Ayami Muto was born on April 29, 1996, and is from Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. She grew up in a family closely connected to horse racing: her father, Yoshinori Muto, is a former JRA jockey who became a trainer, while her younger brother, Miyabi Muto, became a professional JRA jockey. Ayami has said that horses were an everyday part of her childhood and that her family's circumstances also influenced the way she discovered music. Because noise had to be kept down around the horses at home, much of the music she heard as a child came from songs played in the family car. Through her parents she became particularly attached to Japanese pop and idol music from the 1980s, an influence that would later become central to her solo identity.
Ayami entered the entertainment industry long before Sakura Gakuin. In 2004, at the age of eight, her mother submitted her for a children's clothing catalogue modeling opportunity. She subsequently appeared as a reader model for the children's fashion magazine Kids Style. In 2005, she became an exclusive Kids Style model, beginning a sustained period of professional child-model work.
Her modeling activities expanded during the following years. She worked in advertising and became associated with Shogakukan's girls' manga magazine Ciao, serving as a prominent Ciao commercial and fashion model from 2007. By this stage she had also become affiliated with Amuse, giving her access to a broader range of entertainment opportunities beyond modeling.
In 2008, Ayami's career moved decisively toward music when she was selected for Karen Girl's, a three-member unit created in connection with the television anime Zettai Karen Children. Performing under the name AYAMI alongside YUIKA Shima and SUZUKA Nakamoto, she made her major-label singing debut with "Over The Future" on June 25, 2008. The song served as an opening theme for the anime and introduced Ayami to live performance, recording and choreography at a much larger scale than her previous modeling work.
Karen Girl's followed "Over The Future" with "MY WINGS" in November 2008 and released the album Fly To The Future in February 2009. The group was designed as a limited-duration project tied to the anime and concluded its activities in March 2009. Although short-lived, Karen Girl's became one of the most important formative experiences of Ayami's career. She has explained in later interviews that it was through Karen Girl's that she first discovered the joy of singing.
A new chapter began in 2010 when Ayami became one of the eight founding members of Sakura Gakuin. The Amuse-produced group was built around a fictional school structure and a "limited to the growing period" concept in which members would graduate after completing junior high school. As one of the oldest founding members, Ayami was appointed Sakura Gakuin's first Student Council President, effectively making her the group's first leader.
Sakura Gakuin made its public debut at TOKYO IDOL FESTIVAL on August 7, 2010. Ayami helped establish many of the traditions that would define the group during its eleven-year history: the annual school-year system, student leadership, graduation ceremonies and participation in smaller extracurricular club units.
Ayami also became a member of Sakura Gakuin's Baton Club unit Twinklestars. The unit's early releases included "Dear Mr.Socrates," "Please! Please! Please!" and "Rapicamu." Twinklestars emphasized synchronized baton-based choreography and offered another performance style distinct from the main Sakura Gakuin group.
As Student Council President, Ayami served as the public leader during Sakura Gakuin's formative 2010 and 2011 school years. She acted as MC during events, represented the group in media appearances and helped shape the leadership model later inherited by successive presidents including Suzuka Nakamoto, Marina Horiuchi, Moa Kikuchi and others.
During the 2011 school year, Sakura Gakuin released its second album, Sakura Gakuin 2011 Nendo ~FRIENDS~. The album included "3.a.m," performed by the three graduating members Ayami Muto, Ayaka Miyoshi and Airi Matsui. The group's graduation system was no longer merely conceptual: Ayami and her classmates were about to become the first members to leave under Sakura Gakuin's age-based rule.
On March 25, 2012, Ayami graduated from Sakura Gakuin alongside Ayaka Miyoshi and Airi Matsui at Sakura Gakuin 2011 Nendo ~Graduation~ at Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall. The three became Sakura Gakuin's first graduating class. Their graduation established the annual tradition that would define the group's identity for the rest of its existence.
After graduation, Ayami did not immediately make a conventional solo debut. She spent more than a year in preparation and vocal training while developing a musical direction based heavily on the Japanese solo-idol culture of the 1980s that she had loved since childhood.
On April 29, 2013, her seventeenth birthday, the Ayami Muto Solo Project formally began. On July 19 she returned to the stage for her first solo concert, LIVE DNA1980, at Shibuya O-EAST. At the venue she released the limited cover collections DNA1980 Vol.1 and DNA1980 Vol.2, featuring interpretations of Japanese songs from the 1980s. The DNA1980 concept established the artistic theme that would continue throughout much of her later career: presenting the melodic sensibility and direct vocal style of classic Japanese pop through a contemporary performer.
The project continued with LIVE DNA1980 ~Version.2.0~ at SHIBUYA-AX and the TRAVELING ALONE live-house tour later in 2013. Rather than rushing into a commercial release, Ayami used live performance and classic-pop covers to establish herself as an individual artist outside Sakura Gakuin.
