About 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, BoA, Namie Amuro, and Every Little Thing. A piano player since age 4, Otsuka composes and co-produces her songs. She also writes her own lyrics. Her music ranges from upbeat catchy pop/rock music that can be heard in tracks like Happy Days and Sakuranbo to touching ballads like Daisuki da yo and Planetarium.

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 third album, then came out on December 14, 2005. In its first week, it sold 335,000 copies. Her single Planetarium (released on September 20, 2005) had also been featured on the live-action drama Hana Yori Dango.

Her next 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 used as the commercial song for the Toshiba W41T 4GB MP3 Mobile Phone. Otsuka also sang the opening theme for Tokyo Friends--in which she also portrayed the main character as her acting debut--"Yumekui." It was released as a new single on August 2, 2006. It debuted at #5 on the weekly chart, selling 63,428 copies in the first week and a total of 145,281 copies. Two months after "Yumekui," Otsuka released another single entitled "Renai Shashin" on October 25, 2006, which was used as the opening theme song for the movie "Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru".

Otsuka released her first 2007 single, "Chu-Lip," on February 21. The single was used as the theme song for the TBS drama "Kirakira Kenshui," starring Manami Konishi and Wentz Eiji of WaT, and managed to claim #3 on the ORICON charts. (See any patterns?)

Soon after the release of "Chu-Lip," Otsuka unveiled her first best hits compilation album entitled "Ai am Best" on March 28, 2007, which features 13 pre-2006 songs and their respective promotional videos. There are 11 songs from her singles, one song from Love Cook and one song from a NANA sound track: Love for Nana ~Only 1 Tribute~. "Ai am Best" sold 64,396 copies on the first day and debuted at #1, making it Otsuka's best selling album; it sold over 350,000 copies in its first week. Otsuka went on a 2007 tour from May 18 to July 7 entitled "Ai am Best Tour" that featured songs from "Ai am Best" and more.

On April 11, 2007 Otsuka released a new single, "Love no Theme," as and about the self-created bunny rabbit character "Love-chan." "Love no Theme" was shown on her Jam Punch Tour 2005. It was called "I canChu♥" before it was changed to "Love no Theme". The single also included an extra trick preview of her new, soon-to-be released single entitled "White Choco," a previously unreleased song on her "Momo no hanabira" promotional disc originally entitled "White Chocolate" (Whiteチョコ; White Choko).

Otsuka released her first single after "Ai am Best," named "Peach / Heart," on July 25, 2007. The first A-side "Peach" is an up-beat summer song and was used as the end song of the summer drama Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (starring Maki Horikita and Shun Oguri), while Heart is a mid-tempo track. The single also includes the rearranged version of "Renai Shashin", titled Renai Shashin -Haru- (恋愛写真 -春-; Love Photograph -Spring-).

The singer's latest album, Love PiECE, was released September 26, 2007. The album includes all her singles after Love Cook, from "Frienger" all the way to "Peach/Heart", resulting in only five new songs in an 11-track album.

Two months after the triple-release of Love PiECE , the CD version of Ai am Best, and the Ai am Best Tour 2007, Otsuka released her next single "Pocket" (ポケット; Poketto) on November 7, 2007, including two B-sides: "Ticket" and "Life - Love CiRcle." Love's long awaited single "White Choco" was released two weeks after the release of "Pocket" on November 21, 2007. Ai's fourth solo tour, entitled "Love PiEce Tour 2008", ran from February 2nd to May 6th.

Most recently, Ai’s 17th single, Rocket Sneaker/OnexTime, was released on May 21, six months after the release of "Pocket." The single features in all three new songs: the A-track Rocket Sneaker, B-track OnexTime, and the additional track Sora to Kujira.

Aside from her musical career, Otsuka has also appeared in television commercials and acted in the drama Tokyo Friends and its 2006 movie sequel. 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.

