ZONE (Maiko, Miyu, and Tomoka) appeared on the August 1, 2011 broadcast of Coming Soon! performing secret base ~Kimi ga Kureta mono~ and Yakusoku. This promotional appearance leads up to the release of a ZONE tribute album on August 10th, and a pair of special lives on August 14 and 15 at Akasaka BLITZ. Mizuho left the entertainment business and will not be participating in these events. The reunion of the other three is a fulfillment of a promise made in the lyrics of their song, "secret base ～君がくれたもの～", which states the belief in meeting again 10 years later in August. The song was released on August 8, 2001. After the Tohoku earthquake, the girls were wondering if there was something they could do. The power of music has shown to be a great way to lift the spirits of people; this gives their reuniting a special meaning and purpose.
The group was initially a dance group formed in 1997 and comprised of 8 girls from Studio RunTime (RunTime Music Entertainment), which is a Sapporo based talent and management agency. The members were reduced to 6 and then eventually to 4 members when they made their official debut in 1999; Miyu Nagase (guitar & vocals), Takayo Ookoshi (guitar & vocals), Maiko Sakae (bass & vocals), and Mizuho Saito (drums & vocals). After Takayo announced her departure in 2003 to concentrate on school, Tomoka Nishimura (originally one of the 6th members who was supposedly cut due to her height difference at the time) replaced Takayo and at least for me, became a favorite.
The "bandol" group were quite successful releasing numerous hit singles and even had their variety show. In early 2005, Mizuho announced she would be leaving the group (actually, she made the decision to completely leave the entertainment business to focus on hotel management). The other 3 members decided not to replace Mizuho and also decided not to continue as a 3-piece unit; they decided to disband (at the top of their game) and held their final concert on April 1, 2005, at the Nippon Budokan.
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