Her formal solo recording debut arrived on April 23, 2014 with the album Eien to Shunkan (永遠と瞬間 / Eternity and Moment). The album was the first release from SHINKAI, a label established through Amuse and A-Sketch, and featured production designed to combine contemporary pop with the atmosphere of the 1980s music Ayami admired. The record reached No. 16 on the Oricon weekly album chart.
On April 29, 2014, her eighteenth birthday, Ayami held DEBUT LIVE "BIRTH" at TSUTAYA O-EAST. During the year she experimented with different live formats, including dance-oriented productions and the acoustic A.Y.M. Ballads concert. At the latter she performed material from her debut album alongside covers including songs by Seiko Matsuda and also sang Sakura Gakuin's "FRIENDS" as a solo artist, directly connecting her new career to her earlier history.
Ayami's second solo album, I-POP, was released on February 25, 2015. The record included songs such as "Parallel World," "Daydreamin'," "Doki Doki," "Miracreation" and "OWARI WA HAJIMARI." It reached No. 40 on Oricon. By this point her live activities had expanded considerably, and on April 29 she celebrated her nineteenth birthday with a concert at Shibuya Public Hall. Audio from that performance was later released as the live album Re:BIRTH ~19th Birthday Live at Shibuya Public Hall~.
Despite the growing solo catalogue, Ayami reached a point of uncertainty about her future in entertainment. In December 2015 she announced that she would suspend her entertainment activities after the December 23 Christmas concert A.Y.M.X. at Akasaka BLITZ. She emphasized that the decision was a hiatus rather than a formal retirement, explaining that after having worked in entertainment since childhood she needed time to understand what she genuinely wanted for herself.
On May 31, 2016, Ayami's artist contract with Amuse ended while she was already overseas. She spent approximately two years studying in New Zealand. The period was deliberately very different from her previous life in Japanese entertainment: she studied English, experienced ordinary work for the first time, including working at a bakery, and used the distance from the industry to reconsider whether music was truly what she wanted to pursue.
Ayami later explained that she initially went abroad without deciding that she would return to music. During her time in New Zealand, however, she continued finding herself singing. Encouragement from her host family, who told her that she should sing more, helped her recognize that performing was something she genuinely loved rather than simply the continuation of a career that had begun when she was a child. She eventually resumed vocal training while still overseas.
In August 2018, Ayami returned to Japan after completing her overseas stay. In October she announced that she would resume singing activities, and on December 1 she held Acoustic Live ~Hajime no Ippo~ at WALL&WALL in Tokyo. The two-show performance was her first stage appearance in nearly three years and was also her first self-produced live event. Without a major agency structure behind her, Ayami organized the performance with support from friends and musicians, an experience she later described as helping her understand how much work had previously been carried out around her by staff.
At the comeback concert she made her priorities clear: she wanted to be judged primarily through singing. The new phase of her career was less focused on recreating the image of a conventional idol and more focused on establishing an individual musical identity rooted in her own tastes.
Ayami continued performing independently through 2019. On December 20, at the live event Together for White Eve at Shibuya duo MUSIC EXCHANGE, she unveiled "Amane" (雨音), her first new original song in several years and her first attempt at writing lyrics. At the same event she announced that she had joined Tsubasa Plus, later known as Tsubasa Records. "Amane" was released digitally the following day.
Her first substantial release of the renewed career was the mini-album MIRRORS on March 4, 2020. The record included "Amane," "Aitai ga Ienai," "Online," "tsubaki," "Wakenai" and "Kazahana." Her plans for conventional promotional events were disrupted almost immediately by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing some events to be cancelled and shifting parts of her performance activity online.
Rather than stopping again, Ayami continued releasing music during the pandemic period. On April 29, 2020 she released "RF," followed by "Marmalade" in September. On November 25 she released the mini-album Ano Koro, Kimi ni Watashita Playlist wo Ima demo Boku wa Kuchizusamu. The project reflected a more mature version of the retro-pop aesthetic that had followed her since DNA1980 while increasingly allowing her own musical preferences to guide the material.
In late 2020, an official fan club, Kissaten Muto, was launched. The fan-club identity drew on the warm, nostalgic atmosphere associated with her music and became an important direct connection between Ayami and her audience.
Her release activity continued in 2021. The digital single "Konya no Kiss de Wasurete Hoshii no" arrived on her birthday, April 29, followed by the mini-album SHOWER on September 15. SHOWER included "Yume Michau yo," "Headphone Communication," "Ano Natsu no Umi de," "SHOWER," "Goodbye." and "Motto Wagamama ni Natte Miseta Nara."
That year also brought her back to the story of Sakura Gakuin. On August 29, 2021, Ayami appeared as a surprise guest at Sakura Gakuin The Final ~Yume ni Mukatte~ at Nakano Sunplaza together with fellow first-generation graduates Ayaka Miyoshi and Airi Matsui. The three watched Sakura Gakuin's final class complete the group's eleven-year history. For Ayami, who had served as its first Student Council President and belonged to its first graduating class, the appearance symbolically connected the school's beginning and end.
