KOKIA – Yoshida Akiko singer japanese girls profile
KOKIA during Songbird promotion (1999)KOKIA was a very musical child, even when she was little. Instead of playing with toys, she would instead play on the piano, or play the violin. She was readily able to express her feelings and emotions through song. When she was 10 (and later when she was 14) she went to study English in America at a summer music school. KOKIA later enrolled at the prestigious Toho Gakuen School of Music for High School.
While KOKIA released two singles in 2005 with minor tie-ups, she planned to start 2006 with a brand new single for the anime movie Gin-iro no Kami no Agito, “Ai no Melody / Cyouwa oto ~with reflection~”. The anime featured a re-arranged version of her song Cyouwa oto from Trip Trip as the opening theme, and a new composition, Ai no Melody as it’s ending theme song. Following this was KOKIA’s first live outside of Asia, a concert held in Paris on the 21st of January. KOKIA also released a best album on the first of February.
KOKIA promoting her Dandelion single (2005In June 2006, it was announced the KOKIA would leave her label Victor Entertainment. She then set up her own independent website, and has sung at several lives. Following this, in October it was announced that French label Wasabi Records would be releasing KOKIA’s new album, Ai ga Kikoeru, in November for an exclusive France release. It is unknown which Japanese record label will pick up KOKIA and release her album at this point, but the album will most likely be released in Japan at a later time. KOKIA will be releasing her 16th single, Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi, on January 23rd, 2008. It will be featured as the opening theme for the second season of the Gunslinger Girl anime, titled Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-.
Other Compositions / Setlist Tracks
KOKIA has composed several songs for other artists. These songs are:
Hatsukoi (初恋; First Love) (Yumi Saori and Yasuda Sachiko) (appeared as track #3 on their joint 2000 album Uta Uta Uta Vol.5 ~Ashita no Omoi de~. The song was jointly composed with Minami Kosatsu)
Larme ([Fr:] Tears) (Ashino Hiroshi) (appeared as track #13 on Ashino’s La Brise de la Cote d’Azur album. The song was jointly composed with Ashino Hiroshi himself)
Tokai no Hitsuji (都会の羊; City Sheep) (Otake Yuki) (appeared as track #3 on Otake’s Nemuru Kujaku album. Kokia solely composed this)
KOKIA has also featured many new songs that don’t appear on any releases yet in her recent lives.
Name: KOKIA, Yoshida Akiko, 吉田亜紀子
Birthday: 7-22, 1976
Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan
Blood Type: O
First CD Ever Bought: Michael Jackson’s BAD
Favourite Type of Music: Music from films, Disney Songs, Celtic Music
Favourite Artists: Michael Jackson, Madonna, Enya, Criara, Adiemus, Bon Jovi, Skid Row, R.E.M, Sakamoto Ryuichi
Favourite Foods: Uni, Bananas, Hard Candy, Perrier, Cheese, Uirou, Spring Rolls, Coconut Milk, Hard French Bread, Escargot
Least Favourite Foods: Melon, Watermelon, Squid, Octopus, Shrimp
Favourite Things: Movies, Music, Animals, Unarmed Martial Arts, Glittering things (like Swarovsky Jewerly)
Least Favourite Things: Fluorescent Lights, Aeroplanes.
Favourite Sport: Skiing
Trivia: KOKIA’s sister, Yoshida Kyoko, is a famous violinist.
KOKIA studied Opera and classical music while in University. During her time there, she caught the eye of a scouter from Pony Canyon, and in 1998 while still at University debuted with the single Aishiteiru Kara under the stage name KOKIA. This stage name that she created for herself was both her first name reversed (A-Ki-Ko -> Ko-Ki-A), as well as the name of a Hawaiian Hibiscus flower, which blooms during her birthday. Aishiteiru Kara and it’s B-side, You, were used insert songs into the Fuji TV drama Brothers. However, this single was not her first release into the Japanese market, as two weeks prior the Tail Concerto OST had been released. The soundtrack contained For Little Tail, the opening theme for the game, which KOKIA had sung. KOKIA’s next release was a song called Ai no Field, which was used as the ending theme song for the anime BRAIN POWERD (the song was composed by the well-known composer Kanno Yoko). Kokia followed up this single six months later with her second, tie-upless single Tears in Love.
KOKIA’s next single, Arigatou…, was the first song that she had fully written and composed herself. It was used as the TBD drama Dotsuzen Oyako’s theme song. While this did not propel her to stardom in Japan, KOKIA became extremely famous in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Arigatou… won her the third place prize in the Hong Kong International Popular Music Awards. Popular Cantonese singer, Sammi Cheng, even recorded a Cantonese language cover of the song. This was followed up with KOKIA’s debut album, Songbird.
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