Ueno achieved mainstream success for playing the title role in the live-action adaptations of manga Nodame Cantabile for which she won Best Lead Actress at the 51st Television Drama Academy Awards in 2007.

In 2004, Ueno took on a supporting role in TBS's romance drama, Orange Days, and co-starred in 2005 with Takuya Kimura in Fuji TV's romantic comedy Engine as Misae Hoshino.

She also appeared with Kazuya Kamenashi in the special television movie of Kinda'ichi Shōnen no Jikenbo the same year taking over the role of Miyuki Nanase from Anne Suzuki.

On April 15, 2010, Ueno took the role of "Haru" in the spring J-Drama Sunao ni Narenakute which tells a story of the blossoming friendship between five people through Twitter, along with Eita], Hero Jaejoong, Megumi Seki and Tetsuji Tamayama.

[10] On 11 September 2010, Ueno guest starred in the Korean variety show MBC's We Got Married Season 2 while promoting Nodame Cantabile - The Movie and paid a visit to SNSD's Seohyun and CN Blue's Jung Yong-hwa.

In 2013 she returned to acting with a leading role in the romance film Girl in the Sunny Place opposite actor Jun Matsumoto which was based on the best selling novel of the same name.