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The story
Morning Musume ’26’s Okamura Minami is holding a birthday event, and its venue is shrinking dramatically — from Shintoshi Hall (994 seats) in 2025 down to I’M A SHOW (398 seats) in 2026 — sparking discussion on 5ch’s Hello! Project board. Posters in the thread were split on whether this reflects a genuine drop in popularity or simply fans scattering due to new members joining, with some pointing to other members’ venue histories, like Sasaki Rikako’s, for comparison.
What people said
Shintoshi Hall [994 seats]
2026
but still, this is way too much of a downgrade.
She's just… totally inoffensive.
That's actually the worst thing you can be as an idol.
Sometimes it's under 600.
But that's as far as it goes.
Any hint of a boyfriend?
but it feels like her fans have been drifting toward Nagano Momoha.
Tons of fans are flowing from Angerme into Beyooooonds — no way it's reversing just for her, lol
The ones flowing from Angerme to Beyooooonds are Rikamiko's (a fan nickname pairing two members) fanbase
Miimi and Nagano both draw a different crowd than that.
2025: Setagaya Egret Hall (933 seats)
↓
2026: Hiratsuka Hall (368 seats)
Both the local-idol-turned-idol-cyborg type.
Not sure if fans are really moving over, but if you're gonna get hooked on someone's fan interactions, it'd be Nagano.
That's because even you don't oshi (actively support) her.
She's cute like little baby-talk sounds, haha
Because in Hello! Project, 'Okamura' means Homare first, no contest.
Then they should've just let the group disband instead of ignoring the age limit to cram in new members and keep it on life support.
Background and Discussion Points
The “birthday festival” is a Hello! Project tradition — a solo event for each member — and turnout capacity tends to be read directly as a barometer of popularity. That said, venue size can also shift based on day-of availability, event timing, and the organizers’ budget, so judging rising or falling popularity from seat counts alone may be premature. The thread also raised Sasaki Rikako’s case, whose venue shrank from 933 seats to 368, suggesting a broader trend of scaled-back venues across Hello! Project events generally rather than something specific to Okamura. Others pointed to fan dispersion from new member additions as a possible factor, though it’s worth noting these remain unconfirmed guesses with no official statement behind them.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Okamura Minami’s Birthday Event Venue Drastically Shrinks: Shintoshi Hall [994 seats] → I’M A SHOW [398 seats].”
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