Takayo Ookoshi

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Takayo Ookoshi was born on June 13, 1985, in Hokkaidō, Japan. As a young child, she was shy. In an effort to help her overcome this, her parents strongly encouraged her to enroll in Studio Runtime, a children’s school for the performing arts. In 1998, she was selected as one of the four final choices to be in the pop band ZONE. Because ZONE was a creation of Studio Runtime, and because Runtime has deep ties with the Sony music department, the band was able to make a high-profile debut in 2000, at the “Sapporo Lilac Festival”.

Mr. Ominami Tadayuki, a representative of Sony Records, noticed that the crowd reaction to the debut concert was particularly enthusiastic. At this point, ZONE was strictly a dance group. Following his belief that ZONE had the makings of a hit, Mr. Ominami watched a live video of the band playing with instruments at the KomeKome Klub, and felt that, due to the overabundance of dance groups, ZONE had the makings of a true pop sensation, if they could play instruments as well as sing and dance. Takayo’s instrument became the guitar.

With the release of their third single, "Secret Base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~", ZONE became a bona fide pop sensation in Japan. Takayo’s skills at playing guitar were also rapidly improving. In late 2003, Takayo left the band to pursue her studies.

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