is a Japanese singer, performer and model. She is a former member of

J-Pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

group

E-girls E-girls (sometimes stylized as E-Girls or e-girls; stands for Exile Girls) was a Japanese collective girl group created and managed by LDH while signed to music label Rhythm Zone from Avex. As of 2017, the band consisted of 11 members; 8 of wh ...

and former member of

Flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

. Washio is represented with LDH.

Early life

Reina Washio was born on January 20, 1994, in

Karatsu is a city located in Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. Its name, formed from the Japanese word roots 唐 ''kara'' (China, or continental East Asia in general), and 津 ''tsu'' (port), signifies its historical importance as an ancie ...

Saga Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of . Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefect ...

, Japan. Since kindergarten, she had the dream of becoming a singer. However, she did not have the confidence to sing in public and was a shy child. A changing point in her life was attending a concert from

Exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

Fukuoka Dome , officially the is a domed baseball field located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Home to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the 40,000 seat stadium was built in 1993 and was originally named Fukuoka Dome. It is Japan's first stadium built with a retra ...

with her mother. Washio was so impressed by their performance that after learning an EXPG (a talent school run by LDH) would open in

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

, she started attending it in her first year of high school. To be able to pay the fees of EXPG Fukuoka, she worked a part-time job in Karatsu. Washio dropped out from school after her first year of high school to focus on becoming a singer. Besides Exile, Japanese singer JUJU was another big musical influence during her childhood.

Career

In 2011, after attending EXPG Fukuoka for two years, Washio participated in the ''EXILE Presents VOCAL BATTLE AUDITION 3 ~For Girls~'' in the vocal section. On July 26, during an ''E-Girls SHOW'' event in SHIBUYA-AX, it was revealed that she was one of the winners of the ''VOCAL BATTLE AUDITION 3'' and was added to

as a vocalist. On that same day, she was also announced as a new member of

, having a concurrent position between the group and Flower. On October 12, 2011, Washio made her debut with Flower with the single "Still". In September 2015 she made her debut as a model in the November issue of the Japanese fashion magazine ''LARME''. In the same year, she made her first appearance as a

voice actress Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

in the anime series ''Kindaichi Shonen Case Book R - Bloodless Murder Case -.'' On September 20, 2019, with the announcement of

's disbandment set for the end of that month, Washio revealed that she would approach her new goal of solo activities while being member of E-girls. On December 22, with the announcement of

' disbandment set for around the end of 2020, it was revealed that Washio would be making her solo debut. On January 31, 2020, it was announced that she would be singing the theme song of the movie ''Shousetsu no Kamisama / The God of Novels'', titled "Call Me Sick", and an insert song of the soundtrack titled "Konna Sekai ni Shita no wa Dare da". It was also revealed that she would be using the stage name Rei (伶) for her solo activities. On April 13, 2022, she released her first solo album called "Just Wanna Sing."

Personal life

Washio has a close friendship with singer MACO and the combination of the two is called ''Washimaco'' (わしまこ). They collaborated on the song "Dear My Friend" which was released in June 2018. Washio is also an enthusiastic

gamer A gamer is someone who plays interactive games, either video games, tabletop role-playing games, skill-based card games, or any combination thereof, and who often plays for extended periods of time. Originally a hobby, gaming has evolved in ...

. She often plays cooperative video games such as ''

Fortnite ''Fortnite'' is an online video game and game platform developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in seven distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: '' Fortnite Battle Roy ...

'' and ''

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter military video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-of ...

'' together with

Sandaime J Soul Brothers , formerly simply J Soul Brothers and also known as Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe, are a J-pop vocal and dance group formed by Exile ex-leader and producer Hiroyuki Igarashi in Japan in 1991. Sandaime J Soul Brothers are managed by H ...

' Elly,

The Rampage from Exile Tribe The Rampage from Exile Tribe ( Japanese: ザ・ランページ・フロム・エグザイル・トライブ, stylized as THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE and also known as The Rampage), is a J-pop vocal and dance group formed and managed by talent a ...

's Takahide Suzuki and

Ballistik Boyz from Exile Tribe Ballistik Boyz from Exile Tribe (Japanese: バリスティックボーイズ・フロム・エグザイル・トライブ, stylized as BALLISTIK BOYZ from EXILE TRIBE and formerly known as Ballistik Boyz) is a seven-member Japanese male dance, vo ...

's Ryusei Kainuma. In June 2019 she traveled to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

alongside Elly to participate as a guest player in the ''Fortnite Summer Block Party'', a Pro-Am gaming tournament. There, she teamed up with BELL of Japanese pro-gaming team CRAZY Raccoon.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Participating work

Lyrics

Tie-up

Filmography

Voice acting

Internet TV

Radio

Music videos

Live

Events

Other work

Hizen, Saga was a town located in the Higashimatsuura District of Saga Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 8,841 and a density of 189.48 persons per km2. The total area was 46.66 km2. On January 1, 2005, Hizen, along ...

support member "Hizen saga FAN" (2018)

Notes

References

External links

伶 OFFICIAL WEBSITE

鷲尾伶菜 (@reina.washio.official)
on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

伶 (@rei__official_)
on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washio, Reina Japanese women singer-songwriters LDH (company) artists 1994 births Living people Singers from Saga Prefecture People from Karatsu, Saga 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers