Matsuura Aya

The super famous girl group Morning Musume created a partner project of younger singers who would accompany and work alongside them - this new group was named Hello! Project. It was for this group that Matsuura Aya successfully auditioned and won herself a place as the fourth member in 2000. However, Hello! Projectis more than just a simple pop group; it is more of a business style organization led by producer and song-writer Tsunku, who produces and "creates" all-female pop bands.

Soon after settling into the band, she recorded and released her debut single, Dokki Doki! LOVE Mail. The single was highly successful, selling over 70,000 copies. Three more singles, Tropical koishiteru, LOVE namida iro and 100 kai no KISS, followed soon after in quick succession before the release of her first album First Kiss on New Year's Day 2002. The release of First Kiss, which reached third place in the Oricon charts, cemented her position as one of the most popular and successful members of Hello!Project. A large part of Matsuura Aya's popularity stems from her agreeable personality and cute looks, earning her the reputation as "the ideal girl" by many young Japanese youths.

Along with her solo career, Matsuura Aya has worked with the various mini-group projects of Hello! Project, including GAM, DEF.DIVA and Nochiura Natsumi, as well as the famous yearly "Shuffle Groups" which are made up of various members of Morning Musume and Hello! Project; their objective is to "compete" and see who sells the most CD's.

The year 2003 brought the release of her second album T.W.O as well as a number of DVD releases. Her third solo album x3 and a best-of album followed in 2004 and 2005, respectively. In between her full albums, she released many singles, both solo and with the various groups she is involved with. In 2006, her solo song was released on a tribute album to the anime “Death Note” alongside names like BUCK-TICK and m-flo.

October 9, 2006 was the day she was to perform two concerts; however they were both canceled due to her not feeling well. The next day her management revealed she was suffering from temporomandibular joint disorder and had been taking pain medication for a while so she could keep working. After some rest, she slowly came back to the entertainment business, returning to her radio show and even performing on "Hey! Hey! Hey! Champ," not even a month after this significant cancellation.

In the latter half of 2007, she teamed up with Terumaza Hibino for a tribute album to Ryoichi Hattori called simply Ryoichi Hattori. After this, she took a small break, only to return in March as a surprise performer at the opening ceremony for the Fourth Special Olympics Japan Winter National Games. At this performance she sang Kizuna, her 20th single, which was released a few months after this performance.

It was announced on October 19, 2008 that Matsuura Aya would be graduating from Hello! Project, along with the rest of the Elder Club. Before she officially graduated, she was able to release a studio album, Omoi afurete, and her 21st single, Chocolate damashii was released on February 11, just in time for Valentine’s Day. On March 31, 2009, Matsuura Aya officially graduated from Hello! Project with the rest of the Elder Club.

Alongside her music career, Matsuura Aya has worked extensively in many other mediums, including television. She has appeared in many commercials, most famously for Glico snackfoods who produces the famous "Pocky" and "Pretz" brands. Her other television work includes presenting the "Utawara Hot Hit" music show. Additionally, she has appeared in many other small one off television spots and a few radio shows. Matsuura Aya has also acted in a number of drama series and a comedy musical for which she also performed the score. In 2006, she landed the starring role for the Japanese movie “Sukeban Deka: Codename = Asamiya Saki,” which also starred Rika Ishikawa.

It has been recently announced that she will be starring in a brand new musical playing in Tokyo in September of 2009. Even though Matsuura Aya has graduated from the Hello! Project, she still continues to perform and work, so she will surely continue to rise and shine!