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This is an unofficial, fan-created blog to keep you up to date with KOKIA in English. Most of the information comes in the form of (blog) translations, answered questions, promotion of events, and promotion of new releases (recent ones linked in the sidebar (desktop) /header (mobile)).
As of December 2, 2023: please read this notice on the status of updates.
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This pinned post was last updated on December 2, 2023.
Posted on April 21, 2023 at 3:47 PMHappy 26th anniversary to KOKIA!
April 29, 2024 marks KOKIA’s 26th anniversary as an artist, officially closing the curtains on a full year of 25th anniversary celebrations.
Maybe not a traditionally significant number like 25, but nonetheless an amazing milestone! Congratulations to KOKIA and to many more musical years to come!
Website update
An update regarding the KOKIAfans blog: I have updated the discography page after KOKIA’s announcement of digital releases for vol. 3 and 4 of her animal CDs. The physical releases are now sorted under the ‘Special releases’ category, as I had done with the first two volumes. The digital releases are listed as albums, with the original release date mentioned.
KOKIA previously announced the animal CDs would likely not return as physical releases after running out of stock, but they did return at least for the moment, so I’m not sure what her current stance is. That was the reason for my earlier decision to move them to the special releases category. If anyone has different ideas on how to handle this, feel free to let me know!
I have also updated the title translations, as it turns out the full track titles of volume 3 were slightly different in some cases than initially listed. There were no full track titles for volume 4 online at all, so I only had the animal names for those. However, I now have the physical releases myself after purchasing both albums via her official webshop, making use of the service Worldshopping (banner automatically added for international visitors). My review of the service is under the read more link (overall positive).
I hope this means I can start translating some new songs in the not so distant future, but unfortunately, I still cannot make any promises.
Posted on April 28, 2024 at 5:57 PMKOKIA updates: April 2024
Below, I have summarized KOKIA’s recent announcements and messages. As explained here, this will remain the style of updates for now. The updates for April are below.
Once-in-a-lifetime meetings tour
Continuing her Once-in-a-lifetime meetings, KOKIA goes to Oita and Saga next, mentioning in her blog entry for April 6 that Oita has sold out and only 10 seats remain for Saga at that point. She’s also started selling her new merchandise at these concerts, including a new tour T-shirt.
KOKIA looks back on her April 13 performance in Oita and her April 14 performance in Saga in her blog entry from April 19. It was her first time for both, and she shared some pictures on her Instagram. As it’s been so long since she’s toured and she was hitting these places for the first time, she was pleasantly surprised to see how many people showed up. She chose the venues, BRICK BLOCK in Oita and Roman-za in Saga, for their sea-side view and historically rich atmosphere respectively, and had a good time, looking forward to visiting again next year. Next up, the special Tokyo performance on May 23!
All upcoming performances are now sold out completely. KOKIA already mentions in her April 27 blog entry how she’d like to tour again next year and attend more venues this time.
Other performances
Starting April 15, tickets have gone on sale for another private studio performance at 01073house, dubbed Piano and Kokia vol. 1, to be held on June 8 and 9. She mentions this in her blog entry for April 12 as well as in a separate news entry that same day. As the title implies, KOKIA will accompany herself on piano in a smaller venue, the way all her songs are born and how she used to perform a lot when she debuted, and for a limited number of guests. Tickets are available via TicketPay.
KOKIA also announces in her April 27 blog entry that she’ll have another performance on August 3 and 4, at the Sonorium in Tokyo, a place with good memories. Further details and ticket information are still to follow. She also teases another event, but says she’ll save that for next week.
Releases
No big new releases, but KOKIA does announce in her blog entry of April 27 that starting May 11, all of her Animal albums will be available digitally. The Animal Kingdom 3 and The Animal Kingdom volume 4 will then be online to stream from various platforms, completing the current set of four.
KOKIA updates: March 2024
Below, I have summarized KOKIA’s recent announcements and messages. As explained here, this will remain the style of updates for now. It has so far worked out that I end up summarizing posts every month, so below are the updates from March.
