Yuko Oshima (大島 優子, Ōshima Yūko, born October 17, 1988 in Tochigi Prefecture) is a former member of Japanese idol girl group AKB48, of which she was the captain of Team K. She is also a member of the AKB48 subunit Not Yet. Outside of singles that involved rock-paper-scissors tournaments, she has sung on the title tracks for all of AKB48's singles since "Aitakatta" in October 2006. She has placed among the top two for the annual AKB48 general elections from 2009-2013.

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. 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.

On December 31, 2013, Oshima announced on Kohaku Uta Gassen that she would be leaving the group.