[Article] Otsuka Ai Gains fame in no time
 

Otsuka Ai, the new female singer who is now only 21 years old, attends musical instrument classes just like most Japanese kids did when she was still very young. An able pianist, she started to compose music ever since she was only 15. Not known to most people, her pre-debut masterpieces were accounted for as much as 60 songs. When she was 19 years old, Otsuka sent a demo tape “Daisuki dayo” to Avex Trax even although at time she was taking her Kindergarden Tutor Qualification Course. And since then she was taken into the big family.

Otsuka Ai officially made her debut on September 2003 with her very first single, “Momo no hanabira” (The flower petals of peach), while her second single, “Sakuranbo” (Cherry) hovered the Oricon Singles Ranking for 50 weeks.

One really wouldn’t think of her talents and abilities when looking at the sweet-faced honey. Little did they know that not only she composes her own songs, but she writes all of her song’s lyrics as well as mixing which makes her truly a creative female singer; while her fans weren’t solely male based. Her song lyrics mainly focuses on the perspective of young girls about love relationships; the fast paced “Sakuranbo” or the story about a broken heart that has been dumped, “Ponpon” (Bubbles).

Not only that, another value of listening to Ai’s songs is that you will encounter many weird and funny song titles, such as “Kuroge Wagyuu Joshio tanyaki 735-en” (High-class, black fur Japanese cow, salt-grilled cow tongue --- 735 yen), “Strawberry Jam”… all her inspirations and the ideas of her songs were originated from all the common things that a Japanese girl would encounter, therefore she grabbed most of the attention from her female fans with no sweat at all.

Since she is now the heartthrob of the Japanese youngsters, her record sales definitely won’t be low. Her first album “Love Punch” broke 640000 copies nationwide, with a short notice of 9 months, her second album, “Love Jam” took down the first place of Oricon Chart, amazingly broke the total sales record of the first album in just a week.

She was only on the stage for just a year and she already been invited as a guest performer in the Kouhaku last year. She also won quite a number of newbie awards from some events such as Best Hit 2004 Awards, NHK awards and the 46th Japanese Record Awards.

It has been said by the public that she will most likely be the next Ayumi Hamasaki, however, it is certainly true that she is still too green for this but however the Japanese Music Industry isn’t going to be boring when Otsuka Ai is around the CD shelves.

Translated and edited by Isaac Hiew
Translated from China Press
25th March 2005

This article and the picture are for AHS Forum only. If you would like to use this piece of informative material, please ask for permission from me. Thank you.

Cool. Thanks for that translation. Go Ai! :D

Thanks for the article, it was a nice read.

That's quite interesting to know! And thanks a lot for the translation, issac. =)

Thanks! One of the things I love most about Ai is her many talents in writing, composing, and apparently mixing. I wish more artists would do that. :yes

And it's very interesting that she was on her way to being a kindergarten teacher. Wonder what her actual family thinks about that.

That was a great article overall.

Anywho, she was also a member in a duo called "Himawari," as you may have read at Mint Forest, but they soon broke up when Ai decided to go solo. One of Himawari's songs is "Sakuranbo."

Calico: I think they're pretty much proud. Since it was Ai's desicion to send in the demo tape.

I would kill for a release of her 60 demo songs, or at least the ones that haven't been released/redone yet. But then again, demo versions of her old songs would be cool too. :D

thanks a lot. that was a cool article. yay Ai:)

I heard her song on the NANA Tribute album .. and I loved it. I'm going to purchase one of her CD's soon.

I'll probably be bouncing around singing to Ai's songs while getting dressed for a date :laugh I can see it now .. lol. Which is the most recommended album to purchase: Love Punch or Love Jam?

Thanks for the article :yes

I love Ai Otsuka! Thanks for the info!

LOVE JAM. Both are really good, but I like LOVE JAM a lot more, and it has Kingyo Hanabi!! Ai said she was more pleased with LOVE JAM than LOVE PUNCH. I think LOVE PUNCH is somewhat incomplete, and a little boring. Definetely go with her 2nd album. :D

Geez! I love Ai Otsuka! LOVE!

Is it the same 'Sakuranbo' she released solo-ly?

Glad that you guys like it. :) I guess it is the time to pay a visit to the music stores....

Hey maybe if I started to like her, you guys will have the privilege of seeing her translated articles.

Yeah. Although I really haven't heard it yet, Mint Forest provided a download for it a few months ago. I'll see if I can request for it.

It's a good thing she composes and mixes her own music. Does anybody like the song ,happy days? I really found her voice in that song too cutesy for me >.< But that's not the only song I heard, other songs where she sings naturally sounds alot better.

heh ye i like otsuka ai
shes so cute lol can't tel shes 21
her music is so cute too i've bought all her cd up till now ^o^
i hope i'll continue to buy her stuff ^o^
thankies for the article

great article! thanks for the translation!

initially i thought she was just another cute looking newbie with nothing to boast. it was until the 2nd album and when i first head "daisukidayo" i liked it a lot. it was until then that i realised she writes and composes her own songs. wow, that made me look at her in a whole new light :)

She can still dream of being the next Ayumi because it's not gonna be this easy. I don't think she have the potentiel and talents for that.

True, but no one said anything about Ai-chin replacing Ayu except for some tabloids and probably those who're too obssesed with her. I'm a fan, but I don't think about the replacing thing. Ai's original in her own way and so is Ayu.