Once-in-a-lifetime meetings tour
KOKIA had her first performance in her Once-in-a-lifetime meeting concert tour on March 10 in Kyoto. She talks about this ahead of the concert in her blog entry of March 7, looking forward to returning to Kyoto for the first time in quite a while.
In her blog entry of March 12, she reflects on the concert. The photo she attached to the entry is of the concert hall (the Kyoto Cultural Museum annex hall), as she really enjoyed the atmosphere, with the echoes from the high ceilings and the light coming in through the windows during magic hour right before sunset. (See also her Instagram post.) She was able to hold an autograph session, and enjoyed talking to people from the Kansai region this time. She hasn’t been here in a while, so there were also some people who hadn’t been to her concerts before or hadn’t been able to go in a long time.
She’s enjoying the difference of a tour versus performing in her home city of Tokyo and looks forward to her next concerts in the prefectures of Oita and Saga, coming up in April. She’s never performed solo there before, but she’s managed to almost sell out those performances already. The Tokyo performance in May is already sold out.
Releases
No more performances in March, but KOKIA does announce merchandise for her current tour in her blog entry of March 17. Rolling with the theme of a once-in-a-lifetime meeting, KOKIA decided on an encounter with the unknown that would certainly be once in a lifetime: an alien! The T-shirt (black, new model for comfortable wear) and blouson (white, same model as for her 25th anniversary). Due to production costs, there will be limited numbers for sale, so she is currently running a pre-sale on her official webshop from March 18 to April 7. The merchandise should be shipped in time for the performance in Tokyo in May and will be signed if ordered via the webshop. They will also be for sale at the Tokyo concert, but if you don’t want to miss out (and get it signed), ordering via the web shop is your best bet.
On a side note, some previously unavailable items such as the 3 albums in the Stars series, most of the Animal CDs, her 25th anniversary album ánd the limited edition Blu-ray of her 25th anniversary concert are back in stock, so if you’ve missed out before, now is your chance! International visitors will get the banner for WorldShopping enabling to place their orders too.
And finally, after the initial digital release of disc 1 of The Lighthouse, KOKIA announces on March 12 that the second disc is now also digitally available via various sources. Here is the direct link.
Other news
As previously mentioned, KOKIA shares on March 12 that she now has an account on Twitter/X, KOKIAofficial. As she uses her blog for her longer thoughts, her photos on Instagram, songs on YouTube and news on her homepage, she was missing a channel to very quickly share short updates. She decided to give Twitter a try for this, intending to only use it for quick, time-sensitive news such as ticket information, releases and sales. So, if you have an account, you can now follow KOKIA!
KOKIA also announced on March 12 that Kaji Fes 2023, which she performed at as a guest, will be broadcast on TBS Channel 1. March 23 was the original air date for day 2, KOKIA’s performance day, but there will be reruns on April 7 (18:00-20:00 for day 1, 20:00-23:00 for day 2). The official page for this broadcast can be found here.
Finally, taking a peek at her Instagram, KOKIA teases she’s recording a music video for the first time in a long while, so that’s something to look forward to!
Posted on March 31, 2024 at 4:24 PMHello i want to ask about the song Arigatou no anata ni. I'm vietnamese and my english isn't good enough. I'm so sorry. Ummm, do you mind about this?. I hope not hehe. I only find 1 video on youtube about this song and 1 video cover. I really really love this song but both videos are in japanese name so i can not find it if i use another youtube account or use others device. Can i ask why don't they popularize this song? Like Hontou no oto or Fukurou. And i can't find any informations about this song on google except your blog.Why this happens. Can i know that.And, byeee. I hope to see your reply soon. See you soon
"Hello!
I’m so sorry, I didn’t get a notification about your message earlier. I hope you haven’t been waiting for too long!
