Koda Kumi
Kumiko Kōda (神田 來未子, Kōda Kumiko, born November 13, 1982), known professionally as Koda Kumi (倖田 來未, Kōda Kumi), is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs.
In this Japanese name, the surname is Koda.
Koda Kumi倖田 來未
Kumiko Kōda (神田 來未子)
November 13, 1982
Kyoto, Japan
- Singer
- actress
- entrepreneur
- songwriter
- voice actress
- dancer
Vocals
2000–present
Rhythm Zone
Orpheus (USA)
After debuting with the single "Take Back" in December 2000, Koda gained fame in March 2003 when the songs from her seventh single, "Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba", were used as themes for the video game Final Fantasy X-2.[1][2] Her popularity grew with the release of her fourth studio album Secret (2005), her sixteenth single "Butterfly" (2005), and her first greatest hits album Best: First Things (2005), reaching the number-three, number-two, and number-one spots respectively.[3][4][5]
Though her early releases presented a conservative, quiet image, she has become a fashion leader among young women, setting trends such as the ero-kakkoii style.[6] In 2006 and 2007, Oricon named Koda as the top selling artist of the year.[fn 1]
Life and career[edit]
Early life[edit]
Koda was born into a family of musicians. Her grandfather was a Shakuhachi master and her mother was a Koto teacher;[9] she is the older sister of Misono, current solo artist and former lead singer of Day After Tomorrow. Inspired by her mother, who performed in karaoke bars, Koda, from a young age, had aspirations of becoming a singer.[9] Her school years were unhappy; she described her junior and high school years as "obscure times", as she was ridiculed due to her "fatness", "shortness", "ugliness", and other factors related to her appearance.[10][11][12] During her second year of high school Koda auditioned in Avex's "Dream Audition", where she came in second out of 120,000 participants. She was then signed onto the Avex sub-label Rhythm Zone.[9] Koda's first semi-biographical book, Koda-shiki ("Koda-style") was officially described as "a story about a girl who was filled with inferiority complex pursuing her way".[13]
2000–2004: Early career and image change[edit]
Koda debuted on December 6, 2000, with the single "Take Back"; it was followed by "Trust Your Love", "Color of Soul" (both 2001), and "So into You" (2002). "Trust Your Love" and "Color of Soul" were both Top 30 singles; the former reached number 18 on the chart and became Koda's first Top Twenty single.[14][15] Using the stage name Koda, Koda recorded "Take Back" and "Trust Your Love" in English and released the singles in the United States under Orpheus Records. "Take Back" peaked at number 18 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart;[16] "Trust Your Love" had more success, reaching the top spot on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart.[17] The single also charted on the Hot Singles Sales chart and Hot Dance Club Play chart, at No. 19 and No. 35, respectively.[18][19] After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Koda recorded the charity single "The Meaning of Peace" with Korean singer BoA as part of Avex's Song+Nation project to raise funds for charity.[20][21] In March 2002, Koda released her debut album Affection under Rhythm Zone; it peaked at number 12 on the Oricon album chart.[22]
After the release of Affection, Koda released three singles. "Love Across the Ocean", "Maze" (both 2002), and "real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba" (2003). "Love Across the Ocean" and "Maze" peaked at the number 19 and 25 positions.[23][24] Koda achieved minor success with "real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba", which peaked at number 3 after three weeks on the charts.[25] The songs were used as the opening and ending themes, respectively, of the video game Final Fantasy X-2; in addition, Koda motion-acted the dance moves of one of the characters and voiced the character Lenne in the Japanese version of the game.[26] She released her second album, Grow into One in March 2003. It debuted at number 11 on the charts,[27] and peaked at number 8 in the fourth week of its run.[28]
From then on, Koda continued a string of Top Twenty singles with "Come with Me", "Gentle Words" (both 2003), and "Crazy 4 U" (2004).[29][30][31] She then released her third album Feel My Mind (February 2004), which debuted at number 7.[32] Koda also covered the theme song of the anime series Cutie Honey originally by Yoko Maekawa for the 2004 live-action film and Re: Cutie Honey. The song, which shared the same name as the show, was included as a bonus track on the album and became the title track of her eleventh single, "Love & Honey" (2004), after the album's release. At the end of the year, Koda released two more singles, "Chase" and "Kiseki".
During her image change, Koda stated her concern about what her parents would think. When they approved and supported her, she chose to keep the style that would become infamous with her name: "ero-kakkoi".
Image[edit]
Awards[edit]
Koda won her first award at the 47th Japan Record Awards for Butterfly on December 31, 2005,[130] and was awarded "Triple Crown" at the Japan Gold Disc Awards on March 10, 2006, for pocketing three awards: "Pop Artist of the Year", "Pop Album of the Year", and "Music Video of the Year".[131] She continued to win more awards for this song; on May 27, 2006, the MTV VMAJ's awarded Koda with "Best Female Video" and "Best Video of the Year" for "Butterfly", and "buzzASIA from Japan" for "Trust You", a track from her album Secret.[132] Later in 2006, her song "Yume no Uta" from her 33rd single, "Yume no Uta / Futari de...", garnered Koda more awards. She was a Grand Prix winner at the 39th Japan Usen Grand Prize.[133]
On May 26, 2007, Koda won three awards from MTV Video Music Awards Japan for the second year in a row. "Yume No Uta" was nominated in three categories and won "Best Female Video and "Best Video of the Year". Koda herself won a special award known as "Best Stylish Artist Award".[134] At the 2007 Best Hit Kayōsai Koda's "Ai no Uta" earned her the Grand Prix in the pop category, also winning one of the golden awards for the 49th Nihon Record Taishō.[135][136]
Koda, while having success on Oricon charts with physical CD sales, maintains success on online music sales as well. It is reported that twenty-two of her music videos chart the top 100 most downloaded videos, with four of her videos dominating the top five, and having "Koi no Tsubomi" top the Overall Downloads Chart, which thirteen of her other songs chart.[137][138]
She has sold more than 15 million records in Japan.
