ZONE

ZONE's origins lie in Sapporo where the group of girls were brought together by "Studio RunTime", a school that specialised in performing arts. Initially ZONE was compiled of eight members when they began in 1997, but gradually members left the group taking them from eight to six and then to four.

It was in 1999 that ZONE's final line-up was established and with the release of their first maxi-single believe in love, made the band’s official debut. Despite being an indies single, believe in love gained rapid popularity and achieved a high standing on the independent label chart. It was at their debut performance however, that the girls were noticed by Ominami Tadayuki, a Sony Music representative who noted that the audience's reaction to their performance, which consisted of mainly singing and dancing, was particularly enthusiastic.

It was however after Tadayuki bore witness to a live video recording of the girls playing instruments in the KomeKome Club that he felt that they had the true potential to be a breakthrough act providing they could play their own instruments as well as dance and sing.

After signing a contract with Sony Music, it was with the release of their fourth single secret base ~kimi ga kureta mono~ in 2001 that they attracted the media's attention. Reaching the #2 position on the charts, the single's success could in part be due to its airplay on a Japanese drama series.

In 2002, ZONE released their first album Z on Valentine's Day, which signalled their following albums being named accordingly to form the band name. ZONE also held their first summer tour throughout the month of July and many of their concerts sold out thanks to their talent as credible performers. The Playstation game WONDER ZONE, which the band had collaborated on, was released in October. ZONE's abilities were recognised throughout Japan as they won the Japan Gold Disk Award for New Artist of the Year 2002.

It was in the November of 2003 that ZONE released their first photo book much to the delight of their fans. Unfortunately, this release was followed by the news that the band's leader Takayo would leave the band in December in order to continue her studies. This news however, was not entirely negative as one of the previous band members, Nishimura Tomoka rejoined the group with Mizuho taking position as band leader.

The following year showed the band moving onto a more mature style with their third album N which was released in February. Along with the success of the album came the band's appearance in TV commercials and in September, a special DVD with the series ZONE TV was released. It was during this time however that the band appeared to be drifting apart slightly what with Miyu establishing her own solo career. It was on the 12th of December that Miyu debuted with the single Just 4 your Luv.

Unsurprisingly, it was in the February of 2005 that ZONE announced their upcoming disbandment at the end of their spring tour. On April 1st, ZONE performed their last concert at the Nippon Budokan and subsequently disbanded. The album E featured their A-side singles whilst the album that followed in 2006 featured songs chosen by the fans themselves via an online poll on the band's official site.

Sakae Maiko now fronts the rock band MARIA while Miyu's career seems to have taken a break for the moment.