Mika Nakashima

Mika Nakashima rose as a primary rival to Ayumi Hamasaki, who held undisputed sway over Japanese pop during the 1990s. Though she never displaced Hamasaki, Nakashima carved out her own place across the 2000s through major commercial success and critical praise for a pop style that rejected teen-oriented bubblegum in favor of a strong smooth jazz flavor. Her achievements followed naturally from an early dedication to music that prompted her to bypass both high school and college.

Nakashima reached prominence with startling speed. Born in 1983, she ascended directly at age seventeen after winning an audition of three thousand applicants for the lead in the television drama Kizudarake No Love Song and the chance to perform its theme song, “Stars.” Issued by Sony Music in 2001, the single placed third on the Oricon charts and sold six hundred thousand copies, while its limited follow-up “Crescent Moon” (2001) sold out its full pressing of one hundred thousand units in one day. Additional charting singles appeared, after which her debut studio album True (2002) reached number one and surpassed one million sales in three weeks, securing most of the Japanese “New Artist” awards for 2002. The EP Resistance (2003) stayed at the top for two straight weeks. Nakashima then exceeded her prior sales with Love (2003), which moved 1.4 million units and sold well in China, South Korea, and Taiwan; it included the single “Yuki No Hana,” among the most popular karaoke tracks in Japan for 2004 and later covered by artists in South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Another single, “Find the Way,” served as the end-credits theme for Gundam Seed, part of a well-known anime franchise.

Nakashima then slowed her output—the EP Oborozukiyo-Inori charted at number three, and her third album Music (2004), though also topping the charts, totaled only five hundred thousand units while supplying the theme “Hi No Tori” for the anime series drawn from the works of Osamu Tezuka, known as the god of manga. In 2005 her compilation Best sold 1.2 million copies, and she took a role in the live-action adaptation of the manga Nana while performing one of its themes, “Glamorous Sky,” with lyrics by author Ai Yazawa and music by Hyde of L’Arc-en-Ciel; the single became Nakashima’s first number one and sold four hundred forty thousand copies. A sequel film arrived in 2006, again starring Nakashima and using her theme “Hitoiro,” composed by Yazawa and Takuro of Glay, followed later that year by the full album The End, credited to “Nana starring Mika Nakashima.”

Her next single, “Cry No More,” was recorded in Memphis, TN, and used in the anime series Blood+. She contributed a track to a charity tribute for Hurricane Katrina victims, which earned her recognition as an honorary citizen of Memphis. Her fourth album, the gospel-influenced Yes (2007), reached only number three in Japan and sold two hundred ninety-six thousand units. A nationwide tour in 2007, several singles including one tied to the anime Life and sharing its title, and the English-language rock track “I Don’t Know” featuring the comedy group Morisanchuu provided partial compensation. Her fifth studio album, Voice (2008), returned her to the top of the Oricon charts and sold three hundred twenty thousand copies during its chart run.