(born February 17, 1967), formerly , is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the all-female rock band Princess Princess and currently the lead vocalist of the band Unlock the Girls. In addition to her career as a musician, she has written songs for several J-pop artists.
Biography Born in Hiroshima, Japan, Kaori Okui dropped out of Tamagawa Seigakuin Girls' High School and Nakano Junior and Senior High School.
Princess Princess
In 1983, Okui, guitarist Kanako Nakayama, bassist Atsuko Watanabe, keyboardist Tomoko Konno, and drummer Kyōko Tomita won a band audition hosted by TDK Records and formed Akasaka Komachi. After releasing a handful of singles and an EP, the band left TDK Records and changed their name to Julian Mama in 1985 before settling with the name Princess Princess and signing with CBS Sony in 1986. The band's breakout year was in 1989, when "Diamonds" became the first of five consecutive singles to hit No. 1 on Oricon's singles chart. By the mid-1990s, however, their popularity waned, and in 1996, Princess Princess disbanded.
After 16 years, Princess Princess reunited in November 2012 for several concerts in order to help with recovery from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. They performed six concerts: November 3 and 4 at the Sendai Sun Plaza Hall, then November 20, 21, 23 and 24 at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. In addition, the band performed at the Tokyo Dome on December 23 and 24, 2012, as well as the 2012 Kōhaku Uta Gassen on New Year's Eve. Princess Princess reunited again in 2016 for five concerts: March 11 to 13 at the Sendai Pit, and March 25 and 26 at the Toyosu Pit before once again parting ways.
Solo career In 1994, Okui released her first solo singles "Kiseki no Toki" and "Vanishing"; she then released her solo debut album Renaissance on November 21. On March 4, 1995, one year prior to Princess Princess' disbandment, Okui held her first solo concert at NHK Hall. In 1997, after marrying actor Gorō Kishitani, she released her third single "Happy Man" and second album Shout. A year later, Okui released her third album Kaori.
She made the theme song for the Japanese version of Lassie (2005 film) called "Singing".
Her song ICE AGE ~Hyougaki no Kodomo-tachi~ is in the Japanese dub of Ice Age: The Meltdown.
In 2018, Kishitani made an appearance as a guest artist at the annual touring ice show Fantasy on Ice, where she performed to the song "Sekai de Ichiban Atsui Natsu" (lit. "The Hottest Summer in the World") in the show opening amongst others.
Personal life Okui married actor Gorō Kishitani in 1996 immediately after Princess Princess disbanded. After giving birth to her first son, Ranmaru in the summer of 2001, she took her husband's surname as her professional name. Kishitani gave birth to her daughter in the summer of 2003.
Discography
Singles + List of singles, with selected chart positions Title Date Peak chart positions Sales (JPN) RIAJcertification AlbumOricon Singles Charts "Kiseki no Toki" August 1, 1994 15 66,000 N/ARenaissance "Vanishing" October 21, 1994 26 42,000 N/A "Happy Man" April 16, 1997 32 34,000 N/A Shout "Sparkle" December 1, 1997 78 4,000 N/AKaori "Himawari" May 30, 1998 — N/A "Hello. Hello." March 8, 2006 109 N/ARing to the Heavens "Ice Age ~Hyōgaki no Kodomo-tachi~" April 19, 2006 149 N/A "Singing" December 13, 2006 — N/A The Best and More "Romantic Warriors" June 25, 2014 67 N/APiece of Bright "Dream" June 24, 2015 102 N/A "—" denotes releases that did not chart.
Studio albums YearInformationOricon weeklypeak positionSalesRIAJ certification1994Renaissance Released: November 21, 1994 Label: Sony Records Formats: CD, cassette1271,0001997Shout Released: July 21, 1997 Label: Sony Records Formats: CD, cassette3526,000 1998Kaori Released: July 1, 1998 Label: Sony Records Formats: CD4510,0002006Ring to the Heavens Released: May 31, 2006 Label: SME Records Formats: CD165 2016Piece of Bright Released: May 25, 2016 Label: SME Records Formats: CD, digital28 2018Unlock the Girls Released: January 24, 2018 Label: SME Records Formats: CD, digital69 2019Unlock the Girls 2 Released: May 1, 2019 Label: SME Records Formats: CD, digital117
Compilations YearInformationOricon weeklypeak positionSalesRIAJ certification2014The Best and More Released: May 11, 2005 Label: SME Records Formats: CD, digital58
Songwriting credits Mana Ashida: "Aina no Lovely Rock 'n' Roll" (lyrics, music) Ayano Ahane: "Lucky Goes On! -Shiawase ga Yui-" (music) Yuki Uchida (music, arrangement) "Aishiteru" "November" "Da.i.su.ki." "Uchida no Rock 'n' Roll" Yuka Onishi (music, arrangement) "Hoshizora no Shita de" "Drivin' Heart" Yōko Oginome: "Last Dance wa Watashi ni" (music) Otoha: "Kaigan Date" (music) Mai Kazahana & Hiroyuki Amano: "Watashi ga Suteta Mono" (music) Color "Tsubasa ga Nakute mo" (lyrics, music) "Stay with Me" (music) "Chīsaki Shatachi" (music) Gorō Kishitani: "Ano Kane wo Narase" (music) KinKi Kids: "Father" (music) Shizuka Kudo: "Junk" (lyrics) Mariko Kouda (music, arrangement) "Taiyō de Ikou" "Tomodachi" "Sayonara" Noriko Sakai (music) "Photograph" "15-Sai no Watashi e" "Anata to Mita Sora" Kenji Sawada: "Polaroid Girl" (music) Chiyoko Shimakura: "Aishiterutte Iwasetai" (music, arrangement) Minami Takahashi: "Girls Talk" (lyrics, arrangement) Tube: "Shōnan Regret" (music) Takeshi Tsuruno: "Love Letter" (lyrics, music) Yohito Teraoka: "Last Scene" (music) Pearl Kyōdai: "To Candy" (music) Puffy: "Haru no Ashita" (lyrics, music) Peachy (Rika Ishii) "Super Jet Shoes ~ Mirai wo Aruku Kutsu ~" (lyrics, music, arrangement) "Kuishinbo Tengoku" (lyrics, music, arrangement) "Show Paradise" (music, arrangement) "Tiny Tiny X'mas" (lyrics, music, arrangement) "Sweet Sweet Home" (lyrics, music, arrangement) Yo Hitoto: "Papa Mama" (music) Ryōko Hirosue: "It's My Idol" (lyrics, music) V6: "Tsubasa ni Nare" (lyrics, music) Eri Machimoto: "Venus Journey" (music) Moeko Matsushita: "Hello" (lyrics, music) Seiko Matsuda: "Precious Heart" (music) Rika Matsumoto: "Mizu no Naka no Tsuki" (music) Takumi Mitani & Daisuke Yokoyama: "Bokura no Uta" (lyrics, music) Alisa Mizuki "Eden no Machi" (music, arrangement) "Kaze wa Fuiteru" (music, arrangement) "Watashi" (lyrics, music) Tomochika: "Chieko no Wink" (lyrics, music) Hiroko Moriguchi (music, arrangement) "Speed" "Mado Utsu Ame" "Whistle" "Sora kara no Tegami" Lagoon: "Rhapsody in White" (lyrics, music)
References
External links
Official blog