Miyuki Nakajima | |
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Birth name | 中島 美雪 (Miyuki Nakajima) |
Born | February 23, 1952 |
Origin | Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan |
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Years active | 1975–present |
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Website | www.miyuki.jp |
Miyuki Nakajima (中島 みゆき Nakajima Miyuki?) (born February 23, 1952, Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and radio personality. She has released 37 studio albums, 40 singles, 2 live albums and multiple compilations as of May 2013. Her sales have been estimated at more than 21 million copies.
In the mid-1970s, Nakajima signed to Canyon Records and launched her recording career with her debut single, "Azami Jō no Lullaby" (アザミ嬢のララバイ). Rising to fame with the hit "The Parting Song (Wakareuta)", released in 1977, she has since seen a successful career as a singer-songwriter, primarily in the early 1980s. Four of her singles have sold more than one million copies in the last two decades, including "Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)", a theme song for the Japanese television documentary series Project X.
Nakajima performed in experimental theater ("Yakai") every year-end from 1989 through 1998. The idiosyncratic acts featured scripts and songs she wrote, and have continued irregularly in recent years.
In addition to her work as a solo artist, Nakajima has written over 90 compositions for numerous other singers, and has produced several chart-toppers. Many cover versions of her songs have been performed by Asian (particularly Taiwanese and Hong Kong) singers. She is the only musician to have participated in the National Language Council of Japan.
Miyuki Nakajima (中島 美雪 Nakajima Miyuki?) was born in February 1952 in Sapporo, the capital city of Hokkaidō. Her grandfather, Buichi, was a Hokkaido politician, and her father, Shinichi, ran a clinic in obstetrics and gynecology. Her family moved to Iwanai when she was five, and lived there for six years. She spent most of her teenage years in the city of Obihiro, where she was one of the most eminent graduates of Obihiro Hakuyou High School, along with singer-songwriter Miwa Yoshida and television announcer Shinichiro Azumi. She graduated from Sapporo's Fuji Women's University in 1974.