Momo Hirai

About

Momo Hirai (Japanese: 平井 もも, Hepburn: Hirai Momo; 平井 桃; born November 9, 1996), known mononymously as Momo (Korean: 모모; Japanese: モモ), is a Japanese singer, dancer, and rapper based in South Korea. She is a member of South Korean girl group Twice under JYP Entertainment and its subunit MiSaMo.

Momo Hirai was born in Kyōtanabe, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. She began dancing at the age of three, together with her elder sister, Hana.
Momo gained exposure to the South Korean music industry early, appearing in a music video for Lexy in 2008 and on the talent show Superstar K in 2011. Momo and her sister were originally spotted by JYP Entertainment in an online video in 2012. They were both asked to audition, although only Momo was successful, prompting her to move to South Korea in April 2012. Before joining Twice, she danced in a number of music videos as a “K-Pop trainee”. Momo was originally planned to debut in a four-member girl group in Japan in 2012; however, JYP suspended the plan due to the deterioration of the Korean-Japanese relationship following the Liancourt Rocks dispute. In 2015, Momo participated in the South Korean…