Takako Uehara

Infobox Musical artist


Img_size = 150 | |
Name = Takako Uehara
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = nihongo|上原 多香子|Uehara Takako
Born = birth date and age|1983|1|14
Died =
Origin = Tomigusuku, Okinawa, Japan
Instrument = Singing, Piano,
Genre = Japanese Pop, R&B
Occupation = Singer, Actress, Model
Years_active = 1995 — Present
Label = Toys Factory
1996— 2001
Sonic Groove
2002 — present
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.avexnet.or.jp/uehara/ Avex Uehara Takako]

nihongo|Takako Uehara|上原 多香子|Uehara Takako (born January 14, 1983) is a Jpop singer. She was a member of the group, SPEED, which disbanded in 2000. Uehara was born in Okinawa, Japan.

Uehara is often typecast as the prettiest member of SPEED and ranks among the 'exceptional' female beauties of Japan. Her highly anticipated first solo single 'My First Love' was released in January 1999, and was produced by legendary Jpop superstar Ryuichi Kawamura (of Luna Sea). "My First Love" was the beginning of a prosperous collaboration between Uehara and Kawamura. The single itself was very successful and topped the charts selling over 500,000 copies. The promotional video along with the cover and leaflet photos for 'My First Love' were all shot on location in Hawaii. Uehara followed up with her second and third singles, 'Come Close to Me' and 'My Greatest Memories'. In July 2000 following the disbandment of SPEED, she became the first member of the group to release a solo album: My First Wing.

After SPEED, Uehara continued with a moderately successful solo career as well as acting in various TV dramas. Takako is also a highly sought after model endorsing many famous brands such as Shiseido mainly on Proudia & Tsubaki Shampoo, Dunlop Tyres, NTT DoCoMo, FujiFilm FinePix Camera, SAGAWA, FamilyMart, KC Card, Meiji Chocolate, NEC FOMA and other food & beverages. Her most popular campaign was when she teamed up with Vivian Hsu to promote Shiseido's 'Proudia' range of products aimed at the more youthful market.

Uehara has also been a favorite pinup model among teenage men. She has released three photobooks. The first being '17' which was released in the year 2000. Her second photobook was Vingt Takako (Vingt means 20 in French). Vingt Takako was extremely controversial as the book contained many semi-nude and erotic shots of her - some containing rather explicit poses. This book upset and surprised many of her loyal fans as she has often came across as being really innocent. However, Uehara assured that the photos were tastefully done and shot on location in France by an all female crew. Uehara's third photobook Veintitres (meaning 23 in Spanish) was of similar nature to Vingt Takako but contained less daring photos of her. Veintitres was shot on location in Mexico, this time with a mixed crew. The photobook contained a bonus 'making of DVD'. Uehara's has a special preference for her photographs to be taken with minimal make-up and cpu touch-up/alterations. In essence her pictures tend contain a rather ambivalent tone to them in which she tends to come across rather natural/pale looking.

Releases

Singles

# "my first love" (1999-03-25)
# "Come close to me" (1999-09-29)
# "my greatest memories" (2000-04-19)
# "SWEET DREAMS" (2001-04-18)
# (2002-03-13)
# (2002-05-22)
# "Air" (2002-09-19)
# "Make-up Shadow" (2003-03-12)
# (2004-02-25)
# "Galaxy Legend/Ladybug" (2004-10-20)

Albums

# "first wing" (2000-07-26）
# "pupa" (2003-03-26)
# "depart ～takako uehara single collection～" (2007-03-14)

DVDs / Videos

# "MY FIRST WING" (2000-09-27)(video)
# "TAKAKO UEHARA ON REEL-CLIPS&MORE" (2003-03-19)(DVD)

Photobooks

# "17" (2000-10-10)
# "vingt Takako" (2003-01-14)
# "Veintitres" (2006-02-14)

Other Official Book(s)

# "YunTaKu Diary / ゆんたく日記" (2006-08-28)

Radio Host

# 2003.10.1～T-FM 「上原多香子のクローストゥユー」

Drama(s)

# 1999.4-6NTV 「蘇る金狼」
# 2000.10 CX 「ナースのお仕事 3」 20話ゲスト
# 2000.10-12NTV 「新宿 暴走救急隊」
# 2001.7NTV系 「ビューティ 7 （セブン）」 (Beauty 7)
# 2002.1 NTV系 「ナースマン」
# 2002.5.16CX 「青（ブルー）に恋して！ ～サッカー通と4人の美女の物語～ 第4ゲスト
# 2002.10.1CX 「フライングボーイズ」
# 2003.9.29NHK 連続テレビ小説「てるてる家族」
# 2004.4.6NTV系 「ナースマンSPECIAL」
# 2004.4.10NTV系 「東京ワンダーホテル」
# 2004.7.24NTV系 「東京ワンダーホテル」
# 2006.9.7 NHK系 「ちいさこべ」

Movie(s)

# 1998 「Andromedia」Together with 3 other SPEED members Hiroko Shimabukuro, Eriko Imai, and Hitoe Arakaki.
# 1999.10「ドリームメーカー」東映系
# 2002.7「デジモンフロンティア　古代デジモン復活」東洋アニメフェア　声優初挑戦
# 2004.7劇場版　ポケットモンスターアドバンスジェネレーション架空の訪問者　デオキシス」声優

Musical(s)

# 2005.11.03 ~ 11.27 LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
# 2008.02.06 ~ 02.28 The Wedding Singer

External links

* [http://www.avexnet.or.jp/uehara/ Official website]
* [http://takako.vision-blog.jp/ Official Blog]