Amii Ozaki

Amii Ozaki (尾崎亜美) is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Kyoto who released five albums on Express between 1976 and 1979, followed by 18 albums on F-Label and Canyon between 1980 and 1994. She is the wife of Sadistic Mika Band bassist Ray Ohara.

Background

Amii Ozaki was born Misuzu Ozaki on March 19, 1957, in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Her father worked for the Kyoto Prefectural Government. He composed music and sang classical repertory outside his civil-service post. He also organized and conducted a choir for Nishijin textile workers from the family home. Her mother, Akemi Ozaki, later worked as a craft artist with vintage Nishijin obi.

Ozaki began classical-piano lessons at about eight, when her parents bought her a piano. Her teacher, who first came to instruct her older sister, added chord-based composition exercises to the classical repertory. Ozaki attended Kyoto Municipal Kashiwano Elementary School and Kinugasa Junior High School. She helped establish a drama club at Kinugasa and co-wrote scripts based on stories by Shinichi Hoshi. Ozaki later identified the school piece “Ichū Ondo” as her first song.

She entered Kyoto Prefectural Yamashiro High School and joined the light-music club at a friend’s request. A senior introduced her to Carole King’s Tapestry, and Ozaki focused on King’s chord changes at the piano. The club leader heard Ozaki at rehearsal and assigned her a solo vocal on the Beatles’ “Two of Us.” Ozaki also played piano for Yashiki Takajin onstage through a music-industry contact while she remained in high school.

Ozaki entered the KBS Kyoto public contest Action Young Daimaru as singer-guitarist with the three-piece Empty Street. The group advanced through the weekly rounds, and Ozaki reached the annual final as a solo entrant, where she placed second behind a bluegrass band. Record-company scouts approached Ozaki from the contest, including Toshiba EMI. Ozaki recorded her first release at 18 with arranger Masataka Matsutoya, who based his treatment of “Meisō” closely on her demo. Express issued “Meisō” in March 1976 (b/w “Fuyu no Poster”). Toshiba EMI then retained Matsutoya to produce and arrange the debut album Shady.

Discography:

• Shady (1976)
• マインド・ドロップス (Mind Drops) (1977)
• Stop Motion (1978)
• Prismy (1978)
• Little Fantasy (1979)
• Meridian-Melon (1980)
• Hot Baby (1981)
• Air Kiss (1981)
• Shot (1982)
• Points (1983)
• Miracle (1983)
• Plastic Garden (1984)
• 10番目のmue (10-banme no mue) (1985)
• Kids (1986)
• Points-2 (1986)
• スーパーベスト (Super Best) (1987)
• 時間地図 (4th Dimensional Map) (1987)
• Dinner’s Ready (1988)
• Lapis Lazuli (1988)
• プリズム・シーズン (Prism Season) (1989)
• Natural Agency (1991)
• Points-3 (1992)

References and notes

• Shiseido, Hanatsubaki, “Girls Rock Beginnings Vol. 04: Amii Ozaki,” first half. This is the strongest childhood source because Ozaki supplies the account herself: her father worked for Kyoto Prefecture, composed and sang, organized a choir for Nishijin workers, and arranged piano lessons when she was about eight. She also describes the teacher who combined classical study with chord-based composition assignments, her junior-high drama club, Yamashiro-era light-music activity, Carole King, and the Beatles vocal episode. (ARCHIVE | 花椿 HANATSUBAKI | 資生堂)
• Shiseido, Hanatsubaki, second half. Ozaki identifies Empty Street as a three-member group, says she sang and played guitar, recounts the weekly and annual contest rounds, explains why she finished the competition alone, confirms her second-place result, and states that the contest produced several scouting approaches, including Toshiba EMI. She also says she recorded at 18 and debuted the day following her nineteenth birthday. (ARCHIVE | 花椿 HANATSUBAKI | 資生堂)
• Nikkan Gendai interview, September 13, 2021. Ozaki identifies Yamashiro High School, describes her father as a Kyoto Prefectural Government employee who operated a roughly 20-member choir, and recalls a senior introducing her to Carole King’s Tapestry. (日刊ゲンダイDIGITAL)
• Sponichi, February 8, 2014. Ozaki states that she played piano on a Yashiki Takajin stage appearance while she was still in high school and obtained the engagement through music-business contacts. (Sponichi)
• Tokyo FM, NOEVIR Color of Life. Ozaki explains that Matsutoya followed her demo fairly closely on “Meisō,” which gives us a concrete bridge from the Toshiba contact to her first professional recording. (| TOKYO FM)
• Universal Music / Columbia official biographies. Both confirm the March 20, 1976 debut with “Meisō / Fuyu no Poster”; Columbia gives Kita-ku, Kyoto, and both place Shady on August 5. Universal also confirms Toshiba EMI/Express. (UNIVERSAL MUSIC JAPAN)
• Secondary biographical references. These supply the complete school sequence—Kashiwano Elementary, Kinugasa Junior High, Yamashiro High—and identify “Ichū Ondo” as the Kinugasa composition. Multiple sources also identify the KBS program as Action Young Daimaru. (WikiZero)