Ayami has said that rather than feeling only sadness at Sakura Gakuin's closure, she felt gratitude that the project had continued for so long after her own graduation. She regarded the final performance as an opportunity to thank the members and fans who had carried forward something that her generation helped establish.
In 2022, Ayami continued building her independent solo identity within Tsubasa Records. She released the digital EP IMAGE BOARD on April 29, followed by the mini-album glitter beat on November 16. The latter included "Yakusoku no Ruby," "Handsome Lady," "Flash Back," "Shuyaku wa Yuzurenai," "Anata ni Muchu" and "again again." The project continued to develop her retro-pop concept while incorporating more contemporary songwriting and production.
The year 2023 included new digital releases and increasingly polished live presentations. "Game Start" was released on April 29, followed by a cover of "DANG DANG Kininaru" on July 26. In August she returned to Billboard Live Yokohama for Nostalgic Live, reinforcing her position as a singer whose catalogue and stage presentation consciously connect modern J-pop with the aesthetics of earlier Japanese pop eras.
Ayami entered 2024 celebrating ten years since the release of Eien to Shunkan. On March 12, Wani Books published her first photobook, Saisho de Saigo (最初で最後 / First and Last), created as part of her solo tenth-anniversary period. The book was photographed in Tokyo and locations with a retro atmosphere around the Setouchi area and presented a more adult visual side of Ayami than her previous modeling history.
The tenth-anniversary project also included a major new album. Throughout 2024 she released songs including "Eternal love," "Calling," "Hoshikuzu Diamond," "Anata ga Kureta Kyou no Hi" and "Surfside Memory." Several of these involved notable creators connected to Japanese pop history, reinforcing the concept of linking the musical past with Ayami's present-day voice.
On December 10, 2024, she released Memorial HOTEL, a ten-track album created to commemorate the tenth anniversary of her solo debut. The album included "Surfside Memory," "Season," "Calling," "Fuyu no Pleasure Piece," "Rouge," "Eternal love," "Hoshikuzu Diamond," "Steal Heart Run," "Anata ga Kureta Kyou no Hi" and "Jounetsu no Pathos." Memorial HOTEL reached the Oricon weekly album chart and became the central recording of her anniversary year.
On December 30, Ayami concluded the anniversary cycle with Ayami Muto 10th Anniversary Live at SUPERNOVA KAWASAKI. The concert celebrated a solo career that had survived an extended hiatus, overseas study, a complete professional restart and the difficulties of the pandemic years.
In January 2025, Ayami announced that she had married a non-celebrity man during the previous year and was expecting her first child. She explicitly requested privacy regarding her husband and child and announced that she would temporarily step away from regular activities. Her final concert before the break, Ayami Muto Special Live ~AYAMI CLUB~, was held at COTTON CLUB on March 29.
Ayami's temporary break began around the April 29 release of the Blu-ray documenting her 10th Anniversary Live. On August 1, 2025, she publicly announced that she had safely given birth to her first child. At the same time she revealed another major professional transition: her exclusive contract with Tsubasa Records would conclude on August 31, and from September 1 she would work independently.
Ayami made clear that the end of the agency contract was not a retirement from music. She said she intended to continue at a slower personal pace and hoped to reconnect with fans through music, while maintaining her official Kissaten Muto fan club.
Her return to live performance became clear in 2026. On April 29, her thirtieth birthday, she held Ayami Muto 30th Birthday Live at Billboard Live Yokohama. It was her first Billboard Live appearance in three years and marked a highly visible return following her 2025 break. The concert used a full live band and included former BEYOOOOONDS member Yuhane Yamazaki as a special guest.
The year also produced a striking connection between Ayami's entertainment career and the horse-racing world in which she was raised. On March 7, 2026, Ethel Frida, a horse trained by her father Yoshinori Muto and ridden by her brother Miyabi Muto, won the Grade III Nakayama Himba Stakes. The victory gave Miyabi his first JRA graded-stakes win. Ayami, whose official biography had long described a dream of seeing her father's horse ridden by her brother while she participated in the presentation, publicly celebrated the family's achievement.
As of August 2026, Ayami is active as an independent solo singer. She is no longer represented by Tsubasa Records, but she continues her fan-club activities and has returned to live performance. Her career now spans more than two decades, beginning with child modeling in 2004 and passing through Karen Girl's, Sakura Gakuin, her first solo-idol period, an extended overseas hiatus and a self-directed second career.
Ayami's position in Sakura Gakuin history is particularly significant. She was not simply an early member: she was the first Student Council President, one of the eight founding members and a member of the first graduating class. The leadership and graduation structure first experienced by her generation became fundamental parts of Sakura Gakuin's identity.
At the same time, Sakura Gakuin represents only one chapter in a much longer artistic story. By 2026, Ayami's career can be understood through a continuous progression from child model to group vocalist, group leader and solo singer, with her fascination with Japanese 1980s pop acting as the thread connecting much of her adult musical identity.