With her blend of J-pop, trance, and techno, Kotoko scored more than two dozen Top 40 hits on the Japanese charts throughout the 2000s and 2010s. She was born on January 19, 1980, in Sapporo, Hokkaido, and began singing as a child. Although her self-released debut album, 2000's Sora o Tobetara, failed to establish her pop star status, Kotoko climbed to Number 62 with the single "Shooting Star" in 2002, then hit Number 15 in 2003 with "Second Flight," her theme song for the anime series Onegai Twins. One year later, she made her full-length major-label debut with Hane, which reached Number 7 on the Oricon Albums Chart. Hane's 2005 follow-up, Garasu no Kaze, proved to be even more popular, with the singles "Oboetete ii yo/DuDiDuWa*lalala," "Re-sublimity," and "421: A Will" all becoming Top 20 hits. 2006's Uzi-maki and 2009's Epsilon no Fune provided Kotoko with a steady stream of pop singles, with the Number 4 hit "Being" and the Number 7 anthem "Hayate no Gotoku!" becoming her highest-charting songs to date. Her chart dominance continued during the 2010s with 2011's Hiraku Uchū Pocket, 2013's Kūchū Puzzle, 2018's Tears Cyclone: Kai, and 2019's Tears Cyclone: Sei, and four of which were Top 40 albums.
