Masami Okui's bio

Okui Masami was always interested in music. At an early age, she learned to play the piano. During her years in middle school, she was introduced to pop and rock music. She decided to then join a band and play the piano. Later, she became the lead vocalist which prompted her to follow her musical pursuits and dreams, leaving her studies behind.

She entered the Osaka University of Arts(Osaka Geijutsu Daigaku). She then, however, left the university early when she decided to go professional with her career in the music industry and moved to Tokyo.

In November 1989, Okui officially began her career as a back-up singer to Yuki Saitoh, as well as Tomoyo Harada, WINK, and others doing concert tours. During the time she worked as a back-up, Okui made her recording debut under King Records with song title "Dare Yori mo Zutto" in August of 1991. After her song was successful, she quit back-up singing and worked only on her solo career.

TRIVIA

One of Masami's favorite quotes is: "When you pray, pour all your life, love, and feeling into your words. From those words will come a source of creative thinking." This quote was originally stated by Dr. Joseph Murphy. edit »Masami dreams of owning a beautiful mansion on an exotic island. Masami prefers her men to have boyish looks.On the children's TV anime Tanoshii Willow Town, Masami performed the opening theme "Yume ni Konnichiwa Willow Town Monogatari" and the ending theme "Liverpool e Oide". edit »On April 21, 1995, Masami released her very first album, GYUU.

Other album releases:

2nd V-SIT (September 21, 1996)
3rd MA-KING (September 26, 1997)
4th DO-CAN (September 23, 1998)
5th HER-DAY (August 27, 1999)
6th NEEI (August 23, 2000)
7th DEVOTION (August 29, 2001)
8th Angel's Voice (November 22, 2001)
9th Crossroad (September 4, 2002)
10th ReBirth (February 4, 2004)
11th Dragonfly (February 2, 2005)
12th God Speed (February 24, 2006)
13th evolution (September 4, 2006)
14th Masami Life (October 3, 2007) Masami is near-sighted. edit »Masami stands at 153.5 cm (5 feet, 0.4 inches) tall, weighs approximately 46 kg (101 lbs) and has blood type A.Masami is sometimes called "Makkun" by her fans.Masami has co-hosted the TV-Osaka music program "M-VOICE".Masami has published a column in the popular magazine Newtype.On the TV anime Yu-Gi-Oh!, Masami performed the 2nd opening theme "Shuffle" and the 3rd ending theme "Ano hi no Gogo". On the spinoff series Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monster GX, Masami performed the 1st ending theme "Genkai Battle" as the group JAM Project. edit »On June 4, 1999 Masami released her first singles compilation album entitled BEST-EST.

Other singles compilation albums released:

2nd Li-Book 2000 (November 22, 2000)
3rd S Mode #1 (March 3, 2001)
4th Masami Kobushi (May 1, 2003)
5th S mode #2 (February 25, 2004)
6th S mode #3 (February 23, 2005) edit »One of Masami's favorite foods is watermelon.On the 6 episode OAV Magic User's Club, Masami performed the ending theme "Mata Ashita". edit »Masami has also contributed to the anime music "supergroup", JAM Project and r.o.r/s(Reflections of Renaissance/Sounds).Masami's 2002 concert tour -crossroad- was seen all across Japan.While younger, Masami performed in a local Osaka program called Shirouto Meiji Kai. edit »Masami's influences in music include Seiko Matsuda, Mari Hamada, Yumi Matsutoya, and Mariya Takeuchi. They are also some of her personal favorites. edit »Masami has released 14 albums and over 35 singles so far as an artist. Her music genres are Japanese-Pop and Japanese-Rock(J-POP/J-ROCK). In 2003, Masami began scouting and holding auditions for new music talents under her new status as a producer under her own record label, evolution (produced with the support of Geneon Entertainment). On the TV anime Slayers, Masami performed the opening theme "Get Along" and the ending theme "Kujikenai Kara!" along with fellow seiyuu Megumi Hayashibara. In August 2001, the release of her album "DEVOTION" became Masami's first self-produced CD release. close