# Kaori Kishitani

Kaori Kishitani (岸谷 香, Kishitani Kaori) (born February 17, 1967), formerly Kaori Okui (奥居 香, Okui Kaori), 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.
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 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) | RIAJ certification | Album |
| Title | Date | Oricon Singles Charts | Sales (JPN) | RIAJ certification | Album |
| "Kiseki no Toki" | August 1, 1994 | 15 | 66,000 | N/A | Renaissance |
| "Vanishing" | October 21, 1994 | 26 | 42,000 | N/A | Renaissance |
| "Happy Man" | April 16, 1997 | 32 | 34,000 | N/A | Shout |
| "Sparkle" | December 1, 1997 | 78 | 4,000 | N/A | Kaori |
| "Himawari" | May 30, 1998 | — | | N/A | Kaori |
| "Hello. Hello." | March 8, 2006 | 109 | | N/A | Ring to the Heavens |
| "Ice Age ~Hyōgaki no Kodomo-tachi~" | April 19, 2006 | 149 | | N/A | Ring to the Heavens |
| "Singing" | December 13, 2006 | — | | N/A | The Best and More |
| "Romantic Warriors" | June 25, 2014 | 67 | | N/A | Piece of Bright |
| "Dream" | June 24, 2015 | 102 | | N/A | Piece of Bright |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. ||||||

### Studio albums

| Year | Information | Oricon weekly peak position | Sales |
| 1994 | Renaissance Released: November 21, 1994 Label: Sony Records Formats: CD, cassette | 12 | 71,000 |
| 1997 | Shout Released: July 21, 1997 Label: Sony Records Formats: CD, cassette | 35 | 26,000 |
| 1998 | Kaori Released: July 1, 1998 Label: Sony Records Formats: CD | 45 | 10,000 |
| 2006 | Ring to the Heavens Released: May 31, 2006 Label: SME Records Formats: CD | 165 | |
| 2016 | Piece of Bright Released: May 25, 2016 Label: SME Records Formats: CD, digital | 28 | |
| 2018 | Unlock the Girls Released: January 24, 2018 Label: SME Records Formats: CD, digital | 69 | |
| 2019 | Unlock the Girls 2 Released: May 1, 2019 Label: SME Records Formats: CD, digital | 117 | |

### Compilations

| Year | Information | Oricon weekly peak position | Sales | RIAJ certification |
| 2014 | The Best and More Released: May 11, 2005 Label: SME Records Formats: CD, digital | 58 | | |

### 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)