Karie began her music career in 1990 at the encouragement of fellow Shibuya-kei artist Cornelius, whom she collaborated with on many of her early works, and whose trendy Trattoria label released many of her EPs in the mid-1990s.
Karie moved to Tokyo after graduating high school and entered a vocational college to study photography.
In the late 1980s, Karie became an avid listener of French musicians such as Serge Gainsbourg, Françoise Hardy, and Jane Birkin, who would serve as formative influences on her own music.
[5] In 1990, at the suggestion of her then-boyfriend Keigo Oyamada (later known as Cornelius), Karie began her musical career performing vocals for a house band signed to his friend's record label.
[6] In 2003, Karie released her fourth studio album Trapeziste on her new record label Victor Entertainment.