (Leader)
While I think Niigaki could make a better leader than Takahashi (because she would probably follow my rule of not being the most popular member), I am concerned about her leadership skills.  She may be more assertive than Takahashi, but she may not be the most dependable or up for it.  This comes from her weight issues.  When I go through recent pictures I often see a back and forth between her weight from a healthy slim to overly slender.  It hasn't gotten to the point where whenever I see her I think she is boney (like Reni, the resigned leader of Momoiro Clover), but it doesn't show the most dependable nature.  This is especially concerning because she will be an influence on the new, young members.  (Not to mention that she doesn't look that great overall which is mostly due to weight loss.)

Michishige Sayumi (Sub-Leader?)

The reason why I add a question mark is because I've heard that Niigaki will take Takahashi's place, but no mention of the sub-leader position.  Plus, I don't think Tsunku cares for Sayu that much because he always berates her for her weak vocals (even though she has improved).  However, since Sayu is the eldest of the 6th generation I am going to assume she will take the spot.

The good news is while I am concerned with Niigaki's strength I am not when it comes to Sayu.  Sayu has been polled as one of the most hated people by women in Japan.  She, on multiple occasions, has been spammed with spiteful comments on her blog concerning her acne and for liking other idols units.  She also has to deal with producers and other celebrities giving her a hard time because of either her voice or her TV personality.  I hope that because of all this she has grown a thick skin (it would be horrible if she hasn't).  She also has had a good, but hard, experience with teaching juniors.  She was assigned to teach Kusumi Koharu, who is strong-spirited.  She is also very sweet and kind.  She is entertaining (Mikitty and Sayu seem to run into each other a lot on variety shows) and she tries to (or does) exude confidence.  She may not be the most talented member, but she has to work hard to make up for it.  This probably would be comforting (or able to give good advice) for the junior members who struggle.  (Kusumi Koharu said the fact that they both struggled because they aren't physically strong made her feel better.)  Therefore, she has a lot of strong characteristic to be a good leader especially during a period with new members.  To tell you the truth, I originally thought Reina would be a better leader than Sayu.  But after writing this all out I strongly believe that Sayu will make an excellent leader (because what doesn't kill you makes you stronger).