Emi became fascinated by the power of the human voice, and started training her voice by studying choral music. She has performed piano works by composers such as Palestrina and Monteverdi, along with opera arias as solo performances. While she was majoring in linguistics at her university in Tokyo, she became interested in jazz music and started performing at venues in Tokyo. After relocating to Los Angeles, Emi participated in many of her husband Paul Gilbert’s recording projects, and toured around the world in his band. In 2019, Emi started her own live jazz project in Portland, Oregon that combines all of the elements of her musical journey so far.