Z-1 was a

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idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a devotional image of a deity or saint used during puja ...

quartet signed under

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from 1999 to 2002. The name ''Z-1'' signifies the last (Z) super stars of the 20th century and the first (1) of the 21st.

Members

*, born on September 14, 1985, in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. *, born on October 25, 1985, in Tokyo. *, born on May 26, 1983, in

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. *, born on October 20, 1984, in

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

Biography

In July 1998, Ueto (special prize winner), Nejiki (musical prize winner), Nishikawa and Fujiya were selected out of the participants of the talent agency Oscar Promotion's 7th All-Japan National Young Beauty contest to form Z-1. In 1999, the four landed a regular spot on the

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variety program "Kaishingeki TV Utaemon". They made one of their first appearances at a PR event for the Japanese dub of

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's "

A Bug's Life ''A Bug's Life'' (stylized in all lowercase) is a 1998 American animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter from a screenplay written by Andrew Stanton, Donald McEnery, and Bob Shaw, and a story conceived by Lasseter, Stanton, and Joe Ran ...

". They debuted in July of the same year with the single "Vibe!", released in four versions, each carrying a different remix of the title track. In 2000, the song "Bakka Mitai!!" (''(It's) So Stupid'') was banned from airing on

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 ...

due to its mildly vulgar title. In 2002, after five singles the group disbanded. Ueto went on to pursue a solo career, as well as becoming one of Japan's most prolific young actresses. Nejiki debuted as a solo artist in 2004 while Fujiya enjoyed a short-lived modeling career. Nishikawa is currently a member of the indies rock band "Tarock". In 2003, Ueto's success as a solo artist prompted Toshiba EMI to release compilation album of all the Z-1 material.

Discography

Singles

Albums

TV

*Kaishingeki TV Utaemon (Fuji TV, 1999) *The Yoru mo Hit Parade (

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, 1999)

Commercials

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

"Alkaline Battery 1" *Three F *

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magazine "ZipZap"

External links

Yappa Z-1 Desho!
(fansite) {{DEFAULTSORT:Z-1 Aya Ueto Japanese pop music groups Japanese girl groups Japanese idol groups Musical groups from Tokyo