Ozawa Kenji

Overview

Ozawa Kenji (小沢 健二, born 14 April 1968 in Sagamihara, Kanagawa) is a Japanese singer-songwriter, writer and designer, nicknamed "Ozaken." A former member of the duo Flipper's Guitar, he is among the earliest practitioners of Shibuya-kei. A University of Tokyo graduate, he is the nephew of conductor Seiji Ozawa. His 1994 collaboration with Scha Dara Parr, "Konya wa Boogie Back," and the album LIFE made him a star, earning him the title "Prince of Shibuya-kei."

Career

Early life

Ozawa was born the second son of German literature scholar Toshio Ozawa and clinical psychologist Makiko Ozawa, and soon moved to Germany with his family. He met Keigo Oyamada at Wako Junior High School, attended Tama High School, and after a year as a rōnin entered the University of Tokyo.

Flipper's Guitar

While at university he joined the amateur band Lollipop Sonic, formed by Oyamada and others. They professionally debuted in 1989 as Flipper's Guitar, quickly becoming a duo of Ozawa and Oyamada. The group disbanded in October 1991 after a tour and the album DOCTOR HEAD'S WORLD TOWER.

Solo debut and peak

Ozawa debuted solo on 21 July 1993 with the single "Tenki Yomi" and released his first album, Inu wa Hoeru ga Caravan wa Susumu, on 29 September. "Konya wa Boogie Back," released 9 March 1994 with Scha Dara Parr, sold over 500,000 copies. His second album LIFE (31 August 1994), rich in soul-inflected brass and strings and peaking at No. 5 on the Oricon weekly chart, became his signature work. Hits such as "Lovely" and "Corolla II ni Notte" followed. He appeared on NHK's Kōhaku Uta Gassen in both 1995 and 1996, and released the jazz-flavored mini-album Kyūtai no Kanaderu Ongaku in 1996.

Hiatus and New York years

After a festival appearance in 1997 he stopped performing live, and following the 1998 single "Haru ni Shite Kimi o Omou" he paused for about four years and moved to New York. He signed with Motown and contributed a Japanese-lyric cover of "Got To Give It Up" to the Japanese edition of Marvin is 60 (1999). He released Eclectic, recorded in New York, in 2002, and the fully instrumental Ecology of Everyday Life on 8 March 2006. He made no TV appearances for 16 years from February 1998, lived in the US and did environmental fieldwork in South America and elsewhere, and from October 2005 serialized the story Usagi! in the quarterly Kodomo to Mukashibanashi.

Return

In May 2010 he launched Hihumiyo, his first concert tour in 13 years. In March–April 2012 he gave 12 concerts at Tokyo Opera City under the title Tokyo no Machi ga Kanaderu. On 20 March 2014 he appeared on TV for the first time in 16 years, performing four songs solo on guitar on Waratte Iitomo! In March 2015 he gave a surprise live at the final day of the Kyoko Okazaki exhibition at the Setagaya Literary Museum. In January 2016 he announced the Mahouteki tour via mysterious posters, then toured nationwide from 25 May to 27 June.

On 22 February 2017 he released "Ryuudoutai ni Tsuite," his first single in 19 years, and two days later appeared on Music Station for the first time in 20 years. In September he released "Fukuro no Koe ga Kikoeru" with SEKAI NO OWARI. In February 2018 came the single "Arpeggio (Kitto Mahou no Tunnel no Saki)" and the Haru no Kuuki ni Niji wo Kake tour, with Hikari Mitsushima participating. On 13 November 2019 he released So kakkoii Uchuu, his first album in 13 years. Later activity includes the So kakkoii Uchuu Shows (2022), the lecture-style Toudai Kyuuhyakubankoudou Kougi (2023), concerts with Scha Dara Parr (2024), and an appearance with Seiji Kameda at Hibiya Music Festival 2025 on 31 May 2025; a live recording from it is due out on analog vinyl as an "official bootleg" on 24 December 2025.

Writing

His written works include the essay series DOOWUTCHYALiKE (1994–1997), Usagi! (2005–2017) and the picture book Ice Cream ga Tokete Shimau Maeni (2017).

Musical style

A central figure of Shibuya-kei, Ozawa blends soul, jazz and pop, with sound often drawing on Western pop references. He has said he writes lyrics straight from what is in front of him, so scenes from Shibuya, Meguro and Minato wards, downtown New York, the Tama River and Kujūkuri Beach recur in his songs. Ecology of Everyday Life showed another side, with vocal-free electronica, club jazz, lounge and ambient.

Personal life

He married American photographer Elizabeth Coll; they have two sons, born in 2013 and 2016.