Ayaka Hirahara

Ayaka Hirahara, born on May 9, 1984, in Tokyo, Japan, is a singer known for her contributions to J-pop music. Coming from a musically inclined family—with her grandfather as a trumpeter and her father as a saxophonist—Ayaka Hirahara began studying ballet at age 6 and started playing the saxophone at 13. She debuted in the music industry in December 2003 with the single "Jupiter", an adaptation of Gustav Holst's classical piece from The Planets. The song became a significant success, ranking as the third best-selling single in Japan for 2004 and remaining in the Oricon Top 200 for over a year, selling more than one million copies. In February 2004, she released her debut album, ODYSSEY, which included songs she co-wrote, earning her a Japan Cable Award (2004) and Japan Gold Disc Award (2005). This year also marked her first major award, winning the Japan Record Award for Best New Artist and performing at the prestigious Kohaku Uta Gassen television program. Throughout her career, Ayaka Hirahara has consistently achieved chart success with albums such as Sora (2006), which included song "Voyagers/Kokoro", and Path of Independence (2008) which featured the track "Ima, Kaze no Naka de". In 2013, she celebrated her 10th anniversary in the music industry with the release of 10周年記念シングル・コレクション ~Dear Jupiter~. Over the next decade she continued to release tracks such as "Prayer" (2015), "Save Your Life" (2021) and "Back to Life" (2023), returning in 2025 with the EP Inochi, Arigato/80 Okuno Miraie.

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