That is indeed an obscure song! KOKIA wrote Arigatou o anata ni in 2012, for the 2012 Japan Junior Chamber Summer Conference. It was released as a single, but it was only on their website, not KOKIA’s own web shop or in stores. She performed the song at the closing ceremony of the conference in 2012, and possibly a couple of times after that. She hasn’t mentioned the song since. Basically, all information I know can be found here on kokiafans. As you can see, it’s not a lot.
My guess is that, unlike Hontou no oto and Fukurou, KOKIA wrote this song for someone else, not for release on one of her own albums. She may not have the rights to use it again or to promote it. Or she may not want to, because she feels it was exclusive for that event. As far as I know, we don’t have an official explanation, so this is the best I can do.
Hopefully that answers your question at least a little. If you have more questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! I’m more likely to see it quicker if you send your question to @kokiafans, as that is my main KOKIA blog.
I’m adding to this post to mention that I’ve now been able to check and the single itself states, in English: “UNDER EXCLUSIVE LICENSE to Junior Chamber International Japan Copyright”. It seems it is indeed not up to KOKIA to use the song as she wishes.
Posted on March 31, 2024 at 3:39 PMKOKIA has officially joined Twitter/X this week! You can find her via the link above as KOKIAofficial.
Posted on March 9, 2024 at 3:15 PMKOKIA updates: February 2024
Below, I have summarized KOKIA’s recent announcements and messages. As explained here, this will remain the style of updates for now. I cannot make any promises about a quicker schedule for now. Unfortunately, that means a lot of this information is quite late. My sincere apologies and thank you for your continued patience.
Once-in-a-lifetime meetings tour
KOKIA had her first performance in her Once-in-a-lifetime meetings in Yokohama on February 4. In her blog entry of February 12, she looks back on it fondly, mentioning it lets her give back to her fans after 25 years of support. The red brick warehouse is also a place she’d hit her limit in a performance over a decade ago, when she wasn’t feeling well. The memories are bittersweet, as the audience spontaneously started singing for her at the time. Thankfully, she felt much better this time, although she is a bit nervous for her upcoming performances, as there are so many still to come. She’s determined to see them through and make them the once-in-a-lifetime meetings to fit the title of her tour.
In a quick news entry of February 2, KOKIA mentions how the members page has updated for fan club members only pre-sale tickets for the Sapporo and Nagoya performances.
General ticket sales for the special Tokyo performance started on February 10, as noted in the news entry for February 9. The performance is scheduled for May 25, opening at 15:15 and starting at 16:00, at the Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall.
The news entry for February 16 announces a pre-sale of tickets for the Nagoya performance on September 7 for Sunday Folk members. The pre-sale ran online from February 23 to the 26th, and through the newsletter from March 1 to 4. General ticket sales start via other ticket agencies on March 8. The links are in the entry above.
The second entry for February 16 is dedicated to the Sapporo performance on July 6, which will be held at the Sapporo City Clock Tower Hall. Tickets went on pre-sale on February 20/21, and general ticket sales start around march 4 (depending on the agency). All links are in the entry above.
Other performances
On February 7, KOKIA had a radio appearance at 15:00 (she announced it on the day itself in her news entry), at FM Setagaya’s ‘Afternoon Paradise’. She also quickly promotes this on her Instagram and shares behind the scenes photos later.
In her blog entry of February 22, KOKIA talks about her Harmony for Ukraine charity concert performance. The entry was written beforehand (with the actual performance on the 25th), with KOKIA writing about rehearsals a little. She posts several photos on Instagram later, thanking everyone for their support and hanging out backstage with artist Nataliya Gudziy.
On February 26, in both her news and her blog sections, KOKIA talks about an upcoming performance at her private studio 01073 house on June 22/30 (four performances total). It’s another performance in an already busy year, but she wanted to do a different concept for this. She won’t announce this concept, but she does tease she’s currently working on a new album...
Tickets are available February 29 onward, using the service TicketPay. The atmosphere will be homely, as she’s performing in a small place.
