Ms.OOJA

Overview

Ms.OOJA (born October 28, 1982) is a Japanese female singer-songwriter signed to NPP DEVELOP, with Universal Music as her record label. She made her major debut in February 2011 at the age of 28 and is often called a "late-blooming diva." Her fifth single "Be..." (2012) reached a combined 1 million digital downloads, and its parent album "Heart" debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon daily album chart, raising her profile significantly. Alongside her own songwriting, she actively covers other artists' songs as a lifework. Her covers of EXILE's "Ti Amo" and Yasushi Nakanishi's "Saigo no Ame" each passed 8 million YouTube views, and her version of Miki Matsubara's "Mayonaka no Door ~ Stay With Me" topped 4 million. Her radio show on Hokkaido's FM North Wave, started in January 2012 (now "Satapan"), has run for over 555 episodes and more than ten years.

Career

Before her singing career

Born on October 28, 1982 in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, she is the eldest of four siblings (two younger brothers and a younger sister). She began singing at 17 with the aim of becoming a vocalist. After graduating from a high school in Yokkaichi, she worked as an apparel clerk at the Yokkaichi branch of Chubu Kintetsu Department Store while performing on Nagoya's club scene, where she sang for about ten years before her major debut. Before music, she studied dance.

2006-2010: Indie years

She debuted independently in July 2006 and moved to Nagoya that year, working at a department store there. On May 20, 2009 she released the indie album "Impact" as the unit "EL LATINO & Ms.OOJA" with rapper EL LATINO, including a cover of Tomoko Sawada's "Aitai." In January 2010 she released the indie solo album "Ms.OOJA," which sold over 8,000 copies. A Universal Music staff member who later became her manager noticed her at a club event featuring many artists, leading to the major-debut offer. Other labels also approached her, but she chose Universal for its enthusiasm; it took about a year to reach debut.

2011-2020: Major debut

She debuted on Universal Sigma on February 16, 2011 with "It's OK," which topped Recochoku Club's Uta Daily chart. Her fifth single "Be..." (February 29, 2012), written as the theme for the TBS drama "Renai Neet ~ Wasureta Koi no Hajimekata," exceeded 1 million downloads and ranked No. 7 on Recochoku's annual chart and No. 12 on iTunes' annual chart. "Mata Kimi to feat. Ms.OOJA" with JAY'ED (November 12, 2014) earned strong support on Chinese social media such as Weibo; when she posted 2018 live footage of the pair with Chinese and Japanese lyric subtitles on YouTube in July 2021, it passed 1 million views in four months. In March 2016, after the 5th-anniversary compilation "Ms.OOJA THE BEST 'Anata no Shudaika'" hit No. 1 on iTunes' weekly album chart, she temporarily renamed herself "Miss Ouja" (ミス王者) for four days.

2021-present: Since the 10th anniversary

On February 16, 2021, her 10th major-debut anniversary, she released "Hajimari no Toki" and then issued a digital single on the 16th of each month for seven consecutive months. On February 16, 2022 she released the three-disc compilation "10th Anniversary Best Watashitachi no Shudaika." On March 27, 2022 she held "Ms.OOJA 10th Anniversary Live -Hajimari no Toki- in Nippon Budokan," with guests AK-69, Kaoru Kurosawa (Gospellers), JAY'ED and Kentaro Kobuchi (Kobukuro). During the 2022 pro baseball season, "Baby Don't Know Why" was used as BGM for highlights after Chunichi Dragons wins at Nagoya Dome, and she threw the ceremonial first pitch on June 17. On September 21 she served as one-day police chief of Osaka's Sonezaki Police Station. In October 2025 she appeared on BS Asahi's "Takamizawa Toshihiko no Oishii Ongaku Utsukushii Meshi."

Personal profile

Her stage name is a rearrangement of her real name, taking its sound from it; the fact that searching the name returned nothing else sealed the choice. Her real name is undisclosed, and her nicknames are Ooja, OJ and Ms. At debut she was introduced as "the diva born of Nagoya's real scene." Before Ms.OOJA she performed as "ANN'" (from a nickname), changing it after forming a unit with EL LATINO in 2005. She is 173 cm tall and a cat lover, with an Exotic Shorthair named Buko.

Tourism ambassador roles

Since January 2013 she has been Yokkaichi's tourism ambassador, one of the first five chosen under the ordinance enacted in 2012. Since October 2013 she has also been a Mie Prefecture tourism ambassador, and "It's OK" was adopted as the campaign song of Mie's 2016 marriage-positive campaign.

Media

On radio she hosted "Love Panther" on ZIP-FM (2011-2018), "Slow Jam" on Fm Yokohama, and "Friday Panther" and "Saturday Panther" on FM North Wave, and has hosted "Ms.OOJA Satapan" since April 2018. On TV she has appeared on programs such as "Wednesday Kayosai" (2015), the FNS Music Festival (2016) and NHK's "Utacon," and served as a judge on the 4th AKB48 Group Singing Contest in January 2022.

Musical style

Her biggest influences are Mary J. Blige and Alicia Keys. She also admires Kelly Hilson, Hikaru Utada, Kaname Nemoto and Stardust Revue, Chikuzen Sato and Sing Like Talking, and Motohiro Hata. An R&B-rooted vocalist, she treats covers as a lifework alongside her original songs, and her repertoire touches city pop and kayokyoku.