Ritsuko Okazaki  

Ritsuko Okazaki was born on December 29th, 1959 in Hashima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Despite being a well-known Japanese artist, little is known about her personal life due to the privacy she maintained throughout her career. Okazaki began her artistic journey as a singer-songwriter in 1993 and continued writing for anime seiyū during the nineties. From 2000 onwards, she became more involved with anime and composed several songs for popular series such as Wedding Peach, Fruits Basket, and Love Hina. In 2002, Okazaki formed a duo called Melocure with singer-songwriter Megumi Hinata. They released several singles and an album before disbanding in 2004. During her career, Okazaki produced songs for various artists including Megumi Hayashibara, Mayumi Iizuka, and Yui Horie. Her work primarily consists of ballads and falls within the J-Pop genre. Fans appreciate the poetic imagery, depth of emotion, gentle optimism, and simplicity found in her lyrics. On May 5th, 2004, Okazaki passed away suddenly at the age of 44 from septic shock due to septicemia. Unfortunately, she was unable to speak any last words before leaving behind unfinished work.