was a member of the J-pop

J-pop

, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...

 group C-ute, under Hello! Project

Hello! Project

is the umbrella name for all female idol Japanese pop recording artists collective that are under contract with the Up-Front Group. The "mothership" group of Hello! Project is the super-group Morning Musume. Hello! Project's current leader is Risa Niigaki, the leader of Morning Musume...

. She was also a member of ZYX

ZYX

was a short-lived Japanese pop group made up of five Hello! Project Kids members led by Mari Yaguchi of Morning Musume. Yaguchi acted as a mentor and the group released two singles. ZYX is important in that it is the first unit that Hello! Project Kids officially joined with the second being Aa!...

 along with Momoko Tsugunaga

Momoko Tsugunaga

is a J-pop singer. Her career began in 2002 when she successfully auditioned for the Hello! Project Kids followed by 15 other girls, and was selected as one of the eight members of Berryz Kobo. Since then, she has continued to sing in that group and has become a part of three smaller groups...

, Mari Yaguchi

Mari Yaguchi

, known professionally by her birth name of is a Japanese pop artist and former member of Hello! Project. She is a former member of Morning Musume and Tanpopo, one of its first sub groups, and also founded Minimoni...

, Maimi Yajima

Maimi Yajima

is a member and the leader of C-ute, a J-pop group within Hello! Project. Her younger cousin, Akari Takeuchi, is also a member of Hello! Project, currently a "Hello Pro Egg"...

, Megumi Murakami

Megumi Murakami

, born June 6, 1992 in Saitama Prefecture, Japan is a former Japanese pop singer. She is best known as a former member of Hello! Project unit C-ute. Her "official" nickname is "Meguru".- Career :...

, and Saki Shimizu

Saki Shimizu

is a J-pop singer. Her career began in 2002 when she successfully passed the audition for Hello! Project Kids, an all-female teen pop group within Hello! Project. Since then, she has continued to sing in that group and has become a part of two smaller groups composed of Hello! Project Kids members,...

.

Musical career

In 2002, Umeda successfully passed the Hello! Project Kids Audition along with fourteen other girls. Eight were chosen for Berryz Kobo with the intention of rotating the girls around. The idea was eventually dropped, and C-ute was formed. Umeda was the oldest in the group, in which case she was originally to become the leader, but declined.

On August 1, 2009, Hello! Project's website announced that Umeda was scheduled to graduate from C-ute on October 25, 2009, the last day of their concert tour, with aspirations to become a fashion model.

Modeling career

In 2010, Umeda was signed into a model agency called Illume Models.

In 2011 (2011/07/16), Umeda was signed into her new model agency called Peach;Co.Ltd.

External links

• Erika's Sweet Diary (blog)