Ayaka Iida (飯田絢香, Iida Ayaka), born December 18, 1987 in Moriguchi, Osaka … Read Full Bio ↴Ayaka Iida (飯田絢香, Iida Ayaka), born December 18, 1987 in Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese female singer signed to Warner Music Japan.

Ayaka was first introduced to public singing in her early years and throughout high school where she would sing song covers at school concerts. Her first solo concert was held in her second year of high school; it was a small high school concert in where she sang only covers of famous musicians. After speaking with an audience member, Ayaka was referred to the voice music center in Fukuoka. Ayaka began practicing original song composition as well as learning about the various recording methods used in mass media recording.

Ayaka performed at various music venues and as the opening act to various other groups during much of 2005. Though she had not officially debuted yet, in December 2005, Ayaka was contracted to perform the ending theme "Mikazuki" for a television Japanese Drama known as @Human. Even though a music video had been produced, the actual single would not be released for almost a year.

Ayaka performed three songs, Mikazuki, I Believe, and a Japanese rendition of the popular German Christmas carol, Silent Night.

On November 10, 2005, Lyor Cohen, the North American Chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group described her in public: "After Mariah Carey, Hikaru Utada, now it's the third encounter with an amazing talent over my life". After Ayaka's performance, he stood up clapping and praised "World class to be!".

In January 2006, Ayaka recorded "I Believe" as the ending theme for the Japanese Drama, Rondo. At the time of its premiere, Rondo was one of Japan's highest rated dramas and is credited with exposing "I Believe" to wide audiences. The full single was first released as a downloadable only single and would go on to become one of the fastest downloadable song to reach 1,000,000 sales as well as becoming the 3rd highest selling downloadable debut single for a female artist.

"I Believe" was officially released on February 2, 2006 and debuted as the 3rd highest single of the week. The single would go on to stay in the top ten for six more weeks as well as selling a total of 220,000 copies in its entire chart run. An English cover of the song was used by Miki Ando in 2006 Skate America which Ando would go on to win. Ayaka would later perform the song live during the exhibition at the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships.

Ayaka's second single "melody ~Sounds Real~" would go on to have only moderate success on the Oricon charts. The single was limited to 50,000 copies, of which only approximately 10,000 were sold in its first week. "Melody ~Sounds Real~" peaked at number 14 on the Oricon charts and then steadily declined in both sales and chart position. When compared to her earlier songs, melody was a much more rock oriented song, a factor that earned her praise from various Japanese critics for her versatility. To date this is Ayaka's lowest selling single, but it was gone on to stay a while in the charts, slowly gaining sales, and has gotten past the 20,000 mark.

"Real Voice" was Ayaka's third single and was used as the ending theme to the Japanese Drama, Suppli. A B-Side single from "Melody ~Sounds Real~" known as "Blue Days" was also used as an insert song for the same show. "Real Voice" was released on July 17, 2006, selling 15,387 copies within its first week and charting as the 11th highest selling single of the week. To date the single has sold over 50,000 copies.

Weeks before the scheduled release of Ayaka's first album, "First Message", the album was canceled. In its place, the single "Mikazuki" was released as a rerecorded version of the same song from 2005. "Mikazuki" has become Ayaka's highest charting single, selling 40,091 copies within its first week and taking the highest spot on the Oricon weekly charts. The single would then go on to sale over 200,000 copies, making it one of the highest selling singles of the third quarter of 2006.

On November 1, 2006, Ayaka's first album "First Message" was finally released after months of push backs. It sold 350,580 copies within its first week, making it the highest selling album of the week as well as the highest selling debut album for a female artist in 7 years. The album went on to sell 1,003,412 copies and stayed within the top two positions on the Oricon charts for four weeks straight before being listed as the 13th highest selling album of 2006.

On February 28, 2007, a new single was released. The song Winding Road was a collaboration with label mates Kobukuro and used to promote a new line of car. The single reached a peak position of #2 on the Oricon charts.

The 5th single from Ayaka was used as the ending theme to Last Love, a Japanese movie that was released one month prior to the single. Ayaka also performed Jewelry Day, among many other songs, at the Japanese leg of Live Earth in Tokyo on July 7, 2007.
Te o Tsunagō Promo

Ayaka's 6th single, 'Why", released on September 5th, was used for Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, a PSP game by Square-Enix, as the theme song to the game.

At the end of 2007 Ayaka performed "Peace Loving People (special piano version)" in the annual music show Kōuhaku Uta Gassen.

