is a former Japanese singer and actress. After joining

Hello Pro Egg (formerly known as until January 2012) is a pre-debut training group established by Japanese entertainment agency Up-Front Group is a Japanese holding company for various entertainment companies. Its subsidiaries include the talent agenc ...

, a trainee program associated with

Hello! Project is a Japanese musical collective consisting of all female recording artists and groups under Up-Front Promotion, a subsidiary of Up-Front Group. The name was initially used as Michiyo Heike and Morning Musume's fan club name in 1999, but has s ...

, she achieved early fame as Amulet Heart in

Shugo Chara Egg! , also known as ''My Guardian Characters'', is a Japanese shōjo manga series created by the manga author duo, Peach-Pit. The story centers on elementary school girl Amu Hinamori, whose popular exterior, referred to as "cool and spicy" by her clas ...

before debuting in

S/mileage , formerly , is a Japanese idol girl group from the musical collective Hello! Project, which originally consisted of four former Hello! Pro Egg (''Hello! Project'' trainees) members that left Egg in 2010 and became full-time members of ''Hello! ...

, a

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 ...

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 ...

associated with

. On December 31, 2011, she retired from the entertainment industry to pursue academic studies.

Career

2004–2007: Hello Pro Egg

Maeda Yuuka joined Hello! Project as a member of Hello! Pro Egg in June 2004 following auditions of thirty-two other girls. The group aimed to prepare the young girls for their entertainment debut. Maeda received free dance and vocal training alongside the other Eggs. In October 2005, Maeda became one of the founding members of Hello! Pro Egg group Tomoiki Ki wo Uetai. They debuted at Morning Musume's environmental Culture Festival 2005. In 2006, Maeda continued her training and appeared at numerous Hello! Project concerts as a backing dancer, including "Country Musume LIVE2006 ~Shibuya des Date~". In March Tomoiki Ki wo Uetai's blog opened and in July their first song was announced, "Minna no ki". On August 22, Tomoiki participated volunteered at PLANT A TREE farm and herb garden in Yamanashiken. In September, Maeda performed "Minna no ki" with Tomoiki at Morning Musume's environmental Culture Festival 2006. She was a backing dancer to Morning Musume's Kusumi Koharu. She released a single in a group known as Paretto. In April 2007 Maeda received a role in the musical ''Soto wa shiroi haru no kumo'' that was later released on DVD. In September, Maeda featured in Standardsong Entertainment's ''Ekubo ~people song~''. Maeda appeared in ''Chao.TV'' (started 2007/09/02). Maeda appeared as a part of Tomoiki at Morning Musume's environmental Culture Festival 2007.

2008–2009: High-King, Shugo Chara Egg!

Maeda received her first proper

role when she was selected to become part of

High-King was a Japanese girl group associated with Hello! Project. The group was created to promote Morning Musume's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''Cinderella'', titled . Their sound is said to have an R&B feel. History The group's debut si ...

, alongside

singers such as

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 ...

Ai Takahashi (born September 14, 1986) is a Japanese singer and actress formerly associated with the Hello! Project and is best known as the leader of Morning Musume and Hello! Project until 2011. She is also a former member of its popular subgroup Mini Moni ...

and

Reina Tanaka is a Japanese singer and actress. She is the leader of the Japanese rock band Lovendor. From 2002 to 2013, she was one of the main vocalists of the girl group Morning Musume and participated in other music acts under the Hello! Project name. ...

, The group was created to promote

's upcoming rendition of

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popu ...

's ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'', titled ''Cinderella the Musical''. The group's debut single, "C\C (Cinderella\Complex)" was released on June 11, 2008 and peaked at number 6. Maeda was selected as one of the four members for a new

Hello! Pro Egg (formerly known as until January 2012) is a pre-debut training group established by Japanese entertainment agency Up-Front Group is a Japanese holding company for various entertainment companies. Its subsidiaries include the talent agenc ...

unit alongside Wada Ayaka,

Fukuda Kanon , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer and Voice acting in Japan, voice actress. She is a member of Metamuse and a former member of Hello! Project idol group Angerme and Shugo Chara Egg!. Biography Hello!Pro Egg Fukuda Kanon joined H ...

and

Saho Akari is a Japanese singer. She is a member of Up-Up Girls and a former member of Hello! Pro Egg, a Japanese idol trainee program under the Hello! Project umbrella. She was also an original member of Shugo Chara Egg!, and played the role of Amulet S ...

. The group was called ''Shugo Chara'' Egg! and was formed to record the opening songs for the

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

that

Buono! was a subgroup of the Japanese girl groups Berryz Kobo and Cute (Japanese idol group), Cute, formed in 2007 by Up-Front Promotion and associated with Hello! Project. The members consisted of Momoko Tsugunaga and Miyabi Natsuyaki from Berryz Kob ...

sings for

Shugo Chara , also known as ''My Guardian Characters'', is a Japanese ''shōjo'' manga series created by the manga author duo, Peach-Pit. The story centers on elementary school girl Amu Hinamori, whose popular exterior, referred to as "cool and spicy ...

. She released two singles with the group until the line-up changed, and she was replaced by

Mizuki Fukumura is a Japanese singer, dancer, and actress. She is a ninth-generation member, current leader of the pop group Morning Musume as well as the current and seventh leader of Hello Project. Prior to becoming part of Morning Musume, Fukumura was known ...

2009–2011: S/mileage and retirement

On April 4, 2009

Tsunku , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer, record producer, and songwriter. He is the lead singer of the rock band Sharam Q. As a songwriter, Tsunku is the primary producer for Morning Musume and other Hello! Project acts, such as Coconut ...

announced on his blog that a new group was in the works. The members listed were Maeda Yuuka,

Ogawa Saki , formerly , is a Japanese idol girl group from the musical collective Hello! Project, which originally consisted of four former Hello! Pro Egg (''Hello! Project'' trainees) members that left Egg in 2010 and became full-time members of ''Hello! ...

, and Wada Ayaka. He stated the lineup was subject to change, and that it would be their "major debut". On May 5, 2009 Tsunku revealed the group's name to be "

" (smile of age). On August 15, 2009, she played her first musical drama titled Shugo Chara! Musical and took the main role of Amu Hinamori. Maeda and the rest of the

members graduated from

in the

Spring Concert, They released their first major single titled ''夢見る''15歳 (''Yume Miru sai'') on 2010-05-26, Yuuka, Kanon and Ayaka are cast as the main characters of

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri , also known as , is a Japanese shōjo anime directed by Makoto Moriwaki. It was adapted from the Sega arcade game of the same name. It was also adapted into two manga series by Mai Jinna. Plot Ringo Yukimori was walking with her mom and f ...

and eventually released singles as Lilpri. On October 25, Maeda announced she would graduate from

and

. Her graduation was held on December 31. She stated she want to focus on her studies and university. She felt that it would be unfair to her fans and supporters to devote only half of her energy on stage.Comment from Maeda Yuuka
. takamaruyo. Retrieved October 25, 2011. Her final single with

was "Please Mini Skirt Post Woman!".

Musical groups

* Tomoiki-Ki wo Uetai *

Lilpri , also known as , is a Japanese shōjo anime directed by Makoto Moriwaki. It was adapted from the Sega arcade game of the same name. It was also adapted into two manga series by Mai Jinna. Plot Ringo Yukimori was walking with her mom and f ...

Discography

Filmography

References

External links

Hello! Project -Official Site-

S/mileage -Official Site-

Yuuka Maeda Official blog
Ended) *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maeda, Yuuka Angerme members Japanese female idols Japanese women pop singers Japanese voice actresses 1994 births Living people Voice actresses from Chiba Prefecture Musicians from Chiba Prefecture zh:S/mileage#前田憂佳