is the lead singer of Japanese pop group Every Little Thing.
Biography
Mochida began her career as a child actress, appearing in magazines and TV commercials. She then became a member of the second generation of idol group The Kuro Buta All-Stars, and entered the entertainment world as (Kaori Mochida, with Kaori written in hiragana). They debuted in 1996 with "Feel My Heart". Following her debut with Every Little Thing, Mochida became a popular fashion icon in Japan, and started to appear in TV commercials for a wide variety of beauty products. The spots that she starred in usually used the songs of her band as background music. After the departure of Mitsuru Igarashi from Every Little Thing in 2000, Mochida started to have more input into the band's creative process. The first song for Every Little Thing that she wrote lyrics for was "All Along" from the Time to Destination album, and the first song she composed was "Jump", released as a single in 2001. and in 2007, she wrote "Sarai no Kaze" for May and "Going Back Home" for Mika Nakashima. Mochida also provided vocals for Dragon Ash's song "Wipe Your Eyes" that same year.
2009—2011: Solo debut, Moka, Niu
In 2009, Mochida's solo career officially started, and she started to work on her first solo album. She released her first official solo single, "Ame no Walts", on January 28, 2009. The song was credited as a collaboration between Mochida and Sakerock, a Japanese instrumental band. In March she and Takao Tajima from Original Love formed a special group called Caocao, and recorded a cover of "Kojin Jugyo" by Finger 5. The song was used as theme song for the movie Oppai Volleyball. It debuted at number 9 in the Oricon charts and enjoyed moderated success.
On August 25, 2009, her second album, Niu, was released. The song "Utsukushiki Uruwashiki Hibi" was used as theme song for TV Tokyo drama Cleopatra na Onna-tachi. In 2019, Mochida released her first mini album Ten to Ten to mark the tenth anniversary of her solo debut.
2021—present: Sen, qq
On June 23, 2021, Sen was released as Mochida's second EP. It included the song "Still Swimmy", the theme song of the 2019 drama The Man Who Still Can't Get Married, and "Jasmine", which was used in advertisements for Menard Fairlucent skincare. This was followed by qq, a third EP released on May 16, 2025. Mochida is credited as the composer and producer of all five songs. When describing the album's concept, the singer cited a wish to make music that felt "nostalgic and warm", and to link the things she loves together.
Solo discography
Albums
- Moka (2009)
- Niu (2010)
- Manu a Manu (2012)
EPs
- Ten to Ten (2019)
- Sen (2021)
- qq (2025)
Singles
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Peak<br><small>(Oricon)</small>
! Album
|-
| 1993
| "Mō Ichido"
| style="text-align:center" | 14
| style="text-align:center" | —
|-
| 2004
|
| style="text-align:center" | 15
| style="text-align:center" | —
|-
| rowspan="3"| 2009
|
| style="text-align:center" | 11
| Moka
|-
| <small>(as Caocao)</small>
| style="text-align:center" | 22
| style="text-align:center" | —
|-
|
| style="text-align:center" | 20
| Moka
|-
| 2010
|
| style="text-align:center" | —
| Niu
|-
| 2011
| "To"
| style="text-align:center" | 26
| rowspan="3"| Manu a Manu
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2012
|
| style="text-align:center" | 24
|-
|
| style="text-align:center" | 29
|-
|}
Other appearances
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Song
! Album
|-
| 1999
| (Accapella Gospel Version)
| Avex the Album
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2002
| "In Case of Me"
| Song+Nation
|-
| "In Case of Me (Tatsumaki Remix)"
| Song+Nation 2 -Trance-
|-
| 2006
| <small>(Yuichi Ohata with Kaori Mochida)</small>
| Futatsu no Asa
|-
| 2007
| "Wipe Your Eyes" <small>(Dragon Ash feat. Kaori Mochida from ELT)</small>
| The Best of Dragon Ash with Changes Vol.2
|-
| 2008
| <small>(Yuichi Ohata with Kaori Mochida)</small>
| Music From The Magic Shop
|-
| 2010
| <small>(Happy End cover)</small>
| Matsumoto Takashi ni Sasagu: Kazemachi DNA
|-
| 2011
| "Pocket" <small>(Nobuyuki Nakajima w/ Kaori Mochida)</small>
| Pianona
|-
|}
Other works
- Mochida provided vocals for the song "In Case of Me" on the 2002 charity album Song Nation. "In Case of Me" was written by Tetsuya Komuro and produced by Komuro and Max Matsuura.
- In 2006, Mochida along with Takeshi Kobayashi wrote the lyrics for the single by Haruka Ayase.
References
External links
- Nippop Profile|Every Little Thing