is a former

Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements b ...

and singer from the

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

NMB48 NMB48 (read "N.M.B. Forty-eight") is a Japanese idol group that debuted in 2011 as the second sister group to AKB48, produced by Yasushi Akimoto. NMB48 is named after the Namba district in Osaka city of Osaka Prefecture, where the group is base ...

, in which she is the co-captain of Team BII. She was also a member of the

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with it ...

and its subunit

DiVA Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is clo ...

Biography

2004–2007: Early career, debut, injury

In 2004–2005, Umeda took part in the Morning Musume Lucky 7 Audition for the idol group

Morning Musume , formerly simply and colloquially referred to as , are a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top ten singles with an ...

, but only advanced to the second round. On February 26, 2006, Umeda passed the second generation auditions for

, and became one of 19 founding members for the group's Team K. Her on-stage debut was on April 1. She performed on the title track for AKB48's first single on a major label, "

Aitakatta is Japanese idol group AKB48's third single, and the first major single released through DefSTAR Records, on 25 October 2006. Regarded as the signature song of AKB48, the song has continued to be AKB48′s most recognizable tune among the pub ...

", released on October 26, 2006. As part of Team K 1st Stage, she was a front member for the song "

Skirt, Hirari is Japanese idol group AKB48's second single, released independently through AKS on June 7, 2006. The song was sung by 7 members of AKB48 Team A, Tomomi Itano, Haruna Kojima, Atsuko Maeda, Rina Nakanishi, Risa Narita, Mai Oshima, and Minami Tak ...

", along with

Sayaka Akimoto is a Filipino-Japanese actress and singer. She was a member of Japanese idol girl group AKB48 and its spin-off unit Diva (Japanese band), Diva. As an actress, Akimoto has appeared in both Japanese and American productions, and made her Hollywoo ...

Yuko Oshima is a Japanese actress and former member of Japanese idol girl group AKB48, of which she was the captain of Team K. She was also a member of the AKB48 subunit Not Yet. In addition to the singles that involved the rock-paper-scissors tournaments, ...

Sae Miyazawa is a Japanese actress, television personality and former singer, signed under the entertainment agency Horipro. She is best known for her affiliations with AKB48 and its various sister- and subgroups. Between 2006 and 2016, she was a part of the ...

, and

Kana Kobayashi is a Japanese idol who is a former member of AKB48 who was part of Team B and later Team K. She has appeared in a number of television shows, feature films and stage productions. Kobayashi is represented with Promage. On July 8, 2021, Kobayashi ...

. Later in the year, Umeda developed a

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or ...

in her foot, and was recommended by her manager to take a break from her performances to rehabilitate, starting December 23. Her rehabilitation took about a year, during which she was active on TV in

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders S ...

2008–2011: Return to AKB48

On May 31, 2008, Umeda returned to public performances with the premiere of a new seasonal Team K's show at the AKB48 Theater, titled ''Team K 4th Stage "Saishū Bell ga Naru"''. Prior to her injuries, she was one of the faces of Team K, but after her return, she was placed at the very end of the stage, extremely far from the center position where she used to stand. In February 2009, Umeda was chosen as the

D1 Grand Prix The , abbreviated as D1GP and subtitled ''Professional Drift'', is a production car drifting (motorsport), drifting series from Japan. After several years of hosting amateur drifting contests, Daijiro Inada, founder of ''Option (car magazine), O ...

image girl. In April, she was named the

Tokyo Tower is a communications and observation tower in the Shiba-koen district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, built in 1958. At , it is the second- tallest structure in Japan. The structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and i ...

image girl for the year 2009, succeeding fellow AKB48 member Ayumi Orii. In the AKB48 general election for 2010, Umeda placed 32nd, with 2,499 votes.

2011: Diva, rise in AKB48

On February 27, 2011, it was announced to the public that a new pop group named

, consisting of

Yuka Masuda The Japanese idol girl group AKB48 has many members who have left the group for various reasons such as focusing on solo careers. Some members have left to help launch AKB48's sister groups. The member lineup often changes as when girls get olde ...

