KOKIA updates: March 2024
Below, I have summarized KOKIA’s recent announcements and messages. As explained here, this will remain the style of updates for now. It has so far worked out that I end up summarizing posts every month, so below are the updates from March.
Once-in-a-lifetime meetings tour
KOKIA had her first performance in her Once-in-a-lifetime meeting concert tour on March 10 in Kyoto. She talks about this ahead of the concert in her blog entry of March 7, looking forward to returning to Kyoto for the first time in quite a while.
In her blog entry of March 12, she reflects on the concert. The photo she attached to the entry is of the concert hall (the Kyoto Cultural Museum annex hall), as she really enjoyed the atmosphere, with the echoes from the high ceilings and the light coming in through the windows during magic hour right before sunset. (See also her Instagram post.) She was able to hold an autograph session, and enjoyed talking to people from the Kansai region this time. She hasn't been here in a while, so there were also some people who hadn't been to her concerts before or hadn't been able to go in a long time.
She's enjoying the difference of a tour versus performing in her home city of Tokyo and looks forward to her next concerts in the prefectures of Oita and Saga, coming up in April. She's never performed solo there before, but she's managed to almost sell out those performances already. The Tokyo performance in May is already sold out.
Releases
No more performances in March, but KOKIA does announce merchandise for her current tour in her blog entry of March 17. Rolling with the theme of a once-in-a-lifetime meeting, KOKIA decided on an encounter with the unknown that would certainly be once in a lifetime: an alien! The T-shirt (black, new model for comfortable wear) and blouson (white, same model as for her 25th anniversary). Due to production costs, there will be limited numbers for sale, so she is currently running a pre-sale on her official webshop from March 18 to April 7. The merchandise should be shipped in time for the performance in Tokyo in May and will be signed if ordered via the webshop. They will also be for sale at the Tokyo concert, but if you don't want to miss out (and get it signed), ordering via the web shop is your best bet.
On a side note, some previously unavailable items such as the 3 albums in the Stars series, most of the Animal CDs, her 25th anniversary album ánd the limited edition Blu-ray of her 25th anniversary concert are back in stock, so if you've missed out before, now is your chance! International visitors will get the banner for WorldShopping enabling to place their orders too.
And finally, after the initial digital release of disc 1 of The Lighthouse, KOKIA announces on March 12 that the second disc is now also digitally available via various sources. Here is the direct link.
Other news
As previously mentioned, KOKIA shares on March 12 that she now has an account on Twitter/X, KOKIAofficial. As she uses her blog for her longer thoughts, her photos on Instagram, songs on YouTube and news on her homepage, she was missing a channel to very quickly share short updates. She decided to give Twitter a try for this, intending to only use it for quick, time-sensitive news such as ticket information, releases and sales. So, if you have an account, you can now follow KOKIA!
KOKIA also announced on March 12 that Kaji Fes 2023, which she performed at as a guest, will be broadcast on TBS Channel 1. March 23 was the original air date for day 2, KOKIA's performance day, but there will be reruns on April 7 (18:00-20:00 for day 1, 20:00-23:00 for day 2). The official page for this broadcast can be found here.
Finally, taking a peek at her Instagram, KOKIA teases she's recording a music video for the first time in a long while, so that's something to look forward to!