Mika Nakashima

Overview

Mika Nakashima (born February 19, 1983, in Hioki District, Kagoshima Prefecture) is a Japanese singer and actress. She is signed to Our Songs and records for Sony Music Associated Records; her official fan club is called "LOTUS." She debuted in 2001 as the heroine of the TV drama Kizudarake no Love Song and as a singer with its theme song "Stars." She has sold over 10 million records in Japan, and five of her studio albums, one mini-album and one compilation album have topped the Oricon album chart. Signature songs include "Will," "Yuki no Hana," "Sakura Iro Maukoro" and "Glamorous Sky," the theme from the film Nana, in which she starred.

Career

Early life and discovery

The youngest of three children, Nakashima grew up in a tiny mountain community in Kagoshima, where she listened to enka and studied classical Japanese dance. She dreamed of working in fashion magazines, skipped high school and started working at 15. In 1999 she moved to Fukuoka to model. She never planned to be a singer, but her vocal coach Yoichi Hama (formerly of three tight b) urged her to sing. In autumn 2000, a demo of his song "Aishiteru" with her vocals was sent to Sony Music, leading to success at the "SD SINGERS REVIEW" vocal audition and selection from about 3,000 candidates for the drama heroine role.

2001–2004: Debut and breakthrough

She debuted as an actress in October 2001 and as a singer on November 7 with "Stars," which became her best-selling single. In 2002 she followed with "Crescent Moon," "One Survive," "Helpless Rain" and "Will," and co-starred in the drama Shiritsu Tantei Hama Mike. Her first album, True (August 28, 2002), debuted at No. 1 on Oricon and sold a million copies in three weeks; the mini-album Resistance also reached No. 1. She won New Artist of the Year at the Japan Gold Disc Awards, Best New Artist at the All Japan Request Awards and the Best New Artist prize at the 44th Japan Record Awards, and made her first appearance on NHK's Kohaku Uta Gassen. In 2003 she appeared in the film Gūzen mo Saiaku na Shōnen, and her second album Love (November 6) hit No. 1 and sold nearly 1.45 million copies. It sold 50,000 copies in South Korea, cementing her status as a leading J-pop artist there, and earned the Best Album, Gold Prize and lyrics awards at the Japan Record Awards. In 2004 she collaborated with Taro Hakase on the limited mini-album Oborozukiyo: Inori, which sold out on its first day.

2005–2006: Nana and charity work

Her third album Music reached No. 1 in March 2005. In September she co-starred in the film Nana as Nana Osaki. "Glamorous Sky," released as Nana starring Mika Nakashima (lyrics by manga author Ai Yazawa, music by Hyde), became her first and only Oricon No. 1 single and the best-selling female single of 2005. Her performance earned a Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actress and Newcomer of the Year. Her first compilation, Best, sold a million copies within a month in December. That month she also performed at a Korea–Japan friendship concert in Seoul, returning in March 2006 to promote Nana. In February 2006 she released "Cry No More," the gospel-influenced ending theme of the anime Blood+. After visiting Memphis, Tennessee, to record, and offering to help Hurricane Katrina survivors, she received honorary citizenship and a key to the city. In June she released the charity single "All Hands Together" for New Orleans, with part of the proceeds donated, featuring Cyril Neville and Allen Toussaint. She made a cameo in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and in December 2006 released Nana 2 with the theme "Hitoiro" (composed by Glay's Takuro) and the album The End, collecting her Nana-credited songs.

2007–2009

The album Yes arrived in March 2007, followed by the YES MY JOY tour (34 cities, 45 shows, over 100,000 attendees). "Mienai Hoshi" (theme of the drama Haken no Hinkaku) came out in February 2007, and "Life" in August became her first 100,000-seller since "Glamorous Sky." In December she guested at Suntory's "10,000 People's Beethoven's Ninth." In 2008 she released "I Don't Know" with the comedy trio Morisanchu as MICA 3 CHU, appeared in the drama Ryūsei no Kizuna, and released "Orion" and the No. 1 album Voice. In 2009 she issued the 50,000-copy limited KATE commercial-song compilation No More Rules. (sold out on day one) and toured for 36 shows and 100,000 fans.

2010–2014

In 2010 she appeared in the drama Unubore Deka, and "Ichiban Kirei na Watashi o" became the first song in USEN chart history to spend six consecutive weeks at No. 1, also finishing as the year's top J-pop song. She appeared as a zombie in Resident Evil: Afterlife. In October, worsening patulous Eustachian tube condition forced her to suspend music activities and cancel her 10th-anniversary concerts. She returned in April 2011 with "Dear" and the THE ONLY STAR tour. In 2012 she released the video collection Greatest Lotus, appeared in Resident Evil: Retribution and returned to the Kohaku after three years. Her seventh studio album Real (January 2013) gave her her first Oricon weekly No. 1 in four years and two months, and also topped major Korean charts; in Taiwan the lead single "Hatsukoi" ranked No. 1. In May she duetted on "Aiuta," written for her by Miyuki Nakajima, as a guest at Nakajima's final tour date, a first for that series. She toured with LIVE IS "REAL" 2013 (26 shows) and made her voice-acting debut in September as Lucy in the Japanese dub of Despicable Me 2. In 2014 she released her first cover album, Zutto Suki Datta All My Covers (March), the collaboration single "Fighter" with Miliyah Kato (June), performed it before about 100,000 people at the FIFA Fan Fest in Rio de Janeiro, and released the compilations Dears and Tears in November. In December she announced her marriage to volleyball player Kunihiro Shimizu.

2015 onward

In 2015 she toured behind Dears and Tears, released the poetry-reading collection Relaxin', returned to TV acting in Omotesando Koko Gasshobu! after five years and launched the rock project MIKA RANMARU in November. In 2016 she released three consecutive monthly albums (Official Bootleg Live at Shinjuku Loft, Mika Nakashima Tribute and MTV Unplugged), held her first nationwide acoustic tour, played ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2016, and marked her 15th anniversary with the autobiographical songbook Amanojaku.

Musical style

Her debut album True blended jazz and contemporary pop in a mature style, and she is best known for emotional ballads. From around 2006 she pursued the music she wanted to make rather than chasing sales, including the gospel-tinged "Cry No More." Her songs are popular in South Korea, where artists such as Park Hyo-shin ("Snow Flower," a cover of "Yuki no Hana"), BoA, Position and Lyn have covered them.