is a Japanese singer and actress. She was a member and the leader of Cute, a girl idol group within

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 ...

Career

Yajima first joined

in 2002 as one of the fifteen children chosen from the Hello! Project Kids auditions after performing " Momoiro Kataomoi" by

Aya Matsuura is a former Japanese pop singer and actress, 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 ...

. 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 idol 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, Maa ...

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 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

, 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 is a Japanese choreographer and former singer and actress. She first gained recognition when she joined Hello! Project Kids and later became the lead vocalist of the girl group Cute until her retirement in 2006. Career 2002–2005: Hello ...

left the group. In 2008, Yajima was selected to be a member of Hello Project's new unit

High-King was a Japanese people, Japanese girl group associated with Hello! Project. The group was created to promote Morning Musume's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (Rodgers and Hammerstein musical), ''Cinderella'', titled . Their so ...

. 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 former member of ANGERME, another girl group within Hello! Project. On November 8, 2022, she announced her marriage with actor Ryosuke Mikata. On March 25, 2024, she announced her first pregnancy.

Discography

Solo DVDs

Duet singles

Bibliography

Photobooks

Appearances

Movies

* * (2009) * '' Ōsama Game'' (December 17, 2011) * (December 29, 2012) * '' First Love'' (2019) * '' BLACKFOX: Age of the Ninja'' (2019)

Straight-to-video

* (April 27, 2011,

Geneon Universal Entertainment (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo ...

) as Reira * (July 4, 2012) * (August 3, 2012)

TV dramas

* Sūgaku Joshi Gakuen'' (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 by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

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 ZYX (pop group) members Cute (Japanese idol group) members Singers from Saitama Prefecture 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese actresses