Ichigo Osana

Ichigo Osana (緒沙那苺, Osana Ichigo) is the bassist and occasional backing vocalist of the Japanese rock band Girl on Run. A prominent figure in the 1980s alternative metal scene, she is known for her complex playing, use of various composing techniques such as counterpoint, and experimenting with fretless basses, eight-string basses, electric cellos, and baritone guitars. Prior to joining Girl on Run in 1983, she was prominent within the 1980s no-wave punk scene around England and Wales. After her previous band, Normal for Norfolk, dissolved, she joined Girl on Run.

She is the only member of the band to be present for every album, since Azanashi was in jail during the recording of Lightswitch in 1991.

Osana is also known for her relative seeming even-headedness, and for being a popular figure in the Korean music scene as well as the Japanese and British scenes.

Early life
Ichigo Osana was born on June 14, 1964, in Hamada, the third-largest city in the Shimane Prefecture. From a young age, her parents noticed her affinity for music. Her first instrument was the cello, which she learned when she was six years old.

Ichigo's mother, Kanade Osana, was a pianist in a popular Shimane jazz band. Ichigo's father, Junjo Osana, was a jet pilot for the JSDF.

As a child, she was trained in classical music by her parents on cello and the double bass.

At age 10, she asked her parents for a guitar. Her father agreed on the condition that she learn every single chord in a large chord book on a broken guitar neck. After six months of practice, she did, and she earned her first guitar.

The guitar was strange, and it was only years later that she realized why: it was a baritone guitar, and was tuned a fourth lower.

When she was 11, in 1975, she moved to Northside London, in the UK, with her uncle and aunt. Her uncle was a bassist in a nearby punk band, and he introduced her to the bass. This exposed her to the punk scene evolving in Britain at the time, and she had received a bass from her uncle for her 12th birthday.

At the same time, her aunt was a fan of the two-tone ska music which was heavy in England at the same. Ichigo notes that her aunt took her to a Specials concert in 1979, which inspired her future music.

1979-1982: Normal for Norfolk, and meeting with Ayane Hichigara
In 1979, Ichigo formed a band with Ella Norton and Eric Orlandson, named Normal for Norfolk. It was a no-wave and metal band, with ska influences. They played around London and the surrounding areas for several years. In 1981, they released their only album: a self-titled album. It sold only about 700 copies.

In early 1982, Osana found a bruised and bloodied body in the River Thames. She carried the body to the hospital, who turned out to be Ayane Hichigara. Hichigara would spend a few months looking for Osana, and they met at a 1982 concert in Oxfordshire. Several months later, Normal for Norfolk disbanded, and Hichigara and drummer Miyako Azanashi called Osana and asked her to be in their band, Sapien.

1983-1984: Touring, Cardiff metal scene, and Shit Outta Luck
In 1983, the three of them toured around England and Wales. They created a fake record label "Harakiri Records", to sound more professional to venue holders.

The band got a loan of 350 pounds sterling from their friend, Tony Bourge, of Tredegar. After a lot of work, they released their first album, Shit Outta Luck.

1985-1990: Rise to stardom, and accusations of homosexuality
In 1985, they returned to Japan for the second half of their tour. After it was over, Hichigara got sent to jail for assault. However, she was released six months later, and they released Lost in Time.

Their stardom was even more pronounced when they released Stories from Chernobyl in 1986. While panned by critics, Ichigo was praised for her bass skills.

On September 9, 1987, while playing at a concert in Saitama on the Pleasant Disaster tour, Ichigo was stabbed by a woman who apparently had a grudge against Ichigo. This woman was later identified to be Drefku Hatakiri. However, Ichigo kept playing, and didn't even go to the hospital. The tour lasted another month, until Ayane was raped by 3 fans after a show in October.

By 1989, they entered the true grunge scene with the release of Ayane, Miyako, and Ichigo. While it was noted Ichigo had used a simpler bass playing format on this album, she also had more input, even singing lead on the song "Evening Mayday". Later in the year, Osana met Choi Jin-sil, a South Korean actress on vacation in Japan. They talked over dumplings, and they traded numbers and correspondence. Pictures of Osana and Choi at the dumpling house were used in accusing both of them of being a lesbian.

This hampered the release of an album in 1990. Choi said on a JTV interview in 1990, "Ichigo is a nice person and a great friend. I don't know how you can say she's a lesbian because we got lunch.". Choi and Ichigo would continue to be very close friends up until Choi's suicide in 2008.

In 1990, Hichigara quit the band, noting her marriage to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and wish to be the best mother and wife possible. Against Osana's wishes, Azanashi decided to continue the band and look for a new singer. They eventually found Naomi Michigaya, a girl from Matsuyama, in the Ehime Prefecture.

1991-1994: Lightswitch, the Japanese grunge scene, and marriage to Yang Hyan-suk
In 1991, the band released their breakout album Lightswitch, in the heat of the grunge scene. It was comparative in sales to Pearl Jam's Ten. Azanashi was in prison in 1991 for assault, so they enlisted Ai Hirasawa, their manager, to play on the album.

They toured throughout 1992 in support of Lightswitch. Osana had a public dislike for Michigaya, culminating in a fistfight at the 1993 Reading Festival.

In 1992, she married Yang Hyan-suk, rapper of Seo Taiji and Boys, a K-pop group. They divorced in 1998.

1995-1999: The firing of Michigaya, the return of Hichigara, and disbanding
They fired Michigaya after the tour for Rainbow Drive in 1995. The other two noted that she was making decisions without the others' consent. Soon after, they reinstated Hichigara, who was depressed and reclusive after the death of her husband.

In 1998, the band released Slip.

They disbanded in February 11, 1999.

2006-2018: Producing work, Choi's suicide, and band work
Throughout the late 2000s, Osana helped produce many albums from Korean rap, rock, and pop groups. She also briefly dated Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine in 2007.

In 2008, Osana's best friend and South Korean actress, Choi Jin-sil, hung herself at her home. This left Osana devastated, and she missed Choi's funeral of that fact.

She formed a progressive metal band with Miyako Azanashi, Akina Rushizaya, and Ai Hirasawa. It was called Three Drums and a Fantasy. It featured Azanashi, Rushizaya, and Hirasawa on drums, and Osana on bass and vocals. They didn't release any studio albums or EPs, but did release a two track single: You and I/Fuckstarter, in 2010.

Osana also helped longtime friend and bandmate Hichigara record her solo EP, Milk Carton.

In 2013, in memory of Choi Jin-sil, she released a 3-track EP, My Love, Your Life. She donated 100% of the sales from the album to suicide awareness campaigns in South Korea. The title was a reference to the 1990 movie, "My Love, My Bride", which Choi starred in. Also in 2013, Osana married Chinese rockstar Cui Jian. Every year, on Choi's birthday, they fly to Seoul to pay respects to the sites that Choi loved.

In 2018, Osana released her only solo album, Inu no Gakkou (Japanese for "Dog School"). In the album, she recorded a song with Hichigara on guitar and Dave Rowntree, of Britpop band Blur, on drums.

2019-present: Reunion of Girl on Run, four-piece expansion, and ...and Tsuki!
After a successful Girl on Run concert in Avalon, California in 2019, which was intended to be a one-off concert, the three original members decided to reunite. Along with that, they also officially made Tsuki Uzaki a member of the band. Although Tsuki had been playing with the band since 1985, they weren't official until now.

Because of some time machine shenanigans, they all currently look how they did in 1989.

In 2020, they released ...and Tsuki!, their first album with four members.

Artistry
Osana cites The Specials, The Sex Pistols, Black Sabbath, Motley Crue, Metallica, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers as inspirations.

Artists who have cited Ichigo Osana as an inspiration include Chi Cheng, the bassist for Deftones, Shavo Odadjian, the bassist for System of a Down, and Wes Borland, the guitarist for Limp Bizkit.

Public image
Osana was well known throughout the 1980s and 90s for being a "safety hazard" and a "pain magnet." She always seemed to be getting injured, and would often play at shows sitting down because of her injuries. However, she would never miss a show due to injuries. During many interviews, she would be asked about why she still plays at concerts even while in extreme pain, to which she responded "They don't pay me to act sick."

Sometime in late 1984, Osana broke her wrist during a fistfight in southeast Wales. She got a cast for her injury, and had to play simpler basslines at shows as a result, since she could only play in the first position of the bass.

At a show in Sapporo on January 19, 1986, supporting the Lost in Time tour, Ichigo fell off the stage during her solo. She suffered two broken ribs and a broken forearm. However, she still showed at her very next show, albeit with a chair.

On September 9, 1987, at a small venue in Saitama, during the encore for the song "Dirt Lust", Ichigo was stabbed by a woman who apparently had a problem with her. The image of Ichigo being stabbed by the woman who was identified as Drefku Aro was popularized by various Japanese rock magazines.