Yūko Ōshima

is a Japanese actress and former member of Japanese idol girl group AKB48, of which she was the captain of Team K. She was also a member of the AKB48 subunit Not Yet. In addition to the singles that involved the rock-paper-scissors tournaments, she sang on the title tracks for all of AKB48's singles since "Aitakatta" in October 2006. She placed among the top two of the annual AKB48 general elections from 2009 to 2013. Oshima is currently represented with Ohta Production. Biography Oshima was born in Yokohama, and was raised in Mibu, Tochigi Prefecture. Her mother is from Hokkaido. Oshima is 3/4 Japanese and 1/4 American. Her parents divorced 6 months after her family moved to Mibu. Oshima lived with her father while she only saw her mother once after the divorce. In 1996, she signed as a child actor with Central Kodomo Gekidan. In 2005, she began working as a junior idol in a short-lived idol project Doll's Vox, which was produced by The Alfee vocalist Toshihiko Takamizawa. In 2006, at the AKB48's second audition to form Team K, she was selected out of a pool of 12,000 applicants to join the team. In April, she began working full-time with the group, which debuted with the single, "Aitakatta", in October 2006. On August 24, 2012, AKB48 announced a reorganization of the teams, and appointed Oshima to be the captain of Team K.