ayaka

Ayaka (2012)

Ayaka ( Japanese 絢 香 ), real name Ayaka Iida ( 飯 田 絢 香 , Iida Ayaka ; born December 18, 1987 in Moriguchi ), is a Japanese J-Pop singer who is currently under contract with Warner Music .

biography

Ayaka made her first appearance at a school festival where she only performed songs by well-known Japanese artists. A listener moved her to write and record her first songs at the VOICE Music Center in Fukuoka . In 2005 she appeared primarily at small public music events and was active as a supporting act for other bands. Although she did not have a record deal yet, she sang the closing song for the Japanese dorama @Human and made a music video for it. Even so, the play Mikazuki was not published for over a year.

In January 2006 I Believe was recorded, which should serve as the closing song for the Japanese dorama Rondo . Because the show reached large audiences across Japan, the piece was downloaded over a million times. This made I Believe the third most successful debut single in the download charts. With the regular release on February 2, 2006, the single reached number 3 in the Oricon charts and ultimately sold 236,012 times. An English cover of the song was used by Miki Ando in the 2006 Skate America ice skating competition. Since Ando won, Ayaka performed live with the same song the following year at the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships and helped her win again. The single became the 34th best-selling single of 2006.

Ayaka's second single melody ~ SOUNDS REAL ~ was released on May 10, 2006. It was influenced by more rock and was limited to an edition of 100,000 copies. However, the single sold poorly and only reached number 14 on the charts with 24,466 units sold. The track Blue Days also included on the single was used as the theme song for the television series Suppli . Her third single was called Real Voice and was released on July 19, 2006. The piece was also used as a closing song for Suppli . The single reached number 11 in the charts and with 51,121 copies it was number 171 among the best-selling singles of 2006. On September 27, 2006, their fourth single, Mikazuki, was released one year after its completion. It reached number 1 in the charts as ayaka's first single and sold 243,133 copies, making it the 49 best-selling single of 2006. Her first album, First Message , was released on November 1, 2006 and immediately went to number 1 in the charts. Ultimately, 1,156,619 copies were sold and the album reached number 13 in the best-selling albums in 2006. Thus, it was the most successful debut album in the album True by Mika Nakashima in of 2002.

On February 28, 2007 a new single Winding Road was announced, which should be a collaboration with the Japanese duo Kobukuro . It became Ayaka's best-selling single with over 350,000 copies and peaked at number 2 on the charts. The fifth single Jewelry Day was used as the theme song for the Japanese film Last Love . This song was sung by Ayaka on July 7th, 2007 at Live Earth in Chiba . The sixth single was released on September 5, 2007 and served as the theme song for the PSP game Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII . At the end of 2007 she sang the song Peace Loving People at the famous Japanese music show Kōhaku Uta Gassen .

Their first single in 2008 was released on March 5 and is entitled Te o Tsunagō / Ai o Utaō . The first piece was used as the theme song for the film Eiga Doraemon Nobita to Midori no Kyojinden and the second for a commercial for the Japanese cosmetics producer KOSÉ. Her single Okaeri was released in May 2008 and was the theme song for the film adaptation of the Japanese manga series Zettai Kareshi . Ayaka's second studio album Sing to the Sky was released on June 25, 2008 and reached position 2 in the charts.

In 2009 she released her first best-of album Ayaka's History 2006–2009 which included all singles from 2006 to 2009, including Yume wo Mikata ni / Koi Kogarete Mita Yume and Minna Sora No Shita as well as a new track with Kobukuro , Anata to , contains. These ayakas also recorded the song Mikazuki for their cover album Kobukuro All Covers Best , which was released in 2010. Then the singer took a musical break for two years due to health issues.

In October 2011 a comeback in the form of an indie album was announced for 2012. This is called The Beginning and was released under their own label A StAtion .

Discography

Albums

publication	title	Chart position ( Oricon )	Sales (Japan)	Album type
0November 1, 2006	First message	1	1,202,000	1st studio album
June 25, 2008	Sing to the sky	2	615,000	2nd studio album
September 23, 2009	Ayaka's History 2006-2009	1	918,000	1. Best album
0February 1, 2012	The beginning	1	194,000	1st indie album

Singles

publication	title	Chart position (Oricon)	Sales (Japan)	Single type
0February 1, 2006	I believe	3	236,000	1. Single
May 10, 2006	melody ~ SOUNDS REAL ~	14th	24,000	2nd single
July 19, 2006	Real voice	11	51,000	3. Single
September 27, 2006	Mikazuki	1	284,000	4. Single
February 28, 2007	WINDING ROAD	2	359,000	5th single feat. Kobukuro
04th July 2007	Jewelry day	2	73,000	6. Single
0September 5, 2007	CLAP & LOVE / Why	5	68,000	7. Single
November 14, 2007	For today	-	-	Download single
0March 5, 2008	Te o Tsunagō / Ai o Utaō	7th	42,000	8. Single
May 14, 2008	Okaeri	6th	46,000	9. Single
September 24, 2008	Anata to	2	152,000	10. Single feat. Kobukuro
April 22, 2009	Yume wo Mikata ni / Koi Kogarete Mita Yume	6th	50,000	11. Single
April 22, 2009	Minna Sora no Shita	4th	34,000	12. Single

DVDs

publication	title	Chart position (Oricon)	Sales (Japan)	format
0April 4, 2007	Ayaka Live Tour "First Message"	-	-	DVD
January 13, 2010	MTV Unplugged Ayaka	2	72,000	DVD, Blu-ray

Web links

• Official website at Ken-on (Japanese)
• Official website of Warner Music Japan (Japanese)