Koresawa

Overview

Koresawa (コレサワ) is a Japanese female singer-songwriter from Settsu, Osaka Prefecture, working in J-POP. She is known both for her own releases and for songs written for other artists. In 2024 she won the Lyrics Award at the 66th Japan Record Awards for writing "最上級にかわいいの!" for the idol group Super Tokimeki Sendenbu. Except at live shows, she keeps her face hidden in media appearances; her visual identity is "Reko-chan" (れ子ちゃん), a bear-girl character drawn by Shinpe Uchibori, and she sometimes appears wearing a mask modeled on the character.

Career

• She debuted in 2011 and played SUMMER SONIC in 2012 through its "Can I Make It to Summer Sonic!?" contest slot.
• On March 5, 2014, she self-released 『憂鬱も愛して』 on her own label, RECO RECORDS.
• Her first EP, 『君のバンド』 (April 29, 2015), became her first nationally distributed release. On August 26, 2015 she released "シュシュ", the ending theme of TV Tokyo's 『廃墟の休日』, followed by the second EP 『女子、ジョーキョー。』 on December 16.
• Her third EP, 『ジエイポップ』, came out on September 21, 2016.
• "あたしを彼女にしたいなら" was the theme song of season 1 of AbemaTV's 『オオカミくんには騙されない』 (February–April 2017) and continued as the theme through season 5.
• After releasing "たばこ" on March 29, 2017, she made her major debut on August 9, 2017 with the album 『コレカラー』 on Nippon Crown. On October 13 she formed the casual band "Kore-chans" with Fukka-chan (guitar), Shinjo-kun (bass), Sanomaru (drums) and Unari-kun (keyboards).
• On January 10, 2019, she formed "originals", a project celebrating the 20th anniversary of the "sagami original" series, with ROLLY (guitar), Koji Ueno (bass) and Cha Kato (drums).
• In 2022 she released "ゆびきりげんまん" (June), "SPARK!!" (July), the album 『サマラブ』 (August 9) and "さよなら恋人" (November).
• In 2023 came "にゃんにゃんにゃん" (February), the album 『かわいくしながら待ってるね』 (April), "ライブ終わりに" (August) and "お願いサンタクロース" (November). From January to March she was season partner on MBS Radio's 『週刊ヤングフライデー』.
• In 2024 she released the album 『日々愛々』 (March). Her song "君がおじいちゃんあたしがおばあちゃん" served as the theme of the TV anime 『じいさんばあさん若返る』 (April–June). She followed with "元彼女のみなさまへ" (September) and "浮気したらあかんで" (November 20).
• Her song "最上級にかわいいの!" was included on Super Tokimeki Sendenbu's album 『ときめく恋と青春』 (January 24, 2024) and, after going viral on TikTok, was released as a single on May 29. On November 21 it was announced that she had won the Lyrics Award at the 66th Japan Record Awards for it. The song originated when group member Hiyori Yoshikawa, a huge fan, asked her to write for the group while Koresawa was a guest on bayfm's 『ジェネZZ』.
• In 2025 she released an album including "あたしを選ばなかった君へ" (February 26), the album 『あたしを選んだ君とあたしを選ばなかった君へ』 (March 19), "I LOVE ME" (September 17) and "あたしの恋人" (November 12).
• From April 6, 2026 she serves as monthly first-week instructor on "Koresawa LOCKS!" within TOKYO FM's SCHOOL OF LOCK!.

Songwriting for Others and Media

She has written lyrics and music (and occasionally arrangements) for artists including Nagi Yanagi, Shiori Tomita, Miyuhan, halca, Nana Mori, Stopuri, Rinu and Super Tokimeki Sendenbu. On radio she hosted segments on 『Harmonic Groove!!』 (2016–2019) and 『女が音楽を始めるときはモテたいからじゃない』 (2020–2021), and since March 2022 she has narrated BS-TBS's 『サンド伊達のコロッケあがってます』.

Musical Style

Koresawa's J-POP is built around candid, relatable portrayals of romance, reflected in many of her song and album titles. She writes both lyrics and music for her own work and for the artists she supplies.

Persona

She first explained her no-face policy by saying she dislikes forced smiles in photos, but later revealed in a 2017 fan publication that it stemmed from losing confidence after a record-company person told her she could not compete in the major scene on looks.