Finally, in her news entry for February 26, KOKIA announces that a live registration of Yuki Kajiura’s Kaji Fes 2023 will get a Blu-ray release, available on May 29. There will be multiple releases: one is a limited made-to-order box version, including the recordings for both days and exclusive merchandise. The other two releases are separate Blu-rays for each day. KOKIA performed on day 2.
Posted on March 2, 2024 at 4:45 PMKOKIA updates: January 2024
Below, I have summarized KOKIA’s recent announcements and messages. As explained here, this will remain the style of updates for now, though I hope to be back to old style full translations sometime this year. It is my hope, but I cannot make any promises. My apologies and thank you for your patience.
KOKIA has made multiple updates for her Once-in-a-lifetime meeting 2024 concert tour. At the tail end of 2023, KOKIA announced pre-sales for fan club members opened up for the performances in Kyoto, Saga and Oita, with the fan club pre-sales for the special performance in Tokyo (which will be held in lieu of her usual spring concerts) opening in January as she mentioned on January 10.
Normal pre-sales for Kyoto, Saga and Oita ran via the ticket offices on January 1-21, while pre-sales for Tokyo are open January 30 to February 4. The links for the offices are in the respective news entries.
Finally, KOKIA announced on January 26 that additional tickets (about 20 seats) are being sold for the first performance on February 4 in Yokohama. This sale started January 27 via Ticket Pia, with by the looks of it still some tickets left right now.
In her recent Instagram post, KOKIA also added Hokkaido and Nagoya to the list, on July 6 and September 7 respectively.
Of course, KOKIA mentions her upcoming tour in her blog entries too.
In her last post of 2023, she looks back on her 25th anniversary year and returning to Japan. 2024 is the year of the dragon, which is also KOKIA’s zodiac sign, which makes her extra excited for what the new year will bring.
On January 8, her first entry of 2024, she explains how her upcoming concert tour will be her way of saying thanks to people all across Japan for supporting her. She has mostly been performing in Tokyo or overseas in the last years, so this will be a nice chance to travel Japan and meet her fans in their regions again.
In her next post, January 16, she mentions how Yokohama and Kyoto have already sold out, and she talks about places she’d like to visit in the prefectures she’ll be traveling to for her tour. This year also marks the first time she’ll be performing solo at the Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall, although she has been there as a guest before at Mario Tashiro’s concert back in 2018.
She updated again on January 21 to announce she’s bringing back autograph sessions at the performance in Yokohama on February 4. She hasn’t been able to hold these in several years, so she’s excited to come face to face with her fans again and exchange some words, even if it’s quick. She’ll also have several of the items for sale at the venue that are currently unavailable at her official web shop. She assumes you’ll receive a ticket for the autograph session if you make a purchase.
In her conclusion, she’s already counting down to her 30th anniversary, so she’s definitely not slowing down any time soon!
Finally, her most recent entry of January 26 mentions the extra tickets for sale for the Yokohama performance, as mentioned above.
KOKIA updated her official Instagram to promote her upcoming Japan concert tour, “Once-in-a-lifetime meeting”. The first two performances, Yokohama and Kyoto, have already sold out, and pre-sale tickets for the special Tokyo performance will go up soon, on January 23. The ticket links are up on her official blog.
(I’ll try to make a summary post of her updates of January asap, thank you for your patience!)
Posted on January 20, 2024 at 7:14 PMKOKIA updates: December 2023
Admin note: this will most likely be the last update of 2023. Below, I have summarized KOKIA’s recent announcements and messages. As explained here, this will remain the style of updates for a little longer, though I hope to be back to old style full translations sometime in the new year. Thank you once again for your patience.
KOKIA previously announced a performance in February 2024, and now we have the details from her news page from December 4: she’ll be performing at Yokohama red brick warehouse #1, 3F hall, on February 4, 2024 with ‘KOKIA 2024 Once-in-a-lifetime meeting Ongaeshi Yokohama’ ('paying back a favor’). The venue will open at 16:00, while the performance starts at 16:30. All tickets are reserved seating and ¥ 8,000 tax included.