She also hosts a radio show on JOQR Recomen!! AM1134hHz called Otsuka Ai no ai-r jack. Furthermore, Otsuka writes her own column for two Japanese magazines; "Love Column" in Zipper and "Love World ~ Eye Love Pictures" in B-Pass.

Kimi iro Omoi, Otsuka's first photobook, was released on March 1st, 2005, followed by LOVE WORLD on September 25, 2007 and Otsuka Ai no ai-r Jack on January 31, 2008. A talented graphic artist as well, the first pressings of her albums and some singles have included a limited edition picture book illustrated by Ai herself. Many of her illustrations can be seen at the Gallery section of her official website.

Discography
Albums
[2004.03.31] LOVE PUNCH
[2004.11.17] LOVE JAM
[2005.12.14] LOVE COOK
[2007.09.26] LOVE PiECE
[2008.12.17] LOVE LETTER
Compilations
[2007.03.28] Ai am BEST (愛 am BEST)
Singles
[2003.09.10] Momo no Hanabira (桃ノ花ビラ; Peach Petals)
[2003.12.17] Sakuranbo (さくらんぼ; Cherries)
[2004.03.03] Amaenbo (甘えんぼ; Spoiled Child)
[2004.07.07] Happy Days
[2004.08.18] Kingyo Hanabi (金魚花火; Goldfish Fireworks)
[2004.10.20] Daisuki da yo. (大好きだよ。; I Love You.)
[2005.02.09] Kuroge Wagyuu Joshio Tanyaki 680 Yen (黒毛和牛上塩タン焼680円; Black Grilled Cow's Tongue 680 Yen)
[2005.05.11] SMILY / Biidama (ビー玉; Marble)
[2005.07.13] Neko ni Fuusen (ネコに風船; Cat with a Balloon)
[2005.09.21] Planetarium (プラネタリウム)
[2006.04.12] Frienger (フレンジャー)
[2006.08.02] Yumekui (ユメクイ; Dream Eater)
[2006.10.25] Ren'ai Shashin (恋愛写真; Love Photographs)
[2007.02.21] CHU-LIP
[2007.07.25] PEACH / HEART
[2007.11.07] Pocket (ポケット)
[2008.05.21] Rocket Sneaker / One×Time (ロケットスニーカー)
[2008.09.10] Kurage, Nagareboshi (Jellyfish, Shooting Star)
LOVE Singles
[2007.04.11] LOVE no Theme (LOVEのテーマ; Love's Theme)
[2007.11.21] White Choco
DVD
[2005.07.27] JAM PUNCH Tour 2005 ~Kondoru no Pantsu ga Kui Kondoru~ (Jam Punch Tour 2005 ~コンドルのパンツがくいコンドル~)
[2006.07.26] LOVE COOK Tour 2006 - Mascara Mainichi Tsukete Mascara (LOVE[99] COOK Tour 2006 マスカラ毎日つけてマスカラ)
[2007.01.01] ai otsuka [LOVE IS BORN] ~3rd Anniversary 2006~ at Hibiya Yagai Ongaku-do on 9th of September 2006 (大塚愛【LOVE IS BORN】～3rd Anniversary 2006～ at Hibiya Yagai Ongaku-do on 9th of September 2006)
[2007.09.26] Ai am Best Tour 2007 ~Best na Content ni Meccha Ai wo Komento!!!~ at Tokyo International Forum Hall A on 9th of July 2007 (愛 am BEST Tour 2007 ～ベストなコメントにめっちゃ愛を込めんと!!!～)
[2008.01.01] ai otsuka [LOVE IS BORN] ~4th Anniversary 2007~ (大塚愛【LOVE IS BORN】～4th Anniversary 2007～)
[2008.07.30] LOVE PiECE tour 2008 (～メガネかけなきゃユメがネェ!～ at Pacifico Yokohama on 1st of May 2008 / at the Pacifico National Convention Hall of Yokohama)

Much credit and thanks to Wikipedia.org and Wiki.theppn.org.
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