Aya Ueto is a Japanese actress, singer, and television personality who has also contributed her voice to various animated projects. Born on September 14, 1985, in Tokyo, she began her entertainment career after winning a special jury prize at the 7th Japan Bishōjo Contest in 1997. She initially debuted as a member of the girl group Z-1 in 1999 before transitioning to a successful solo career in music and live-action film and television. Her work as a voice actor, while not her primary occupation, includes roles in animated films and dubbed versions of foreign movies.

In the realm of animation, Ueto has taken on several key voice roles. She voiced the character Kayoko Nakane in the 2005 animated film Ashita Genki ni Nare! ~Hanbun no Satsumaimo~. This film is based on a book by Kayoko Ebina and tells the story of war orphans struggling to survive in the period just after World War II, with Ueto providing the voice for the main character. In 2007, she voiced the lead role of Kai Ichinose in the animated film The Piano Forest (Piano no Mori). Kai is a young boy from a poor background who possesses a natural, extraordinary talent for playing a piano abandoned in the woods. Another notable voice role came in 2009 with the science fiction animated film Baton. In this film, produced to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the opening of the port of Yokohama, Ueto voiced Mikaru, a human companion to an android named Apollo. The film was directed by Ryuhei Kitamura and written by Shunji Iwai, and its production reunited Ueto with Kitamura, who had previously directed her in the live-action film Azumi.

Beyond these dedicated animated works, Ueto's voice can also be heard in Japanese dubs of major international films. She provided the Japanese voice for the lead character, Officer Judy Hopps, in the 2016 Disney film Zootopia. She also voiced attorney Kyoko Tachibana in the 2018 anime film Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer. In 2019, she voiced Princess Aurora in the Japanese dub of the live-action film Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.

Her connection to the anime industry is further underscored by her music career. Ueto performed several theme songs for popular anime series, including Konjiki no Gash Bell!! (Zatch Bell), Nintama Rantaro, Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, and the Detective Conan film The Private Eyes' Requiem. She also made a cameo appearance as herself in an episode of the Detective Conan television series. While widely recognized for her live-action roles in dramas and films such as Azumi, Attention Please, and Hanzawa Naoki, her voice work adds a distinct dimension to her versatile career in the Japanese entertainment industry.