24 March 2011 - Ai Otsuka gives birth to a baby girl!

My dear Readers!

Today, 24th March 2011, the most beautiful day in Ai Otsuka's life has come - she gave birth to her first child - a baby girl!

Omedetou, Ai-chin! Omedetou, Su!

The name of the baby is still unknown, but it's only a matter of time when Ai shares this with us. I can't believe it! I'm so happy!

Ai Otsuka and Kazuto Ootsuki (RIP SLYME's Su) got married on 25th July 2010. Ai announced that she was 3 months pregnant during her live performance LOVE is BORN ~7th Anniversary 2010 in September 2010.

Sources: Channel-Ai | Yomiuri | Kumanichi | TokyoHive

Ai Otsuka gives advice for pregnant women

Ai Otsuka advises all pregnant women: Are you eating broccoli? You need to, because it contains a lot of folic acid.

Ladies! Let's eat broccoli for the good of our children!

In the latest episode of her weekly programme "LIFE-LOVE CiRCLE" (26 Feb 2011) Ai-chin talked with Yuka who, as it turned out, is also pregnant. Having learned this, Ai reminded all the pregnant listeners about the need of eating broccoli, because of its big amount of folic acid.

Let's mention here that folic acid (folacin) is a necessary element of the diet of pregnant women, as it prevents babies from neural tube defects.

Good job, Ai-chin! As far as I know, women still happen to lack knowledge about the needs of their bodies during pregnancy. It's vital to make women aware how they should care of themselves in this important time of their lives.

In addition to that, Ai revealed some details about her recent private life :) She said that being pregnant made her very happy :) She mentioned also shopping with her husband Su when they bought diapers for their baby. Speaking of Su, Ai thanked him for being such a supportive husband. Isn't it cute? ^^

As of March 2011, Ai is 9 months pregnant. She's expected to have the baby next month. We wish her easy delivery and all the best!

This episode of LIFE-LOVE CiRCLE and many others are available on the TOKYO FM official site :)
However, the podcasts and actual programme aren't the same. During the programme on air Ai plays music, talks with listeners, there are commercials and so on, while podcasts include only Ai reading letters and drawing pictures which are published later on the TFM website.

Source: Tokyohive

Ai Otsuka draws a pregnant girl in LIFE-LOVE CiRCLE :)

こんにちわ、みんな！

We're meeting for the first time this year. And today I have something for you which is related to Ai-chan's pregnancy :)

As you probably know, Ai Otsuka is having a baby in April. Generally, we don't know much about the pregnancy, as Ai stays aways from the public eye. She only appears in her weekly LIFE-LOVE CiRCLE program on Tokyo FM (the official website is here) and that's it.

The news below come from a rough translation provided by chokokokoa from Channel-Ai.

Yesterday, Ai-chin had her first program this year aired. She wished everybody a happy new year and briefly summarised her professional achievements of 2010 (she mentioned also obtaining the driving license ^^). Then she expressed her delight and disbelief that she's a mother (still didn't get used to the growing belly? :D). What's the most interesting for us, chokokokoa claims that Ai used the words 女 and 女の子 (female and a girl) several times...

Is it telling us indirectly that she's going to have a baby girl? (No, I'm not suggesting anything!)

If so, then the dreams of many fans about Ai having the cutest baby in the world are coming true! ^^ (it's mine dream as well).

At the end, Ai-chan mentions she feels like eating mochi...

Here you have the picture for today's episode:

I'm in love with the cuteness and simplicity of Ai-chin's drawings!...♥

It's doubtful whether the woman in the picture is Ai herself.

I have some doubts concerning the kanji character on the left. At first glance, the character resembles this one: 女 which means female or woman. The kanji in the picture (安) has a small "roof", which makes it a different kanji than 女. According to my kanji dictionary, this "roofed" character means safety, peace or peace of mind. Therefore - we can't assume that Ai drew it next to a pregnant woman to express the child's gender, because despite the initial similarity, the kanji here has a different meaning. I don't know what to think about it... I will have to ask my Japanese teacher to clarify this issue :)

If you want to listen to Ai's sweet voice (her sweet laugh!) every Saturday, you can download podcasts with her program from the Tokyo FM official site: http://www.tfm.co.jp/love/circle/

I definitely can't wait till April!

EDIT (03.01.2011) I learned some important things about the news above. Both kanji characters in the picture put together mean easy childbirth or easy delivery (according to flintandtas @ Ch-Ai). Moreover, chokokokoa added that this picture was probably for a friend of Mizuki-chan (whose message was read by Ai in the program). The person to whom this pic is dedicated is pregnant, so Ai probably wanted to wish her easy delivery. We wish the same for Ai-chin :)

Ai Otsuka announces her pregnancy - YouTube

I have found a video on YouTube which is a piece of news from Japanese TV about Ai-chin announcing her pregnancy during her live concert LOVE IS BORN 7th Anniversary on 11.09.2010. You can see her there smiling while delivering the news and gently touching her (still flat at that moment) belly :)



Later in the clip, when the speaker comments on the event, Ai is singing "I love xxx" as if she was singing for her baby. This looks so sweet, doesn't it? :)

LOVE IS BORN: 7th Anniversary & Ai Otsuka is pregnant!

LOVE is BORN 7th Anniversary! The live concerts took place 11th and 12th of September 2010 in Yokohama (strange that not in Osaka and not 09.09., but nevermind). The tickets sold out very quickly, which wasn't a big surprise :) Especially because the campaign promoting the events was well-organised and rich in attractions: lots of unique merchandise, like photos and posters: see them here. Moreover, there is also some sweet stuff, like chocolates ^^ These and much more cool LIB stuff are presented on the special website: click here to see.

The setlist:

1. Ai

2. Is
3. Zokkondition
4. Hanikami Jane
5. Action 10.5
6. Always Together
7. Momo no Hanabira
8. Neko ni Fuusen
9. Kingyo Hanabi
10. LOVE LETTER
11. Ren'ai Shashin
12. Planetarium
13. Birthday Song
14. Rocket Sneaker

15. Sakuranbo
16. Mirai Taxi
17. LUCKY STAR

encore:
18. CHU-LIP
19.I love xxx

Here you have 2 photos from the event:

Near the very end of the concert on Saturday, Ai-chin opened her heart and announced that...  she's pregnant! Ai said: September 9th, it was my birthday and I spent the day with my husband, but it was actually the birthday with the baby too. Although the baby is still very, very tiny, I wanted to tell you guys first. I can't see you guys for awhile in live, but I will look forward to see you later again. (Source: Oricon style). According to Ai, she's 3 months pregnant, so the delivery should be around April 2011. The news was spread throughout the whole world by the Internet in no time, making everyone both shocked and happy :) Omedetou, Ai-chin and Su!

Pregnancy means that our lovely Ai-chin will disappear for some time, but don't worry :) She'll be back for sure. She's been a really busy bee for the last 7 years, so she deserves for some time just for herself and her new family. I'm sure that Ai will be a great mother and the child will be the most important for her. I wish Ai, Su and their small penguin all the best! :)

UPDATES: Ai Otsuka gives birth to a baby girl | Photos from Ai's wedding