Koda won the "Hottest Asian Artist" at the 13th Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) in 2011.[139]
Koda and director Mika Ninagawa won the "Music Short Excellence Award, Cinematic Award" for "Pink Spider" at the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2013 (abbreviation: SSFF &ASIA).
Fashion[edit]
Koda has been known for her "sexy" image. In 2003, she started a cleavage-baring trend when she appeared in advertisements wearing a metallic bra.[140] Her 2004 work with the anime movie Cutie Honey continued this image,[141] and in 2005, she began the "ero kawaii" or "ero-kakkoii" trend in Japan and was partially responsible for making the wearing of lingerie in public more acceptable in Japan.[6][142] Koda's image has inspired other artists: Korean singer Ayumi Lee and American Japanese expatriate model-singer Leah Dizon, both known for their use of sexuality in the image, are inspired in part by Koda.[143] Singaporean newspaper The New Paper suggested that her sexy image was responsible for her sales—she outsold "reigning J-pop queen" Ayumi Hamasaki in 2006 and 2007.[144][145] In 2006, Koda began winning awards for being a new trendsetter in Japan, including the "Best Jeanist Award" on September 4, 2006,[146] and the title of "Nail Queen" for her nail art on November 21, 2006, by Japan Nail Expo.[147][148]
In 2006, when the popularity of Japanese singers was declining in Singapore due to the rising popularity of the Korean Wave, Koda's sexy image garnered her popularity in the region and renewed interest in J-pop.[149] James Kang, marketing director for Warner Music in Asia, noted that Koda's sexy image is popular not only with men but also with women, even "Japanese aunties", because she uses her image to "make a feminist statement [...] She's constantly telling women to believe in themselves and do what they want to do".[143] In 2007, it was proposed that the term "ero-kakkoii" be added to the Japanese Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words.[150]
Personal life[edit]
In August 2007, it was rumored that Koda was dating SMAP leader Masahiro Nakai.[151] The media questioned the artists' agencies on the matter; neither agency had confirmed or denied the rumors.[152][153] In September, during a variety show that Nakai was a semi-regular on, socialite Dewi Sukarno was discussing her ideal boyfriend and mentioned that Nakai and Koda were dating.[154] It was also rumored that the two would get married before Koda's 25th birthday.[154] In the December issue of Josei Seven, it was "confirmed" that the two were dating.[155]
The couple was dubbed as the "national couple", a nickname last used in the early 1960s when actor Akira Kobayashi married enka singer Hibari Misora.[154] However, some denied that the relationship was real, claiming that Johnny Kitagawa orchestrated the relationship to move SMAP to the Avex label.[154]
On December 12, 2011, Koda's official website announced that she was engaged to Kenji03 from Back-On.[156] Koda then announced on December 16 that she was eight weeks pregnant;[157] after returning from the Mnet Asian Music Awards in Singapore. The two married on December 22, and Koda gave birth to the couple's first child, a son, on July 17, 2012.[158][159]
Philanthropy[edit]
In March 2011, Koda provide aid to the victims of Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, the Foundation in association with Yahoo! Japan organized the Japan Relief Fundraising Auction, and all the benefits were sent to the Japanese Red Cross.
From January 2020 to October 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic, Japan issued a "stay-at-home" order and also postponed the Tokyo Olympics at one year time. Many Japanese artists took part in releasing music created at home to encourage citizens to remain at home and to take necessary precautions when in public.[160] On April 19, 2020, Kumi and her husband Kenji03 took part in the song "Be One ~Bokura ni Dekiru Koto~" (僕らにできる事 / What We Can Do), along with various other Japanese artists, including Daichi Miura, Yu Shirota, KEITA, KM-MARKIT and Micro among others.[161] Continuing her involvement, Koda released the song "Puff" as a digital single on June 26.[162] That the same day, an accompanying music video was uploaded to Avex's official YouTube.[163] In the video, Koda and several of her backup dancers perform a dance in their own respective homes, consisting of various yoga poses and lite calisthenics. An alternate version of the video was uploaded with Koda in front of a blue screen, encouraging fans to input their own backgrounds and tag the videos as "MADE93".[164] In December 2020 amid the third COVID wave, all of songs were recorded in her home studio due to COVID-19 pandemic, which she said gave her more opportunity to work with many Western writers and composers.[165]
On February 15, 2021 as COVID-19 cases declined in Japan, Koda and alongside various other artists, took part in the song "My Hero ~Kiseki no Uta~" (奇跡の唄 / Miracle Song).[166] The song was the theme song for the charity concert Live Empower Children, which was held to support childhood cancer treatment on International Childhood Cancer Day (February 15).[167][168]