Aya Matsuura

Aya Matsuura (松浦 亜弥, Matsuura Aya, born June 25, 1986) is a J-pop artist from Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Aya auditioned in 2000 for the fourth Morning Musume & Heike Michiyo Protegee Audition and was selected along with Sheki-Dol to become a part of what was later known as Hello! Project. It is a common misconception that Aya originally auditioned to be a part of Morning Musume, which she did not. After being chosen from that audition, Mats... more

Aya Matsuura (松浦 亜弥, Matsuura Aya, born June 25, 1986) is a J-pop artist from Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Aya auditioned in 2000 for the fourth Morning Musume & Heike Michiyo Protegee Audition and was selected along with Sheki-Dol to become a part of what was later known as Hello! Project. It is a common misconception that Aya originally auditioned to be a part of Morning Musume, which she did not. After being chosen from that audition, Matsuura began her solo career. In time, she would become one of Hello! Project's biggest acts. Aside from a successful solo career, Matsuura (nicknamed Ayaya), also did numerous collaborations with other members of Hello! Project, including special, usually short lived groups Gomattou with Maki Goto and Miki Fujimoto; Nochiura Natsumi with Maki Goto and Natsumi Abe; and DEF.DIVA with Maki Goto, Natsumi Abe, and Rika Ishikawa. She also did the "Folk Song" series which feature Yuko Nakazawa and other Hello! Project artists, as well as Hello!... less