Childhood

Kumiko was the first girl born to the Koda family in a number of generations. It was the strong support of her grandfather (who taught her Japanese bamboo flute) and her mother (who taught Japanese harp) that helped Kumi become a success. Kumi started practicing classical Japanese dance at the age of three which sparked her interest in performing, and singing in particular.

Discovery and affection Era

It was not until 2000 that finally had a break. Koda Kumi won the "Avex Dream 2000" audition held by Avex Trax and was signed to Rhythm Zone, an urban-minded sublabel at Avex. She looked forward to finally being able to follow in her mother's footsteps.

grow into one Era

Koda continued to strive for the success, and in the summer of 2002, she released her 5th single "love across the ocean." Even though she thought the song was a masterpiece, it failed to bring her success. It debuted at number 19 at Oricon and quickly dropped completely off of the charts.

feel my mind Era

After the release of a successful album, Kumi continued to release a string of top twenty hits, including COME WITH ME, Gentle Words, and Crazy For You. COME WITH ME, released right after her last album, was the best performing single of her feel my mind album, selling 42,000 copies.

secret Era

Cutie Honey, a song previously made available of feel my mind as a bonust track was also made available as a track on her next single, "LOVE & HONEY" single released on May 2004.

Best~first things~ era and Superstardom

Later with the release of her 16th single, "Butterfly", Kumi got her highest chart position on the charts at that moment, debuting at the number one place on the daily charts for the first time. Despite that fact, the single only secured a #2 position for the weak, but that was still the highest any of her singles had reached. Butterfly proved essential to bringing her further into the public spotlight as it was named song of the year. Her next two singles, flower, and Promise / Star continued her impressive string of top ten hits, both peaking at number four on the weekly Oricon charts.

12 single collection and BEST~second session~

On December 2005 Kumi started a project of releasing twelve singles in only three months, the project was called the ~12 Single~ Collection. The first single of the 12 singles series, "you", placed #1 on the Oricon charts for its first 3 days, keeping popular boyband TOKIO from the top position. The single's success continued throughout the week and reached #1 on the weekly charts selling over 72,000 copies, making it Kumi's first ever number one hit. The Following week the second single of the 12 set, "Birthday Eve", was released and grabbed the #6 position for the week (selling 44,294 copies of the limited pressing of 50,000 copies) while "you" took the 7th position. This marks the first time since Ai Otsuka's "Sakuranbo" and "Amaenbo" singles in March of 2004 that a female singer has had two singles both in the top ten in the same week. The third single, "D.D.D. feat. SOULHEAD" (also limited to 50,000 copies) had also great sales, selling almost all of the copies that were made.

Post Second Session Era

Kumi's latest single Koi no Tsubomi was ranked #2 on the weekly Oricon charts with first week sales of 140,000 copies. This was the highest weekly sales amount for a female artists in 2006 until Ayumi Hamasaki surpassed it with BLUE BIRD. Also this single is Kumi's 19th consecutive single which have made debuted in the Top 10 (since "Kiseki"). - ([2])

Trivia

• Bloodtype: A
• Hobby: shopping
• Favourite music: Hip-Hop
• Favourite sport: squash
• Favourite colour: green and purple
• Favourite season: Summer
• Favourite clothes: Dolce & Gabbana, H・A・K
• Favourite artists: Britney Spears, Chingy, Christina Aguilera, Nelly, P!nk, Pharrel Williams

• Kumi Koda is the official model of the character Lenne in the Final Fantasy X-2 series.
• Kumi Koda has a three octave singing voice.
• Auditioned for Morning Musume's third generation.

Discography

See Kumi Koda discography.

DVDs

1. 7SPIRITS (2003/3/19)
2. feel... (2004/3/24)
3. girls~Selfish~ (2004/11/25)
4. secret -FIRST CLASS LIMITED LIVE- (2005/9/21)
5. BEST~first things~ LIVE TOUR 2005 - available only in limited edition of second best album
6. LIVE TOUR 2005~first things~deluxe edition - (2006/9/13)

songnation

1. the meaning of peace w/BoA (2001/12/19)
2. songnation (performed the meaning of peace w/BoA) (2002/1/23)