On February 29, 2008, her first starring live event, Power Of Music was held. On March 5, 2008, Ayaka's first single of 2008, Te wo Tsunagō / Ai o Utaō was released. It was a double A-side single, first track used as a theme song for the movie, Nobita and the Green Giant Legend 2008, and the second track was used for Beauté de Kosé's "Esprique Precious" commercial. Her second single of the year, Okaeri, was released in May 2008. Okaeri is used for Zettai Kareshi drama theme song.

Her second album Sing to the Sky was released on June 25, 2008. It reached #2 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and has thus far sold over 500,000 copies.

Anata to, the second collaboration single with Kobukuro, was released on September 24, 2008. The single was released due to fan requests after hearing the song performed live in concert.

Ayaka sang 'Okaeri' at the 59th annual Kōuhaku Uta Gassen

Ayaka announced in April her marriage to famous actor Mizushima Hiro [Asamoto Soshi from Zettai Kareshi -drama which she sang the theme song to-] They registered their marriage on February 22. It was also learned that immediately after Ayaka's debut in 2006, she became ill with Graves' disease, an autoimmune disorder. Ayaka tearfully reported that her symptoms have been increasing. As a result, Ayaka will continue with her music until the end of this year, after which she will put her career on hold. Mizushima promised to protect and support her.

Real voice
絢香 Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

繰り返される everyday 光求め

また今日も殴られたようなそんな気分傷もないのに

何のため? 言葉を押し殺し見て見ぬフリばかり

Oh 繰り返される everyday 夢を見たんだ
「間違いは失敗じゃない思い切りやれ!」

小さな笑顔の天使光射す出口向いて
一瞬で消えたんだ言葉残して

何もかも正当化して話すのはもうやめにしない?

誰もそうひきつり笑い悪者になりたくない

Oh 相変わらずの everyday 夢を見たんだ
「本当の自分はどこ?」聞かれてすぐに答え見つからない
いっそ投げ出しちゃおうか
"失う"と"手離す"は違うみたい

遠い未来の自分に問いかけてみるよ
これでいい? 今の自分は

いつか夢の中で笑ってた小さな天使よ
自分にウソをつくのはもうやめたんだ

Oh 繰り返される everyday ちょっとずつ色づいてさ
何だか少し毎日が楽しかったりするよ

ありがと天使
いつかまた夢の中会いに来てね wow, wow

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Real voice by 絢香 reflect the everyday struggles of life, the feeling of being beaten down and the struggle to find motivation. The singer describes the daily grind as being "repeated every day," and the search for a ray of hope in the form of light ("光求め"). Despite not having any wounds, the singer feels like she has been beaten down, and wonders why she must hold back her words and act as though nothing is wrong. The chorus of the song talks about a dream where a small smiling angel appears and points the way to the light. The message from the angel is to take a risk and not to be afraid of making mistakes, as mistakes do not equate to failure. The singer is at a crossroads, contemplating giving up and throwing in the towel, but decides against it, as "losing" is not the same as "letting go."

In the second verse, the singer refers to the perceptions of others and the self-doubt that emerges when confronted with these perceptions. This verse speaks a universal truth that people often don't want to appear villainous to others, hence justifying their actions and words. Additionally, the singer expresses a desire to understand herself better as a person and find her true self, as she wonders "where is the real me?" However, she cannot find the answers to this question right away. The third and final verse marks a transition in the song, where the singer reflects on the past and the small angel from her dream. She speaks to her future self, asking herself if she's doing the right thing and looking forward to meeting the small angel again - this time, not in a dream but in reality. The singer claims to have stopped lying to herself and finds joy in the everyday moments of life, thanking the angel for giving her hope.

Line by Line Meaning

繰り返される everyday 光求め
Everyday repeating, looking for light

また今日も殴られたようなそんな気分傷もないのに
Feeling like I got hit again today, though I'm not hurt

何のため? 言葉を押し殺し見て見ぬフリばかり
For what reason? I keep my words inside and pretend not to see

Oh 繰り返される everyday 夢を見たんだ
Oh, even though everyday is repeating, I had a dream

「間違いは失敗じゃない思い切りやれ!」
"Mistakes aren't failures, so go all out!"

小さな笑顔の天使光射す出口向いて
A little smiling angel faced toward the exit shining with light

一瞬で消えたんだ言葉残して
In a flash it disappeared, leaving words behind

何もかも正当化して話すのはもうやめにしない?
Do I need to keep justifying everything and talking about it?

誰もそうひきつり笑い悪者になりたくない
Everyone nervously laughs, not wanting to be the bad guy

Oh 相変わらずの everyday 夢を見たんだ
Oh, even though it's still the same everyday, I had a dream

「本当の自分はどこ?」聞かれてすぐに答え見つからない
"Where is my true self?" I can't find an answer immediately