KOKIA mentions how this is her chance to reconnect with her fans throughout Japan after returning to the country and things opening up again after the pandemic, and this marks the beginning of her era of giving back.
Advanced pre-sales have ended by now, but general ticket sales have opened December 23 via Capital Village.
KOKIA announced the above performance in her blog entry of December 4, after which she talked about her then upcoming performance in Shanghai. Tickets only went on sale two weeks in advance, and she worried if they would even sell, but the big hall for 1,500 people sold out after just 34 hours!
Then, on December 12, she talked about her guest performance at composer Yuki Kajiura’s Kaji Fes on December 9. As she usually does solo performances, KOKIA was happy to perform as a guest and also watch other artists perform. It being Kajiura’s 30th anniversary makes KOKIA reflect on her own 25th anniversary, and she feels strongly that she’s the person to create her own limits herself. She wishes to head into 2024 at full force, breaking through her limits, and looks forward to her upcoming performances.
Finally, in her most recent blog entry of December 25, KOKIA of course starts by wishing everyone a merry Christmas, herself surrounded by music.
As the end of the year draws close, she announces what she already teased with her Yokohama performance: 2024 will be a year for local performances throughout Japan, not just confined to Tokyo. Fan club members have received a mail or can check the MEMBERS page on her official website for club members advance registration for the following performances:
KOKIA Once-in-a-lifetime meeting tour 2024
March 10 - Kyoto, Once-in-a-lifetime meeting uta mairi Kyoto ('song visit’)
April 13 - Oita, Once-in-a-lifetime meeting uta mairi Oita
April 14 - Saga, Once-in-a-lifetime meeting uta mairi Saga
May 25 - Special Tokyo performance, Mitsui hall, Once-in-a-lifetime meeting uta mairu Tokyo
PSA: Updates on KOKIAfans part 2
Hello everyone, this is the KOKIAfans admin. This post is a bit personal, as I’m trying to fill you in on why this blog has only been sporadically updated for months now.
A while ago, I made a long post to apologize for my lack of timely translation updates. This was back in July, but you have probably noticed that I still haven’t been translating entries and instead completely switched to summary posts for the time being.
I wish I could tell you that with the year 2023 coming to a close, I’ll soon be back into business as usual. Unfortunately, that would be a promise I’m not sure I can keep. And so, I have no choice but to ask you for your continued patience with this current style of updates.
Below the link is a longer explanation if you’re interested, but the above is the eventual conclusion. My apologies and thank you for your patience in advance!
Posted on December 2, 2023 at 4:36 PMKOKIA updates: Nov. 23 - Dec. 1 2023
Admin note: As explained before, I am currently still not able to provide full translations within a reasonable time frame, so below follows a summary of KOKIA’s recent updates on her official channels instead. Thank you for your understanding. I will soon make a new post to explain the current situation.
In her blog entry for November 23, KOKIA announces that she’s planning a regional (Japanese) tour in 2024. Her first stop will be at the Yokohama red brick warehouse in February 2024. For now, club members of fan club ancoro have been informed about the fan club only pre-sale of tickets, so no more information has been publicly shared. They can check the MEMBERS page on KOKIA’s official website for more information in case they missed the mail magazine.
Also in February, KOKIA will perform at the Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall in Tokyo. In her news entry for November 27, she shares the information for Harmony for Ukraine: a gift from Japan (Nihon kara no okurimono). It’s a one-time only performance with prayers for peace, featuring live artists and ballet, for the children of Ukraine, on February 25, 2024. Advance tickets are on sale via Capital Village now until December 5, operating on a lottery system for performing artists. The event will start at 16:00 and run until 18:30, and tickets are ¥ 5,800 (tax included). Children under 3 have free admission. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to UNITED24, the Ukrainian government-run fundraising platform.