Other Collaborations

• 99% Radio All Stars - Be mine (from '99% Radio Show' compilation)
• Clench & Blistah - Teaser (Koda Kumi feat. Clench & Blistah, from 'grow into one' album)
• Daisuke D.I. Imai - Super Sonic (Koda Kumi & Daisuke D.I. Imai, from '573 Records Special Compilation Album')
• Heartsdales - It's a small world (Koda Kumi & Heartsdales, from '80 Days' soundtrack, 'secret' album)
• JHETT a.k.a. YAKKO for AQUARIUS - Just Go feat. Koda Kumi (from 'Just Go' single, 'JHETT' album)
• KM-MARKIT - Hot Stuff (Koda Kumi featuring KM-MARKIT, from 'Hot Stuff' single, 'secret' album)
• KM-MARKIT - Rainy Day feat. Koda Kumi (from 'Vivid' album)
• LISA - magic (from 'feel my mind' album)
• LISA - SWITCH feat. Koda Kumi & Heartsdales (from 'SWITCH/I ONLY WANT TO BE WITH YOU' single, 'GRATITUDE' album)
• Mr. Blistah - Candy (Koda Kumi feat. Mr. Blistah, from 'Candy' single, 'BEST ~second session~' album)
• Rather Unique - Every-After-Party feat. Koda Kumi (from '99% Radio Show' compilation)
• SOULHEAD - D.D.D. (Koda Kumi feat. SOULHEAD, from 'D.D.D.' single, 'BEST ~second session~' album)
• SOULHEAD - XXX feat. Koda Kumi (from 'Pray/XXX' single, 'NAKED' album)
• Tatsuya Ishii - KAMEN (Koda Kumi feat. Tatsuya Ishii, from 'KAMEN' single, 'BEST ~second session~' album)
• TRF - JOY-meets Koda Kumi (from 'Lif-e-Motions' album)
• VERBAL - Till Morning Comes (from 'affection' album)

Soundtracks

1. Final Fantasy X-2 O.S.T. (performed real Emotion and Sen no kotoba (1000の言葉, Sen no kotoba^?)) (2003/3/31)
2. Gilgamesh O.S.T. (performed Crazy 4 U) (2004/2/25)
3. Cutie Honey O.S.T. (performed Cutie Honey (キューティーハニー, Cutie Honey^?)) (2004/5/26)

Theme songs

The following songs performed by Koda Kumi have been used as themes for a range of motion pictures, TV series and video games:

Compilation

1. avex 15th Anniversary Presents BOX SET [Initial pressing only limited release] (performed real Emotion) (2003/7/30)
2. 99% Radio Show (performed real Emotion) (2003/9/25)
3. Collabo. (performed the meaning of peace w/BoA) (2004/2/18)
4. SOUL TREE - a musical tribute to toshinobu kubota (performed Yume with You (夢 with You, Yume with You^?)) (2004/2/25)
5. Dramatic Songs (performed m.a.z.e.) (2004/12/1)
6. SPEED & POWER STYLE 2005 (performed real Emotion Mega-Mix, Trust Your Love Mega-Mix, and Into Your Heart Mega-Mix) (2005/1/19)
7. RZ the best of rhythm zone 2005 [CD+DVD] [Regular Edition] (performed Cutie Honey (キューティーハニー, Cutie Honey^?) and SWITCH] (2005/3/9)
8. RZ the best of rhythm zone 2005 [CD+DVD] [Limited Pressing] (performed Cutie Honey (キューティーハニー, Cutie Honey^?) and SWITCH] (2005/3/9)
9. Kazen Parapara!! Presents Super J-Euro Best (performed Crazy 4 U <80'S STYLE REMIX>) (2005/3/30)
10. SUPER BEST TRANCE presents SUPER J-TRANCE BEST (performed real Emotion (OVERHEAD CHAMPION REMIX) (2005/3/30)
11. a-nation '05 BEST HIT SUMMER (performed Cutie Honey (キューティーハニー, Cutie Honey^?)) (2005/7/27)

US Performances

• May 23 - May 26, 2002: New York - Tokyo Music Festival; New York, NY.
• January 30, 2004: Ushicon 3 Anime Convention: Austin, Texas.
• March 25, 2005: KamikazeCon Anime Convention: Houston, Texas. (Review)

References

• Rhythm Zone (avex network inc.) (2005), Koda Kumi Official Web Site
• Oricon Style (2005), Ranking - Oricon Style