Teshima Aoi (手嶌葵) is a voice actor/singer hailing from Fukuoka. She debuted as a seiyuu in the lead role in the Ghibli anime Gedo Seki (Tales from Earthsea), which was made by the acclaimed anime artist Miyazaki Hayao's son Miyazaki Goro. Simultaneously, she debuted in the music world under the major label Yamaha Music. Her first single, Therru no Uta, reached #5 on Oricon charts and has sold over 220,000 copies.

Teshima was born in Fukuoka in 1987. From when she was little she liked watching musicals and Disney movies. Other than this, not much is known about her early life, except that in 2003 and 2004 she entered the TEENS' MUSIC FESTIVAL in Fukuoka. She also performed at the Nikkan Slow Music no Sekai concert in March 2005 in Korea.

Suzuki Toshio, the producer of many Ghibli films, first heard Teshima's voice in a demo CD given to him by a man from Yamaha Music. The CD featured three Jazz standards: Moon River, La Vie en Rose and Bette Midler's 1980 hit song "The Rose". He was impressed so much that he offered Teshima the chance to sing for the up and coming Ghibli film Gedo Senki. She accepted, and only two weeks after Suzuki hearing her demo CD, Teshima sung and recorded the Gedo Senki insert song Therru no Uta. Later in 2006, Teshima debuted in both the music and voice acting worlds with the announcement that she would be singing for Gedo Senki, as well as voice acting one of the main characters, Therru.

Teshima's debut single, Therru no Uta, as well as being used for Gedo Senki, was used in an Asahi Inryo commercial. The song is based upon a poem called 'Kokoro' that was written by the famous Japanese poet Hagiwara Sakutaro. Miyazaki Goro himself composed the tune. The single was a one-tracked single and low priced (500円), which reached a surprisingly high position of #5 on Oricon charts. Furthermore, it stayed in the top 10 for six non-consecutive weeks, selling a total of over 220,000 copies.

Teshima followed up this single a month later with her debut album, Gedo Senki Kashuu (which includes songs the two songs she sung for the OST (Therru no Uta and the ending theme song, Toki no Uta as well as other songs inspired by Gedo Senki). However, this album did not fare as well commercially as its single counterpart. The album only reached up to #20 on the charts and to date has sold 45,000 copies; roughly 1/4 of that of the single.

While there was a period of inactivity after these releases, it was announced in December 2006 that Teshima would release a new eight track album called Haru no Kashuu in Spring of 2007. In October 2007, Teshima released a single track single titled Kiseki no Hoshi. Teshima will release an English cover album of Hollywood movie themes titled The Rose ~I Love Cinemas~. Also, a new unreleased song titled "Koi Suru Shippo。" (恋するしっぽ。; The Tail I Love.) is currently being used as the Yume Neko DS image song.

Teshima says that she gets her inspiration as a musician and as a seiyuu from reading books and looking at beautiful paintings.

Trivia

# Favourite Colours: Black, Blue
# Favourite Musical Genre: Jazz
# Favourite Artists: Billie Holiday, Corinne Bailey Rae, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, The Blues Brothers
# Favourite Actor: Audrey Hepburn
# Favourite Movies: Little Lord Fauntleroy, Porco Rosso, Roman Holiday
# First CD She Bought: The Blues Brothers - The Best of the Blues Brothers
* Does not like ramen noodles.
* Has been a Ghibli fan since childhood.
* Suzuki Toshio's favourite song on Aoi's demo tape was "The Rose".
* The meaning of her first name is Hollyhock.
* Took up voice acting Therru as her brother liked Ghibli, but was originally going to decline the role.
* Wanted to be a librarian or a bookstore owner when she was little.
* Was going to debut in 2008, before the offer to sing for Ghibli arose.
* Would like to go to England or France.