Sizzle Ohtaka

Shizuko Ōtaka was born on 11 April 1952 in Nakano, Tokyo, and was educated at the Musashi University Faculty of Humanities.^[2] She began studying classical voice as a young child, and while studying at Musashi, she decided upon a singing career instead of becoming a manga artist, and she was part of a global traveling band, attended a jazz school, and worked the night shift at Kokusai Denshin Denwa.^[3][2] She started a career in commercial songs during the 1980s, and with her diverse voice styles and a rate of ten songs per month, earned the nickname "Queen of Commercial Songs" (コマソンの女王, Komason no Joō).^[2] In 1989, she and Michiaki Katō [ja] began releasing music as part a duo called Dido.^[4][1]

Ohtaka's solo debut came in 1990, when she covered the Shoukichi Kina song "Hana (Subete no Hito no Kokoro ni Hana o) [ja]" for commercials promoting Fujifilm's magnetic media brand Axia, and she later won the Japan Advertising Music Association's 1991 Best Vocalist Award of Commercial Music for said cover.^[1][5][2] She became affiliated with Teichiku Records after the success of her "Hana" cover.^[2] In 1992, she covered The Folk Crusaders's song "Kanashikute Yarikirenai [ja]" as part of the film Sumo Do, Sumo Don't, and her album "Return" later won the Adlib Best Record Award for New Age Music and World Music.^[3][6] She also appeared as a vocalist for Nubian musician Hamza El Din's 1999 album A Wish.^[7][8] A compilation album, Otozure (おとづれ), was released in May 2022, four months before her death.^[9] She had entered into non-genre music due to a newfound interest in folk, jazz, and world music,^[10][5] and CDJournal describes her musical style as "full of Japanese spirit and [...] influenced by classical, jazz, and folk music".^[1]

Ohtaka's song "Ai wa Umi" was the ending theme of I'm Gonna Be An Angel! (1999).^[11] She also performed music for several other works, such as Tettō Musashinosen  [ja] (1997), Spirited Away (2001), .hack//Legend of the Twilight (2003), and Hotarubi no Mori e (2011).^[5][10] In 2003, she became a regular cast member on the NHK Educational TV show Nihongo de Asobo  [ja], where she performed improv music and interacted with children.^[5][3]

Additionally, Ohtaka advocated for nuclear disarmament, performed worldwide at memorial concerts in response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and organized the improv workshop Koe no Oekaki (声のお絵描き).^[3][10] She was also known by the nickname "Nanairo no Koe" (七色の声).^[3]

Ohtaka was married to Tokuo Konishi until her death.^[3] She was later diagnosed with cancer, and in March 2022, she started a career hiatus for treatment.^[10] She died on 5 September 2022 from the disease, aged 70.^[5][3]