Ai Otsuka | Profile Generally viewed as "the next Ayumi Hamasaki" for Avex, Osaka-born Ai Otsuka has strung together an impressive series of hits in a short period of time, making her a strong contender not only for Avex's next cash cow, but for the role of J-Pop's next queen. Otsuka began composing music and lyrics at the age of 15, writing her future hit "Always Together / Momo no Hanabira" for a friend at age 17. Too shy to perform by herself, Otsuka enlisted the help of several other friends and sang it as a chorus. Fears of performing solo aside, Otsuka knew from this time that she wanted to be a professional artist, and soon penned more future hits, including "Sakuranbo", Happy Days", "Smily", "Pretty Voice", and others, all while she was still a junior college student. Otsuka soon formed a group to perform her music, dubbing it HimawaRi. Boasting a rougher style than her present one, Otsuka and HimawaRi released "Sakuranbo" and several other tracks independently. Otsuka also circulated demo tapes to the major record companies, including her label Avex, which decided to give her a contract. Her September, 2003 debut was "Momo no Hababira", which peaked unimpressively at #86 on the charts, but remained on the charts for an impressive 17 weeks and was chosen as the theme song for the television drama Suika. Otsuka hit it big with her second single, "Sakuranbo", which was released in December of the same year and went on to be the 12th best selling single of that year, despite being released in the last month. The song stayed on the charts for a mind-boggling 82 weeks, peaking at #5, and a special extra pressing was commissioned. Otsuka released her first album, Love Punch, in March, 2004. Debuting at #3 on the charts and selling more than 320,000 copies in the first week, Love Punch was followed by another string of singles that made her a favorite among high school girls and office ladies, propelling her to the top of the J-Pop heap. Following on the "love" theme, Otsuka released the album Love Jam in November, 2004 to more success. Her third album, Love Cook (seeing a pattern here?), was released in December, 2005. Otsuka has also appeared in several television commercials as a spokesperson, and in the television drama Tokyo Friends. She also hosts a radio show, and is an occasional columnist as well. In addition to her music and media work, Otsuka's album covers and promotional posters, which could sometimes be construed as overtly sexual, have also been subjects of conversation. by Bill Haw
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