Ishiguro Aya

Ishiguro Aya (石黒 彩, Legal Name: Yamada Aya (山田 亜弥)) is a singer, writer, TV personality and fashion designer in Japan, most famous for her participation in J-pop group Morning Musume. She was born in Hokkaido, Japan on May 12, 1978.

Biography
Ishiguro Aya was a runner-up in a 1997 contest to find a new female rock idol. After the contest was over—with the winner being Michiyo Heike—music producer, former rock musician, and contest judge Tsunku decided to focus his attention on five runners-up, which included Ishiguro, Abe Natsumi, Iida Kaori, Fukuda Asuka, and Nakazawa Yuko.

Tsunku promised to take the quintet under his wing if they sold 50,000 copies of their CD "Ai no Tane" (also known as Morning Musume's 0th single) within five days. They accomplished this task within four, and Tsunku upheld his end of the bargain.

During her years in Morning Musume, Ishiguro was given mostly harmony lines due to her low singing voice, which was used to support the voices of others. However, in late 1998 Tsunku decided to create Tanpopo, a subgroup of Morning Musume (by then consisting of eight members) that included Ishiguro, Iida Kaori and 2nd generation member Yaguchi Mari. Tanpopo's songs were slower and more mature than the majority of Morning Musume's, which allowed Ishiguro's voice to shine through.

After seven singles and three albums with Morning Musume (and four singles and one album with Tanpopo), Ishiguro left both groups and Hello! Project in January 2000, shortly after the release of the single "Love Machine" in September 1999.

In May 2000, Ishiguro married Shinya Yamada from J-Rock band Luna Sea and changed her name to Aya Yamada (山田 亜弥). She gave birth to their first daughter, Rimu (玲夢) in November of that year.

While being a mother and homemaker (the Yamadas had two more children in the years that followed), Ishiguro also dabbled in various careers —ranging from fashion designing, to writing (she has written a book about her transition from being an idol to a mother), and TV show host (where she interviewed celebrity wives). She also re-united with the new Tanpopo briefly to sing the Grand Symphonic version of the song "Tanpopo".

Ishiguro's most recent work is a book named "Kosodate Project", released in November 2004.

On February 23, 2012, it was announced that she will make a guest appearance at Dream Morning Musume's is last live at Nippon Bukudan with Tsuji Nozomi after 12 years.

On March 10th 2012, Dream Morning Musume held their ‘First chapter final’ live concert titled “Dream Morning Musume Special LIVE 2012 Nippon Budokan~Dai 1 Shou Shuumaku ‘Yuusha tachi, Shuugou seyo’~” at Nippon Budokan. Current Morning Musume members, and OG members, Ishiguro Aya and Tsuji Nozomi made their guest appearance. Moreover, Goto Maki who has been on indefinite hiatus since the end of last year, also made a surprise appearance, showing a great performance. For this day’s live, a total of 24 former and current Morning Musume members got together on the stage.

Profile

 * Birth Name: Ishiguro Aya (石黒彩)
 * Legal Name: Yamada Aya (山田亜弥)
 * Nickname: Ayappe (あやっぺ)
 * Family: Husband/Rock Singer Yamada Shinya, 2 Daughters Yamada Rimu (山田玲夢) and 1 son
 * Date Married: May 2000
 * Birthdate: May 12, 1978 (age 34)
 * Birthplace: Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
 * Blood Type: A
 * Height: 165cm
 * Hello! Project Status:
 * 1997-09-07: Member
 * 1997-09-07: Morning Musume Member
 * 2000-01-07: Graduated
 * Up-Front Agency Status:
 * 1997-09-07: Member
 * 2000-01-07: Graduated
 * 2012-03-10: Member Only For That Day
 * Years in Morning Musume: 3 Years
 * Assets: E.T. mimicry, nose piercing
 * Vices: Smoking
 * Hello! Project Groups:
 * Morning Musume (1997-2000)
 * Subgroups:
 * Tanpopo (1998-1999)

Morning Musume

 * Ai no Tane
 * Morning Coffee
 * Summer Night Town
 * Daite HOLD ON ME!
 * Memory Seishun no Hikari
 * Manatsu no Kousen
 * Furusato
 * LOVE Machine

Tanpopo

 * Last Kiss
 * Motto
 * Tanpopo
 * Seinaru Kane ga Hibiku Yoru

Movies

 * [1998] モーニング刑事. ～抱いてHOLD ON ME!～ (Morning Cop ~Daite HOLD ON ME!~)

Essay Books

 * [2003.09.??] 娘. からママへ―石黒彩のLOVE2子育てレボリューション (Musume. Kara Mama he Ishiguro Aya no LOVE 2 Kosodate Reboryuushon)
 * [2004.11.12] 子育てプロジェクト! (Kosodate Project!)
 * [2007.10.30] 石黒彩の3びきのこぶた食堂 (Ishiguro Aya no 3 Biki no Kobuta Shokudou)

Trivia

 * She changed her name to "Yamada Aya" after she was married, and the character for "Aya" (彩) was later changed to two different characters (亜弥).
 * Contrary to popular rumor, Aya was not pregnant when she left MM. She officially resigned in December of 1999 with her last public performance with the group in January of 2000. She was however pregnant when she married her boyfriend the former drummer of Luna Sea Yamada Shinya. Her daughter was born in November almost a full year after she announced that she was leaving the group.
 * She is good at mimicking E.T.
 * During her time in Morning Musume, she had her nose pierced.
 * Her daughters' names are Rimu (玲夢) and Sona (宙奈). Her son's name is Youta (耀太).
 * She is the first former Morning Musume member to get married.
 * On March 10, 2012 She returned to the stage for the 1st time in 12 years.
 * She is the second former Morning Musume member to graduate from both Morning Musume and Hello! Project. The first being Fukuda Asuka.