KOKIA

Despite never ascending to the peak of the Oricon rankings, Kokia cultivated an elegant and meticulously refined strain of J-pop that earned her multiple commissions for theme songs in video games, television dramas, and anime productions while building a loyal following inside Japan and beyond, most notably in France. Akiko Yoshida came into the world in 1976 and began violin studies at age three, later mastering the piano before twice attending a music academy in the United States—initially alongside her sister Kyoko, who would become a professional violinist. She trained at the renowned Toho Gakuen School of Music, where talent scouts from Pony Canyon soon discovered her, leading to her 1998 debut as the pop singer Kokia, an anagram of her given name. Her first recording, “For Little Tail,” appeared on the soundtrack of the Tail Concerto video game, while that same year Pony Canyon issued her debut single “Aishiteiru Kara,” which was placed in the television drama Brothers. The follow-up single “Ai no Field,” contributed by renowned composer Yoko Kanno for the anime Brain Powerd, preceded Kokia’s own songwriting efforts; her initial self-penned effort, the 1999 single “Arigatou...,” secured a television drama placement and garnered a regional music award in both Taiwan and Hong Kong. Although her first album, Songbird, arrived in 1999 without charting and prompted a temporary withdrawal from the scene, she resurfaced in 2001 on the Victor Entertainment roster. The subsequent release Trip Trip likewise failed to register on the Oricon, yet “A Gift” was licensed for Subaru commercials worldwide and “Kawaranai Koto (Since 1976)” became her first Top 50 entry at number 47 after its use in the anime Hungry Heart Wild Striker. The double-sided single “The Power of Smile”/“Remember the Kiss” and the album Remember Me each reached number 15, marking her strongest commercial performances in both categories. In 2003 Pony Canyon licensed two earlier tracks for the Chinese drama At Dolphin Bay. Kokia’s fourth album, Uta ga Chikara, appeared in 2004 and generated two further singles in 2005, the year she made her initial European appearances, performing at the MIDEM industry showcase in Paris and issuing the compilation Pearl simultaneously in Japan, Spain, and France. That exposure prompted her to form the independent label Anco&co in 2006 while partnering with France’s Wasabi Records, which issued Aigakikoeru six months ahead of its domestic release; she retained her Victor affiliation in Japan, where the album peaked at number 67, although “Follow the Nightingale,” featured in the game Tales of Innocence, climbed into the Top 40. Subsequent productivity included the 2008 neo-classical set The Voice, the Irish-inflected Fairy Dance, and Christmas Gift, followed in 2009 by Akiko Kokia Balance and Kokia Akiko Balance, the same year she undertook her first European tour. Three additional anime placements arrived in the late 2000s, and for the 2010 album Real World she journeyed to Tunisia.