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Yūko Ōshima

Yuko Oshima
Yūko Ōshima at Yamaha Tricity launching event, July 1, 2014.jpg
Oshima at Yamaha Tricity launching event, on July 1, 2014
Background information
Native name 大島 優子
Born (1988-10-17) October 17, 1988 (age 28)
, Japan
Genres J-pop
Occupation(s)
Instruments vocals
Years active 1996 - Present
Labels
Associated acts
Website www.o-yuko.jp

Yuko Oshima (大島 優子 Ōshima Yūko?, born October 17, 1988 in ) is a former member of Japanese idol girl group AKB48, of which she was the captain of Team K. She is also a member of the AKB48 subunit Not Yet. Outside of singles that involved rock-paper-scissors tournaments, she has sung on the title tracks for all of AKB48's singles since "Aitakatta" in October 2006. She has placed among the top two for the annual AKB48 general elections from 2009-2013.

Oshima was born in Yokohama, and was raised in , . Her mother is from Hokkaido. Oshima is 3/4 Japanese and 1/4 American. In 1996, she signed as a child actor with Central Kodomo Gekidan. In 2005, she began working as a junior idol in a short-lived idol project Doll's Vox, which was produced by The Alfee vocalist Toshihiko Takamizawa. In 2006, at the AKB48's second audition to form Team K, she was selected out of a pool of 12,000 applicants to join the team. In April, she began working full-time with the group, which debuted with the single, "Aitakatta", in October 2006.

On August 24, 2012, AKB48 announced a reorganization of the teams, and appointed Oshima to be the captain of Team K.

On December 31, 2013, Oshima announced on Kohaku Uta Gassen that she would be leaving the group.

Oshima has placed in the top two in the past five AKB48 general elections. In 2009 she placed second overall, losing only to Atsuko Maeda. In 2010, she received the most votes and became the center performer in the single "Heavy Rotation". In the 2011 general election, she placed second to Maeda once again. In the 2012 general election, she placed first with 108,837 votes. for the 2013 general election, she was voted second overall with 136,503 votes and lost to Sashihara Rino with 150,570 votes.


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