  is a japanese pop and enka singer, and actress, best known as one of the original members of the all-female j-pop group morning musume. she is also a member of japanese pop group dream morning musume. == biography == yuko nakazawa was one of five runners-up in a 1997 talent contest for a new japanese rock idol. after the contest, musician and producer tsunku offered nakazawa and the four other runners-up (natsumi abe, kaori iida, aya ishiguro, and asuka fukuda) the chance to be taken under his wing under one condition: they must sell 50,000 cds of their debut song "ai no tane" with five days of live promotion. the quintet accomplished that task in four and thus morning musume was born. the group has since grown increasingly popular and is infamous for its fluctuating lineup, with members leaving and joining frequently. in 1998, shortly after morning musume's formation, nakazawa began a solo career, beginning with enka styled songs. she gradually moved to a more pop sound, but has recently gone back to enka with her eleventh single, "urara." her solo work has allowed her voice to shine in a way it rarely did in morning musume, as she mostly sung harmonies with only a few solo lines. nakazawa has been a regular featured singer on hello! project's "folk songs" series. she was also placed in akagumi 4 in hello! project's 2000 summer shuffles and puripuri pink in hello!project's 2005 summer shuffles, as well as participating in h.p. all stars along with most of the rest of hello!project in 2004. being the oldest of the 1st generation of morning musume&mdash;she was 24 at the time of formation and nearly 28 upon leaving the group&mdash;nakazawa held the role of the group's leader until her graduation on april 15, 2001. she has cited her reasons for leaving as being her age (she was 14 years older than the youngest member of the troupe, then 13-year-old ai kago, at the time of her departure) and her desire to pursue other things by the time she was 30. since then, nakazawa has done some work in japanese dramas such as beauty 7 and home maker, performed in various plays, and continued in her solo singing career at a st
1973_births Dream_Morning_Musume_members Enka_musicians Former_Hello!_Project_members Hello!_Project_solo_singers Japanese_actresses Japanese_female_singers Japanese_idols Japanese_pop_singers Japanese_television_personalities Living_people Morning_Musume_members Musicians_from_Kyoto_Prefecture People_from_Kyoto_Prefecture Puripuri_Pink_members