Nakazawa Yuko

Nakazawa Yuuko (中澤 裕子) born June 19, 1973 is a Japanese pop singer, actress, and TV-personality, best known as one of the original members of the all-female Japanese pop group Morning Musume. Currently, she is a solo artist within Up-Front Agency. Is a part of Morning Musume OG.

1997
Nakazawa Yuuko was one of five runners-up in a 1997 talent contest for a new Japanese rock idol. After the contest, musician and producer Tsunku offered Nakazawa and the four other runners-up (Abe Natsumi, Iida Kaori, Ishiguro Aya, and Fukuda Asuka) the chance to be taken under his wing under one condition: they must sell 50,000 CDs of their debut song "Ai no Tane" within five days. The quintet accomplished that task in four and thus Morning Musume was born. The group has since grown increasingly popular and is infamous for its fluctuating lineup, with members leaving and joining frequently.

1998
In 1998, shortly after Morning Musume's formation, Nakazawa began a solo career, beginning with enka styled songs. She gradually moved to a more pop sound, but has recently gone back to enka with her eleventh single, "Urara." Her solo work has allowed her voice to shine in a way it rarely did in Morning Musume, as she mostly sung harmonies with only a few solo lines.

2000
Nakazawa has been a regular featured singer on Hello! Project's "Folk Songs" series. She was also placed in Akagumi 4 in Hello! Project's 2000 summer shuffles.

2001
Being the oldest of the 1st generation of Morning Musume — she was 24 at the time of formation and nearly 28 upon leaving the group — Nakazawa held the role of the group's leader until her graduation on April 15, 2001. She has cited her reasons for leaving as being her age (she was 14 years older than the youngest member of the troupe, then 13-year-old Kago Ai, at the time of her departure) and her desire to pursue other things by the time she was 30.

2004
She participated in H.P. All Stars along with most of the rest of Hello!Project.

2005
In Hello!Project's 2005 summer shuffles she was placed in Puripuri Pink.

On April 11, 2005, she became a performer of Tchunen, a TV program on Mainichi Broadcasting System, on Mondays.

2007
Since then, Nakazawa has done some work in Japanese dramas such as Beauty 7 and Home Maker, performed in various plays, and continued in her solo singing career at a steady pace with reasonable success. She still works closely with Morning Musume and hosted their weekly show Hello! Morning (first regularly, then occasionally), until its end in early 2007.

2008
It was announced on October 19, 2008 by Hello! Project that Nakazawa, along with the rest of Elder Club will graduate from Hello! Project on March 31, 2009.

2009
On February 1, 2009, during the “Hello Pro Award ’09 ~Elder Club Sotsugyou Kinen Special~” concert held at Yokohama Arena, Nakazawa passed on her leadership position in Hello! Project to Takahashi Ai of Morning Musume.

2010
Nakazawa Yuko was the special guest for Morning Musume’s first performance in Paris at Japan Expo on July 2, 2010.

In September 2010, She joined a unit called Afternoon Musume (along with some others from Morning Musume OG: Iida Kaori, Abe Natsumi, Yasuda Kei, Yaguchi Mari, Ogawa Makoto, Fujimoto Miki) that specializes in promoting Georgia Coffee drinks.

2011
On January 28, 2011, It was announced that Nakazawa was part of the OG member group Dream Morning Musume and that they will be releaseing the groups first album, called "Dreams. 1", on April 20th, 2011.

On August, 2011. it was announced that Nakazawa will be in a movie titled “TWILIGHT FILE 8: Fighting Okan”

