Aya Ueto | Profile In Japan's "chew 'em up and spit 'em out" idol culture, Aya Ueto has had a run longer than most. The Tokyo native, born in 1985, has been a force on the radio and television, and in theaters for the last seven years, and is still going strong. The spotlight was on Ueto from an early age when the twelve year old participated in the 7th annual All-Japan National Bishoujo Contest, receiving the Judges' Special Choice award. This exposure led to a slew of television commercial deals, providing a springboard into television acting. She landed her first role at age 14 with a role in the 2000 drama Namida wo fuite. After another role in the following year's Yome wa mitsuboshi, her breakthrough came in the immensely popular television series 3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei, in which she played a girl suffering from a sexual identity disorder. Subseqent roles in the hit television series My Little Chef and the 2003 drama Koukou Kyoushi further raised her profile. Other notable appearances that year included the lead in Hito natsu no pape e, a story about a girl in search of her father, and the Japanese voice-over for Peter Pan 2: The Return to Never Never Land. Also in 2003, Ueto made her big screen debut in the Ryuhei Kitamura hit Azumi, repeating the success in 2005's Azumi 2: Death or Love. The movie did well overseas as well as in Japan, heightening her profile among J-culture fans outside of Japan. Her career as a musician started in 1999 when she formed, along with Mami Nejiki, Mai Fujiya, and Manami Nishiwaki, the band Z-1. While the group released five singles, they never quite got over the hump, and Ueto moved on to a solo career two years later, signing with Pony Canyon. her first single, "Pureness", hit #4 on the Oricon charts, making Ueto the first femal artist in over three years to debut a single in the top 5 (the previous owner of this distinction being the equally ubiquitous Kyoko Fukada). Since then she has consistently released albums and singles, most of which chart high. Ueto has collaborated with members of Ketsumeishi, The Alfee, Tetsuro Oda, and Toko Furuuchi among others. by Bill Haw
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