, and Ayaka Umeda had been formed. The group's debut single " Tsuki no Uragawa", whose release was originally scheduled for April 27, and postponed until May 18 due to the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

, reached number 3 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

Weekly Singles Chart. In the annual election, she placed 22nd, and headlined the Under Girls on the single's coupling track. In the AKB48

rock-paper-scissors Rock paper scissors (also known by other orderings of the three items, with "rock" sometimes being called "stone," or as Rochambeau, roshambo, or ro-sham-bo) is a hand game originating in China, usually played between two people, in which each p ...

tournament, which took place on September 20, she finished in the top 16, which earned her a spot on the title track. The song "

Ue kara Mariko is the 24th major single by the Japanese girl idol group AKB48, released on December 7, 2011. Release history and information The AKB48 members participating in the single were determined in the rock-paper-scissors tournament held on September ...

" became her first A-side of an AKB48's single in three and a half years, since "Baby! Baby! Baby!".

2012: Team B captain

On June 6, in the AKB48 general election, she placed 16th and landed a spot on the title track for "

Gingham Check is the 27th major single by the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. The members were chosen from their placements in the AKB48's 2012 general election. The single was released in Japan on August 29, 2012. It includes the graduation song for long-tim ...

". On August 24, AKB48 announced a major reorganization, where Umeda moved to Team B and became the team's captain. In the third AKB48

tournament, which took place in September 2012, Umeda advanced to the top 16, and secured a title track spot on the group's 29th single, "

Eien Pressure is the 29th major single by the Japanese female idol group AKB48, released in Japan on December 5, 2012. Background The sixteen members that were featured in the title track were decided in the AKB48 rock-paper-scissors tournament held in Septe ...

2013: Senbatsu Election

Umeda ranked 19th in AKB48's general election, placing her in Undergirls and subsequently giving her a spot on the main B-side track of the election single,

Koi Suru Fortune Cookie is the 32nd single by the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. It was released in Japan on August 21, 2013. The single contains graduation songs for Mariko Shinoda and Tomomi Itano. The song has been recorded by AKB48's international sister groups in ...

2014: Transfer to NMB48

On February 24, 2014, in the AKB48 Dai Sokaku Matsuri Shuffle, Umeda was completely transferred to

and became co-captain of Team BII.

2016: Departing NMB48

On January 23, 2016, at AKB48 Request Hour Setlist Best 100 2016, Umeda announced of leaving NMB48. On March 20, she graduated from the group and her graduation ceremony was hold on March 31, 2016, at Zepp Namba.

Singles with AKB48

Singles with NMB48

Singles with SKE48

AKB48 stage units

;Team K 1st Stage "Party ga Hajimaru yo" *"Skirt, Hirari" ;Team K 2nd Stage "Seishun Girls" *"Ame no Dōbutsuen" *"Fushidara na Natsu" ;Team K 3rd Stage "Nōnai Paradise" *"Maria" ;Team K 4th Stage "Saishu Bell ga Naru" *"Return Match" ;Team K 5th Stage "Sakaagari" *"End Roll" ;Team K 6th Stage "Reset" *"Kokoro no Sofa" *"Kiseki wa Maniawanai"

Filmography

TV series

* (Ep. 1, January 13. 2010,

MBS MBS may refer for: People * Mohammed bin Salman (born 1985), crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia * Mohan Bikram Singh (born 1935), Nepalese politician Places * MBS International Airport (IATA code: MBS), Freeland, Michigan, US * Mari ...

) *''

Majisuka Gakuen (lit. "Majisuka Academy") is a Japanese television drama series about high school delinquents, starring members of idol group AKB48. The first season aired in 2010 on TV Tokyo. A second season Majisuka Gakuen 2 was aired the following year. Th ...

'' (Last ep., March 26, 2010,

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

) *''Kankyō Chōjin Ecogainder'' (June 26 – November 1, 2010,

Kids Station Kids Station (Japanese language, Japanese: キッズステーション, ''Kizzu Sutēshon'') is a Japanese children's television channel showing anime and other cartoon material. Kids Station also airs some anime aimed at teens and adults during the ...

) *''

Majisuka Gakuen 2 (lit. "Majisuka Academy") is a Japanese television drama series about high school delinquents, starring members of idol group AKB48. The first season aired in 2010 on TV Tokyo. A second season Majisuka Gakuen 2 was aired the following year. Th ...

'' (Last ep., July 1, 2011,

) — ''Ayaka''

References

GREE GREE (derived from an abbreviation of the "Six degrees of separation" concept) is a Japanese social networking service founded by Yoshikazu Tanaka and operated by GREE, Inc. GREE focuses primarily on mobile games and over ninety percent of its ...

(Japanese) * （8 March 2011 – ）(Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Umeda, Ayaka Living people 1989 births People from Fukuoka Prefecture Japanese idols AKB48 members Musicians from Fukuoka Prefecture 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers