is a Japanese singer and actress. She was a member and the leader of
Cute, a girl
idol
Idol or Idols may refer to:
Religion and philosophy
* Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents
* Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...
group within
Hello! Project.
Career
Yajima first joined
Hello! Project in 2002 as one of the fifteen children chosen from the
Hello! Project Kids auditions after performing "
Momoiro Kataomoi" by
Aya Matsuura
is a Japanese actress and pop singer, from Himeji, Hyogo, Japan.
Career
2000–2009: Hello! Project
Aya auditioned in 2000 for the fourth Morning Musume & Heike Michiyo Protegee Audition and was selected along with Sheki-Dol to become a part o ...
. She debuted the same year in the movie ''
Koinu Dan no Monogatari'', taking on one of the main roles as an antagonist. The following year, she joined the first of the kids' groups,
ZYX, which released two singles.
In 2004,
Berryz Kobo
was a Japanese girl group formed by Up-Front Promotion in 2004 and associated with Hello! Project. The group's members consisted of Hello! Project Kids members Saki Shimizu, Momoko Tsugunaga, Miyabi Natsuyaki, Chinami Tokunaga, Maasa Sudo, Y ...
was formed, with the intention of rotating the girls throughout the unit. Yajima did not make the original pick, and the idea was eventually dropped. The remaining girls eventually ended up forming
Cute in 2005. Despite not being the oldest, Yajima still became the group's leader, after
Erika Umeda
is a Japanese singer and former model. She was a member of the Japanese idol girl group ZYX and Cute up until departing to pursue a solo career in modeling. In 2013, she returned to her music career with the release of her debut solo single "Cr ...
turned down the role. The group did not make its official debut until late in 2006, with their first official single released in February 2007.
Aside from leading Cute, Yajima became the sub-captain of
Little Gatas and the
Hello! Project Kids futsal team. She was also considered to be one of the fastest runners in all of
Hello! Project, often coming first in the running events at the annual sports festivals and listing running as one of her hobbies.
Yajima also co-hosted Cute's weekly radio program, ''
Cutie Party''. She took over the role when
Megumi Murakami left the group.
In 2008, Yajima was selected to be a member of Hello Project's new unit
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 ...
. Yajima and Fukuda Kanon appeared in the movie ''Fuyu no Kaidan'' (Winter Ghost Story), released in Japan on May 23, 2009.
Cute disbanded following their final concert at Saitama Super Arena on June 12, 2017. Yajima had announced earlier, via the group's blog, that she planned to pursue an acting career.
Personal life
Maimi's younger cousin,
Akari Takeuchi, is a member of
ANGERME
, 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! P ...
, another girl group within Hello! Project.
On November 8, 2022, she announced her marriage with actor Ryosuke Mikata.
Discography
Solo DVDs
Duet singles
Bibliography
Photobooks
Appearances
Movies
*
* (2009)
* ''
Ōsama Game'' (December 17, 2011)
* (December 29, 2012)
* ''
First Love
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
'' (2019)
* ''
BLACKFOX: Age of the Ninja'' (2019)
Straight-to-video
* (April 27, 2011,
Geneon Universal Entertainment) as Reira
* (July 4, 2012)
* (August 3, 2012)
TV dramas
*
Sūgaku Joshi Gakuen
is a Japanese television drama series. It ran for 12 episodes. The cast primarily consists of Hello! Project members.
The song "Hatsukoi Cider" from Buono!'s single " Hatsukoi Cider / Deep Mind" was used as the closing theme for the TV series ...
'' (January 11, 2012 – March 28, 2012)
* (2011)
Television
* (May 3, 2005)
* ''°C-ute Has Come #03'' (December 2, 2006)
* ''°C-ute Has Come #04'' (December 16, 2006)
* ''
58th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' (December 31, 2007)
* (
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
Osaka, April 21, 2009)
* (June 26, 2009) — a talk show featuring Hello! Project members
*
*
*
*
Radio
* ''Cutie Party'' (November 4, 2006 – ongoing)
* (July 4, 2008 – ongoing, Fridays at 10 pm,
FM Port)
Internet
* ''Hello! ga Ippai #01'' (November 10, 2006)
* ''Hello! ga Ippai #02'' (November 24, 2006)
* ''Hello! Pro Hour #02'' (March 17, 2006)
* (2011)
* ''Hagiwara Mai Desu ga... Nani ka?'' (2012)
Theater
* ''
Cat's Eye'' (2012) as Hitomi Kisugi
* Hatagumi Vol.3 "Ran" (2010) as Ran
* Hatagumi Vol.4 "Ran―2011New version!!" (2011) as Ran
* Hatagumi Vol.5 "Taklamakan" (2013) as Kei
References
External links
Cute official blog
Maimi Yajima's official UStream channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yajima, Maimi
1992 births
Hello! Project Kids members
Japanese female idols
Japanese radio personalities
Living people
People from Saitama (city)
ZYX (pop group) members
Cute (Japanese idol group) members
Musicians from Saitama Prefecture
21st-century Japanese singers
21st-century Japanese actresses