The artists listed are Chikako Sawada, Keizou Nakanishi, Nataliya Gudziy and KOKIA. For ballet, Yuuichirou Takemoto, Marina Emura and others are listed, with (partial) special directing by choreographer Guy-Paul.
Via McJLing on Twitter: tickets for KOKIA’s 25th anniversary concert Live in Shanghai 2023 are on sale for Chinese fans starting December 1 (previously, only Japanese fans flying in could apply for tickets directly via KOKIA’s office). The concert will be held on December 17, 19:00 CST at the new North Bund AIA Grand Theatre (友邦北外滩大剧院). The ticket website is here.
The trailer for the movie of the NHK tv drama Kaze yo arashi yo (‘The wind, the storm’) has been uploaded to YouTube. KOKIA worked together with composer Yuki Kajiura to create the ending theme, Kaze yo, fuke (‘May the wind blow’), which can be heard in the background in the latter half of the trailer. The movie will debut on February 9, 2024; the song will be featured on Yuki Kajiura’s upcoming album The works for soundtrack II on December 6.
KOKIA updates: November 6-22, 2023
Admin note: As explained before, I am currently still not able to provide full translations within a reasonable time frame, so below follows a summary of KOKIA’s recent updates on her official channels instead. Thank you for your understanding. I will soon make a new post to explain the current situation.
In her blog entry of November 6, KOKIA talks about her collaboration with composer/producer Yuki Kajiura, talking about the song Kaze yo fuke (‘May the wind blow’) (more information here) and Kaji Fes 2023, where KOKIA will appear as a guest on the second day, December 9. She’ll perform the new song as well as previous songs with Yuki Kajiura. KOKIA mentions there have been many requests for another collaboration over the years, and this opportunity makes her very happy.
She remarks how this might be the last chance for her Japanese fans to see her, as her November performance at the sonorium is fan club members only. She might have another small project at 01073 house soon however (the place of her photo exhibition), so stay tuned for more information.
KOKIA held her fan club concert at the sonorium in Tokyo last weekend, November 18-19. In her blog entry leading up to that on November 17, she mentions that it will be the first time she will be selling tickets for a concert she’ll hold at the end of the year at the venue. That performance will be a fresh experience with new instruments, and a chance for thanking her fans for 2023 and to welcome the new year. No further details other than the ticket price of ¥ 7,000 have been revealed so far.
As for next year, KOKIA mentions she’s been quiet as she’s preparing for 2024, making it a year where she will sow seeds and bloom again, bringing her songs to various places.
Finally, in her entry for November 22, KOKIA announces the digital release of her 25th anniversary album The Lighthouse. Her second jazz cover album Watching from above vol.2 is also digitally available. She links to two press releases, on CDJournal and Barks (which I am currently not able to translate, apologies).
The Lighthouse is available via various online sources here. As some songs have now official English translations that didn’t have them before, I will update the discography page accordingly.
Please note that for now, it seems only the first disc of the two is available for digital release/streaming.
Watching from above vol. 2 is available via various online sources here.
KOKIA collaboration with Yuki Kajiura
(Via KOKIA.com/news, entry 1 and entry 2)
In addition to her upcoming guest performance at Yuki Kajiura’s 30th anniversary live on December 9 (second day of Kaji Fes 2023), KOKIA has also revealed a new collaboration with said composer/producer.
On February 9, 2024, the movie version of the NHK tv drama Kaze yo arashi yo (‘The wind, the storm’) will premier in Shinjuku Piccadilly theatre and then in the rest of Japan. Yuki Kajiura has composed a new ending theme for the movie under her project FictionJunction, which features guest musicians. For this song, KOKIA is the guest, making the artist FictionJunction feat. KOKIA. The song is titled Kaze yo, fuke ('May the wind blow’).
The song will also be one of around one hundred tracks on the new upcoming 3-disc album The works for Soundtrack II, which is scheduled for release on December 6, 2023. (KOKIA also featured on the first works for soundtrack, released back in 2010.)
Posted on November 5, 2023 at 3:10 PM