ayaka

Overview

Ayaka (絢香, born Ayaka Iida on December 18, 1987 in Moriguchi, Osaka) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer. She made her major debut in 2006 with "I believe", and the same year scored Oricon No. 1 hits with the single "Mikazuki" and her debut album First Message, which went on to sell over a million copies. She is married to actor Hiro Mizushima. She is currently with Avex Entertainment (A stAtion within its agent unit) and was previously signed to Ken-On and Warner Music Japan.

Career

Early life

Ayaka loved singing from childhood, and at around age ten discovered Western music through her mother, including Michael Jackson, the Beatles and the Backstreet Boys. She resolved to become a singer in junior high. In summer 2003 she formed a band and started performing in Osaka, also playing solo piano. After writing her first song in a school class, she learned of the music school "Voice" in Fukuoka, run by Yoshihiko Nishio. From May 2004 she commuted between Osaka and Fukuoka every weekend to study music theory and songwriting, and transferred to a Fukuoka high school. She wrote "Mikazuki" around this time, reflecting her feelings for friends and family she would leave behind. Demo tapes made at the school sparked a bidding contest among labels and led to a Warner Music Japan contract. She moved to Tokyo in 2005, held a one-man show before debuting, and in December "Mikazuki" was streamed across Asia, with its video aired on MTV Asia in ten countries.

Warner Music / Ken-On era (2006–2009)

"I believe", the theme of the drama Rondo (TBS), began as a ringtone download in January 2006, and her official debut followed on February 1; it entered the Oricon chart at No. 3. It hit one million ringtone downloads in 42 days, the fastest for a female artist's debut song. Her first national tour began in May, alongside the 50,000-copy limited single "melody SOUNDS REAL"; "Real voice" followed in July. The fourth single "Mikazuki" (September 27) topped the weekly Oricon chart, and First Message (November 1) also hit No. 1, giving her simultaneous No. 1 single and album; it reached a million sales by April 2007 and sold roughly 350,000 copies in its first week. She won Best New Artist at both the Japan Cable Awards and the Japan Record Awards and made the first of many appearances on NHK's Kōhaku Uta Gassen.

In 2007 she released "Winding Road" with Kobukuro (No. 2 on Oricon), "Jewelry Day" (which won her a Gold Prize at the 49th Japan Record Awards), "CLAP & LOVE / Why" (the theme of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII) and the digital single "For Today". She performed at Live Earth Tokyo, played her first Nippon Budokan show in December and appeared on Kōhaku for a second time.

In 2008 she hosted her event "Power of Music" (February 29) and released "Te o Tsunagō / Ai o Utaō" and "Okaeri", the theme of the drama Zettai Kareshi, where she met cast member Hiro Mizushima. Her second album Sing to the Sky (June 25) reached No. 2 and sold over 600,000 copies, and "Anata to", a second collaboration with Kobukuro, followed in September.

She married Mizushima on February 22, 2009. In April she disclosed her Graves' disease and said she would pause her career at year's end. She released "Yume wo Mikata ni / Koikogarete Mita Yume" (April) and "Minna Sora no Shita" (July), then the compilation ayaka's History 2006–2009 (September 23), which sold nearly 350,000 copies in its first week, topped the chart two weeks in a row and was the only solo-artist million-seller of 2009. She recorded MTV Unplugged at Osaka-jō Hall in November and made her fourth Kōhaku appearance as her last performance before the hiatus.

Hiatus and independence (2010–2015)

In 2010 she left Ken-On and Warner Music Japan and set up her own song-management company, launching a new official site that November. In October 2011 she announced an independent label and a return, performing on Music Station Super Live on December 23 and at her fifth Kōhaku. The album The beginning arrived on February 1, 2012, followed by her sixth Kōhaku appearance ("Hajimari no Toki"). Her first post-return single "beautiful/Chiisana Ashiato" came in February 2013, and her first cover album Yuonkurabu 1st grade in September. In 2014, "Nijiiro", the theme of the NHK morning drama Hanako to Anne, brought her a seventh Kōhaku. In 2015 she became the first Japanese artist in the "iTunes Session" series (released in 110 countries), released Rainbow Road on April 15 and announced the birth of her first daughter in June.

10th anniversary and beyond (2016–)

In February 2016 she held a one-night premium concert at Yoyogi National Gymnasium for her 10th anniversary, re-recorded "I believe 2016 ver." and released the best-of THIS IS ME 10th anniversary BEST on July 13. Her second daughter was born in October 2019. In May 2020 she issued the cover album Yuonkurabu 2nd grade (its tour was postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19), created "Negaiboshi" with Daichi Miura, and joined the eight-artist [ re: ] project's "Mou Ichido" with Taka of ONE OK ROCK and Shota Shimizu.

In 2021 she supplied "Blue Moon" (grand theme) and "Hello, Again Mukashi kara Aru Basho" (in-game song) to Tales of Arise, and released "Motto Ii Hi ni", "Tender Love" and "Kinmokusei". Her 15th anniversary tour show at Yoyogi (November 23, 2021) was later released as a live album. She followed with the album LOVE CYCLE (February 2022), "Mirai e" (July 2022), "Mikazuki (From THE FIRST TAKE)" (March 2023) and the album Funtale (June 2023). "Zutto Kimi to" arrived in May 2024 and "Versailles" in January 2025. On April 12, 2025 she sang the national anthem "Kimigayo" solo at the opening ceremony of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. The album Wonder! (September 2025) and the live album Funtale Tour 2023 (recorded at Tokyo International Forum Hall A on September 16, 2023) followed. A 20th-anniversary best-of, 20 Lights -The Collection-, with new material, is scheduled for September 9, 2026.

Musical style

Ayaka traces her vocal style to the gospel she heard in the film Sister Act. She admires Sheryl Crow and Miwa Yoshida, and cites the Beatles, DREAMS COME TRUE, Ken Hirai and Mr.Children among her favorites. Beginning as a piano-playing singer-songwriter, she writes her own songs and has written for Shizuka Kudo, Sakurako Ohara and Mone Kamishiraishi, ranging from powerful ballads to covers and collaborations in J-pop.