Ai Otsuka

Ai Otsuka (大塚 愛) is a Japanese singer-songwriter from Suminoe-ku, Osaka, Japan.

For a short period of time -around late 2001- she was part of a duo called HimawaRi, along with classmate Mami Nishida.

They released only the song "Sakuranbo" on the Internet, and were active for a little time.

She sent demo tapes to record labels with no positive results, until she got a call back from Avex just before her graduation from university.

She is a popular artist on the Avex Trax label and is best known for her 2003 hit "Sakuranbo", which stayed in the Top 200 Oricon Weekly Singles Chart for 103 weeks.

A piano player since age four, Otsuka composes and co-produces her own songs, as well as writes her own lyrics.

Her music ranges from upbeat pop/rock music to ballads.

Every year, Otsuka also has her own Love is Born tour to mark the anniversary of being in the music industry and her birthday in September.

All of the Love is Born concerts take place in Japan, ending in her hometown of Osaka.

Her debut single, entitled "Momo no Hanabira", was released on September 10, 2003.

The single was a minor hit, peaking at number 24 on the Oricon weekly singles top 100, but stayed on the charts for 21 weeks.

Her second single, "Sakuranbo", was released on December 17, 2003.

The song debuted at number 20 on the Oricon charts, but managed to get into the Top 10 in February 2004 and went to peak at number five.

Eventually, the single stayed on the chart for 101 weeks (almost two years), and a special "encore press" version was commissioned, which peaked at number 4, and it became the twelfth best selling single of 2004.

Gradually climbing the charts to top 5, the single.

In early March 2004, Otsuka released her third single, "Amaenbo".

The song peaked at the sixth position on the Japanese charts, while at the same time "Sakuranbo" was fifth.

This was the first time in Japanese music history a female artist was able to have two singles in the top ten in the same week.

By end of March 2004, her first album, Love Punch, was released, and peaked third on the Oricon charts selling 190,265 copies in its first week.

In November 2004, the follow-up to Love Punch, Love Jam, was released, which met even greater popular success.

Along with three single released before her second studio album was released.

First, "Happy Days" sold 163,433 units and reached third on the Oricon weekly chart.

Otsuka released her second studio album a month later in November 2004.

Love Jam debuted at the number one position and sold 224,381 units in its first week.

In total, 656,700 units were sold.

Love Jam became her first album to top the chart, but at the same time it was her lowest selling studio album.

Love Jam Tour 2005, her first tour, began on April 24, 2005.

It was completed in June 2005 and a live DVD with footage was released on July 27, 2005.

Love Cook, her third album was released on December 14, 2005.

"Kingyo Hanabi" was the second single to be released after her first album.

"Kingyo Hanabi" also landed in third on the Oricon weekly chart but was able to sell 148,121 units, about 20,000 copies less than her "Happy Days" single.

Two months later, Otsuka released another single, "Daisuki da Yo".

Like the previous two singles, it reached number 3 on the Oricon weekly chart and sold 156,844 units.

On Love is Born 5th Anniversary in 2008, Otsuka held a leg of the concert in Taiwan, where she performed a Chinese version of her song "Planetarium".

In 2009, Otsuka held 3 Love is Born 6th Anniversary concerts in Japan, as well as two concerts in Taiwan.

In 2012, Otsuka debuted as the vocalist of the band Rabbit.

She sold 7 million copies in Japan.

Otsuka started to play piano at the age of four.

She composed her first track at 15, as a homework given by her piano teacher.

After graduating from high school she entered to the Osaka University of Arts Nursery College, where she got her degree as a nursery teacher.