Kumiko Koda (Shen Tian  Lai Wei Zi , Koda Kumiko, born November 13, 1982), known professionally as Koda Kumi (Xing Tian  Lai Wei , Koda Kumi), is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs. Having debuted in 2000 with the single "Take Back", Koda gained fame for her seventh single, "Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba", the songs of which were used as themes for the video game Final Fantasy X-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:

On February 2, 2011, her 49th single "Pop Diva" was released and on February 23, 2011, Koda released "Eternity -Love & Songs- at Billboard Live" an audio DVD of her performance at Billboard Live Tokyo in October 2010, where she performed many songs from her Eternity: Love & Songs cover album. She released her ninth studio album named Dejavu on March 2, 2011. Koda was planning to release Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 3 in March, but due to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, the date was pushed back to May 4.  Koda is featured in the Far East Movement song "Make It Bump", which was only released on the Japanese edition of their album Free Wired. On May 18, 2011, Koda released the DVD of her "Fantasia" concert entitled "Kumi Koda 10th Anniversary: Fantasia in Tokyo Dome". Alongside DVD, the concert was also released in Blu-ray format. Her previous concerts were also re-released in Blu-ray format. Koda's 50th single was released August 17, 2011. The single is titled "4 Times" and includes four songs as well as four music videos to accompany them (Such as her previous 2006 summer single, "4 Hot Wave"). Since it is Koda's 50th single, it was released in two different special limited edition commemorative versions. One comes with 50 Kumi Koda 50th Anniversary post cards and the other with a special digital camera. Immediately after the release of "4 Times", it was posted on her official website that her 51st single, "Ai o Tomenaide" was to be released September 21, 2011. The song charted at number 4 on the Oricon charts. On November 29, Koda became the only Japanese star to perform at the Mnet Asian Music Awards. On November 30, 2011, her 52nd single, "Love Me Back", was released, debuting at number 5 on the Oricon charts. On December 7, 2011, Koda's tenth album was announced for release on January 25, 2012. The album is entitled Japonesque and comes in four different types: CD, CD+DVD, the DVD containing music videos, a limited edition featuring a B4-size, 32-page booklet and a CD+2DVD edition which would features additional live content alongside the music videos.  On August 1, 2012, Koda released a remix album called Beach Mix, which included a new song and a new music video, titled "Whatchu Waitin' On?" This was the first release of any content since Koda gave birth. It was at this time that Koda announced a nationwide arena tour of Japan in 2014 for the album Japonesque. It was announced in August that "Go to the Top" would be released as Koda's 53rd on October 24, 2012. The single went to number 1 on the Oricon charts, her first in three years to do so. Her 54th single "Koishikute" was originally set for December 5, 2012, but was pushed back to December 26, 2012. However, it had been released on iTunes Japan the original date; and subsequently peaked at #7 on the Oricon chart when the physical single was finally released.

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