大塚愛

Ai Otsuka (大塚 愛 Ōtsuka Ai), born September 9, 1982) is a Japanese pop female singer-songwriter from Osaka, Japan. She debuted on September 10th, 2003 with the unsuccessful single 桃ノ花ビラ (Momo no Hanabira). Her 2nd single さくらんぼ (Sakuranbo), though, was a huge hit. It stayed on the charts for 96 weeks and has sold over 500,000 copies. Since the release of さくらんぼ, all of her singles have been selling quite well.

A piano player since age 4, Ai 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 "Amaenbo". She has released 4 successful studio albums, 17 singles and 5 live DVD's so far. Her latest single is "Rocket Sneaker" (ロケット　スニーカー; Roketto Suniikaa) released on May 21, 2008 including two other tracks: "One × Time" and "Sora to Kujira" (空とくじら; Sky and Whale). She has stated in the past that when her music career ends she'll teach kindergarten.