Mari Yaguchi joined Morning Musume during the second generation auditions and quickly became one of the group's most active members, though she started out flying under the radar as "the short one." She's best known for the iconic line "Sexy Beam!" from the single "Koi no Dance Site," which became a running joke among fans and musicians alike. When she left the group in April 2005, she claimed it was to pursue her career as an adult, but tabloid magazine FRIDAY had exposed her relationship with actor Shun Oguri—they reportedly broke up the following year. At the time of her departure, she was the last member to have joined before 2000 and held the fifth longest tenure in the group's history.
After Morning Musume, Yaguchi shifted gears entirely, trading the recording studio for television. She became a fixture on Japanese variety shows and drama series, appearing in Sento no Musume and Gyarusa (where she played a main role), while hosting her own show Yaguchi Hitori and MCing Hello! Project concerts. By 2007, she was juggling multiple TV gigs simultaneously, including hosting duties on Midtown TV and appearances on Ciao TV. That same year, she performed in the Broadway musical Damn Yankees at Tokyo Aoyama Theater from late May into early June.
She remained active with Hello! Project's Elder Club until graduating on March 31, 2009, with a farewell concert at Yokohama Arena that February. Four years after her last Morning Musume release, she made a comeback with her debut single "Seishun Boku/Seishun Ore," which rode the wave of popularity from Quiz! Hexagon II, a variety program that had launched several successful music releases. She debuted the song on the show in February 2009.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
