KAORI is a Japanese singer and lyricist whose professional career began in the mid-1990s and became notably connected to numerous anime and video game soundtracks. She was born on February 28, 1976, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Throughout her career, she has performed under several stage names, including Midori Kawana, Akiko Kawana, and the stylized KAORI. and KAORI., which she adopted in 2008.

KAORI is widely recognized for her contributions to the long-running Pokémon anime series. She performed as the character Haruka (known as May in English-language versions) for the song Watashi, Makenai! ~Haruka no Theme~, which is also known as I Won't Lose! ~Haruka's Theme~. This track served as the seventh ending theme for the Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation series and was released as a single in 2006 on the Pikachu Records label. The single also contained the song Spurt! and was credited to Haruka (KAORI). The lyrics for the theme were written by Chōji Yoshikawa, with composition and arrangement by Kazuya Nishioka. The song was also used as an insert song in the subsequent series, Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl.

Beyond her work in the Pokémon franchise, KAORI contributed to the musical scores of several other anime series. She performed insert songs for the anime Tsubasa Chronicle, including dream scape and yume no tsubasa. Her work also includes the ending theme michiyuki for the series Loveless, as well as the theme song hana mori no oka for the Fist of the North Star: The Legends of the True Savior OVA series. In video game music, she performed the opening theme BLUE BLUE WAVE for the PlayStation 2 game ARIA The NATURAL ~Tooi Kioku no Mirage~.

In addition to her solo work, KAORI was a member of the rock band Spunky Strider, for which she served as the vocalist. She also collaborated with the music production group FictionJunction as FictionJunction KAORI, contributing vocals to songs for Tsubasa Chronicle. Her solo discography includes the album re;stratosphere released in 2007, as well as several singles such as BLUE BLUE WAVE, Tears Infection, and Kagaribi. She has also been credited as a member of Shaker Boo.

KAORI's active career as a performer concluded in 2012, when she was diagnosed with focal task-specific dystonia and spasmodic dysphonia, conditions that severely affected her ability to speak and sing. Following this diagnosis, she ceased her music and voice work. Her band, Spunky Strider, subsequently disbanded in 2014.