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Yūko Andō (singer)

Yūko Andō
安藤裕子
Birth name 安藤 裕子(Andō Yūko)
Also known as Üchary Andrew, Nee-yan
Born (1977-05-09) May 9, 1977 (age 39)
Origin Kanagawa, Japan
Genres J-pop
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, actress
Instruments Vocals, Guitar
Years active 1999–present
Labels Cutting Edge
Associated acts Ryūji Yamamoto
Website Andrew Page

Yūko Andō (安藤 裕子 Andō Yūko?) (born 9 May 1977) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and former actress. Andō is part of the YS Corporation talent agency.

Born in Kanagawa Prefecture, as a child, music was never a special hobby of Andō; rather she had more of an interest towards drawing. During her college years, driven by her strong interest in creating things, Andō decided to pursue a film making career. However, unable to catch a break with the studios, she then followed her friends and family's advice to join a talent agency in hopes of becoming an actor. This landed her a few spots as an extra in TV dramas.

One of the auditions for a play she passed during her Junior year at Ferris University required her to sing on stage. At that time, one of the evaluators was Oricon music charts founder Sōkō Koike and by his recommendation, she decided to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter.

Before debuting as a singer, Andō appeared as a regular in the popular TV drama "Ikebukuro West Gate Park" (2000) and the 1999 movie "Saimin".

In 2002, Andō sent film director Yukihiko Tsutsumi, whom she had gotten to know on the set of "Ikebukuro West Gate Park" a demo tape of "Rinjin ni Hikari ga Sasu Toki". Upon hearing her demo, Tsutsumi decided he had to include it in the movie he was then directing, 2LDK, as ending theme. She was credited as Yuuko Ando (安藤ゆう子?).


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