Profile

 * Stage Name: Nakazawa Yuuko (中澤ゆうこ)
 * Real Name: Nakazawa Yuko (中澤裕子)
 * Nickname: Yuu-chan, “Big Sis”, Misoji (Three Decades Old)
 * Birthdate: June 19, 1973
 * Birthplace: Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, Japan
 * Blood Type: O
 * Height: 159 cm (5’2.6″)
 * Hello! Project Status:
 * 1997-09-07: Member
 * 1997-09-07: Morning Musume Member
 * 2001-04-15: Graduated From Morning Musume
 * 2009-03-31: Graduated
 * Up-Front Agency Status:
 * 1997-09-07: Member
 * Hobbies: Map driving
 * Star sign: Gemini
 * Charm point: Nose
 * Habits: Bites tongue when asleep, Stretching top lip, touching bangs
 * Fears: Natural disasters, live broadcasts
 * Something she can't handle: Seeing people cry
 * Most used emoticon: :heartbeat:
 * Strengths: "I'm easily impassioned"
 * Weaknesses: Short temper, easily
 * Favorite movies: "Phenomenon", "Legally Blonde", "City of Angels", "Shuri"
 * Favorite book: "Angel's Egg"
 * Favorite phrase: “Survival of the fittest…”
 * Favorite color: Purple
 * Favorite flowers: Cherry blossoms
 * Favorite season: Summer
 * Favorite food: Squid, boiled fresh white rice
 * Disliked food: Bananas, tomatoes, miso soup with bean curd and onions
 * Favorite clothes: Miniskirts
 * Favorite song: "Tokyo Bijin"
 * Past Units:
 * Morning Musume (1997 - 2001)
 * Shuffle Units:
 * Akagumi 4 (2000)
 * H.P. All Stars (2004)
 * Puripuri Pink (2005)
 * Current Units:
 * Afternoon Musume (2010-)
 * Dream Morning Musume (2011-)
 * M-Line (2001-Present)

Morning Musume

 * Ai no Tane
 * Morning Coffee
 * Summer Night Town
 * Daite HOLD ON ME!
 * Memory Seishun no Hikari
 * Manatsu no Kousen
 * Furusato
 * LOVE Machine
 * Koi no Dance Site
 * Happy Summer Wedding
 * I WISH
 * Renai Revolution 21

Trivia

 * She worked as an OL (Office Lady) prior to joining Morning Musume at age 24.
 * She is known as an older sister figure within Hello! Project but is also famous for her aggressive, Yankee-like personality as well.
 * She (along with Heike Michiyo) served as the leaders of the entire Hello! Project.
 * She has grown accustomed to usually speak in Tokyo dialect, and has usually suggested fellow members from Kansai (Heike Michiyo, Kago Ai, and more recently Mitsui Aika) to speak in Tokyo dialect while in Hello! Project. Ironically, she is known for bursting out in her native Kansai dialect whenever she is annoyed, usually “scaring” younger members.
 * Was particularly close to Ichii Sayaka before her graduation from Morning Musume and Hello! Project, and still remains fairly a close friend to her and her new family.
 * She used to be a big fan of punk music.
 * She has one sister (as well as a niece) and also has 2 chihuahuas: Taro (male) and Hana (female).
 * Has stated that her reason for graduating from Morning Musume was that she began to feel physically limited from keeping up with the group’s activities because of her age.
 * At one point, she hated bananas so much that she felt repulsed just being in the same room as them. However, when asked by Tsuji Nozomi what had changed about her since she had graduated from Morning Musume, Nakazawa said that she could now be in the same room as someone eating a banana and be fine with it.
 * Is not a big fan of using phones and is known for not answering the phone (so much so that Yasuda Kei has said it is a “miracle” if Nakazawa answers the phone).
 * Was one of the oldest members of Hello! Project.
 * Was one of the original members of Morning Musume.

Discography
For releases as a member of Morning Musume, please see the Morning Musume discography.

Radio shows

 * Nakazawa Yuko no All Night Nippon Super!
 * Nakazawa Yuko no All Night Nippon Sunday Special Nakazawa Yuko no All Night Nippon Sunday Super!
 * Young Town Douyoubi
 * Music Plaza's Kimama ni Classic
 * Maji Asa!

Commercials

 * Eruseenu
 * Nihon Chouou Keiba
 * Orikogaado
 * Sukeodou Shitei Buuru

Essay books

 * 2002 – Kaishin (改心, Kaishin?)
 * 2003 – Zutto Ushiro Kara Mite Kita (ずっと後ろから見てきた, Zutto Ushiro Kara Mite Kita?)