Aya Ueto was discovered at an early age when she attended the 7th All-Japan National Beauty contest Young, where she received a special award from judges. This discovery led to numerous offers of commercial television, which finally started her acting career.
In 1999, she formed the pop group JZ-1 with Mami Nejiki, May Fujiya, and Manami Nishiwaki. They released five singles before ya went on to start a solo career when she signed with Pony Canyon two years later.
