Ai Otsuka

Ai Otsuka

Ai Otsuka (大塚愛, Ōtsuka Ai, born September 9, 1982) is a Japanese pop female singer-songwriter and pianist from Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. She is best-known for her 2003/2004 hit Sakuranbo, which stayed in the Top 200 Oricon Weekly Singles Chart for 101 weeks.

Biography

Ai Otsuka is signed to record label avex trax, one of the biggest record labels in Japan which also manages other high-profile artists like Ayumi Hamasaki, Kumi Koda, Sweetbox, BoA, Namie Amuro, Ami Suzuki, Hitomi Shimatani, and Every Little Thing.

Her first single, 2003's "Momo no Hanabira", was only a minor hit, peaking at #24 on the Oricon singles top 100, but stayed on the charts for 21 weeks. Her next single, "Sakuranbo", released December of 2003 would become the 12th best selling single of 2004. Gradually climbing the charts to top 5, the single stayed on the chart for 101 weeks (almost two years), and a special "encore press" version was commissioned, which peaked at #4. In March 2004, her first album "LOVE PUNCH" was released, which debuted at No. 3 on the Oricon charts and sold more than 320,000 copies in its first week. She continued to release singles and gradually built a diverse and devoted following. In November 2004, the follow-up to "Love Punch", "LOVE JAM", was released, which met even greater popular success. "LOVE COOK", her latest album, came out on December 14 2005. In its first week, it sold 335,000 copies.

Her single, Planetarium, was released on September 20, 2005. It is one of the main songs for the live-action drama Hana Yori Dango.

Otsuka has also appeared in television commercials and acted in the drama Tokyo Friends, released on DVD. Her promotional videos are filmed as mini-dramas. She is qualified to teach kindergarten, and has said she will become a kindergarten teacher if her singing career collapses.

Her Spring 2006 single, Frienger (a portmanteau of the words Friend and Ranger), was released on April 12 2006. The PV music video was shot in Taiwan and is used as the commercial song for the Toshiba W41T 4GB MP3 Mobile Phone.

She also hosts a radio show on JOQR Recomen!! AM1134hHz called Otsuka Ai no ai-r jack.

In 2006, Otsuka released the singles Frienger, Yumekui, Renai Shashin, and CHU-LIP. She will be releasing her first best hits compilation album entitled "AI am BEST" on March 28, 2007, which will feature 13 pre-2006 songs and their respective promotional videos .

Discography

Further information: Ai Otsuka discography

Albums

Year	Title	Type	Chart positions
2004	LOVE PUNCH	Studio	3
2004	LOVE JAM	Studio	1
2005	LOVE COOK	Studio	1
2007	AI am BEST (愛 am BEST)	Compilation	1

Other

• LOVE for NANA ～Only 1 Tribute～ (March 16, 2005)
  • "Cherish/大塚愛 for TRAPNEST" (also included on her LOVE COOK album)
• 大塚 愛 JAM PUNCH Tour 2005 〜コンドルのパンツくいコンドル〜 at Tokyo International Forum Hall A on 1st of June 2005 (July 27, 2005)
  • Live DVD
• 大塚 愛 LOVE COOK Tour 2006 〜マスカラ毎日つけてマスカラ〜 at Osaka-Jo Hall on 9th of May 2006 (July 26, 2006)
  • Live DVD
• LOVEのテーマ (LOVE no Theme)(April 11, 2007)
  • As the rabbit LOVE

Photobooks

• Kimi iro Omoi [1] (キミイロオモイ) (February 25, 2005)

Theme songs

• "Momo no Hanabira" - Theme song for SUIKA
• "Kuroge Wagyuu Joshio Tanyaki 680 Yen" - Ending song for Black Jack
• "Friends" (in her LOVE JAM album) - Theme song for Tokyo Friends, the drama she starred in.
• "Planetarium" - Image song for Hana Yori Dango
• "Yumekui" - Theme song for the Tokyo Friends movie
• "Renai Shashin" - Theme song for the movie "Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru"
• "CHU-LIP" - Theme song for the drama "Kirakira Kenshui"

DVD drama

• Tokyo Friends [2] (June 8, 2005)

Radio shows

• Nippon Cultural Broadcasting Otsuka Ai ai-r Jack

Live tour DVDs

1. Gakuensai Tour (2004)
2. JAM PUNCH Tour 2005 ～kondoru no pantsu ga kuikondoru～ (2005)
3. LOVE [99] COOK TOUR 2006　～マスカラ毎日つけてマスカラ～ (masukara mainichi tsukete masukara)(2006)
4. 大塚 愛【LOVE IS BORN】～3rd Anniversary 2006～ (1/1/2007 on sale)

Random trivia

• Otsuka recently released a 2007 calendar under the pen-name AiO.
• Otsuka can't eat cherries at all.
• The bunny Otsuka always draws is named LOVE-chan.
• Otsuka belonged to a group named Himawari before her solo career.
• The songs "Sakuranbo" and "Happy Days" were remixed by M-Project into "Cherry" and "Happy Days" respectively.

External links

• Ai Otsuka official website
• ThePPN:Otsuka Ai

Fan sites

• Channel-Ai, an Ai Otsuka forum
• AI CHERRY
• 大塚愛 Japan fansite　@ai-NAVI
• Otsuka Ai Song Translations