is a Japanese singer and songwriter signed with SME Records' Newcome Inc. She debuted on February 20, 2008, with the single "I". Often considered one of Japan's most popular female singers of the late 2000s and 2010s, she gained early popularity with the R&B singles "Tookutemo" (with rapper WISE) and " Kimi ni Aitaku Naru Kara". Her first studio album, "LOVE one." (2009), debuted at number four on charts and went on to become certified platinum. She achieved further success with her sophomore and first number-one album, "

To Love To Love (russian: Любить..., Lyubit...) is a 1968 Soviet drama film directed by Mikhail Kalik and Inna Tumanyan. Plot The film consists of four short stories, each of which asks the audience a question: "What is love?" Cast * Mihail B ...

" (2010), which was preceded by the singles " Motto...", " Dear...", " Best Friend" and " Aitakute Aitakute" which were all certified "million" for full song downloads of over 1 million by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pr ...

(RIAJ), establishing Nishino as a dominant force on music charts and digital platforms. The album, certified platinum three times, became the third best-selling album of 2010 and the single "Aitakute Aitakute" was the best-selling digital song of the year. While enjoying continuous mainstream success with her following records " Thank You, Love" (2011), "

LOVE Place ''Love Place'' is the fourth album by Japanese singer and songwriter Kana Nishino. It was released on September 5, 2012. It won Best Album at the 54th Japan Record Awards The took place at the New National Theater in Tokyo on December 30, 201 ...

" (2012) and "with LOVE" (2014), Nishino's music also evolved from R&B to pop. In the mid-2010s, she successfully ventured into

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

with the singles "Darling" (2014) and "Torisetsu" (2015). The latter, the theme song of the live action film ''

Heroine Shikkaku is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Momoko Kōda. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Bessatsu Margaret'' from March 2010 to March 2013, with its chapters compiled into ten ''tankōbon'' volumes. A li ...

,'' became the best-selling digital song of 2015 with over one million copies sold. She subsequently released the albums "

Just LOVE ''Just Love'' (Traditional Chinese: 老婆大人) is a TVB modern drama series broadcast in May 2005. The drama was broadcast in Singapore's MediaCorp TV Channel 8 in 2007. Play of family background, surrounded mainly scratching between husban ...

" (2016) and "LOVE it" (2017), certified platinum and gold respectively. In 2016, she won the Grand Prix at the 58th Japan Record Awards for her single "Anata no Suki na Tokoro", the first female solo artist to do so since

Koda Kumi , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs. After debuting with the single "Take Back" in December 2000, Koda gained fame in March 2003 when the songs from her seventh single, "Real Emotion ...

in 2005. In 2017, she reached a new milestone when becoming the youngest female solo artist and the first female one born in the

Heisei era The is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Emeritus Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, ...

to perform at the prestigious

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

as part of the "''Kana Nishino Dome Tour 2017 Many Thanks''". Due to her popularity with the Japanese female audience, Nishino appears frequently on fashion magazine covers and she is often regarded as a "style icon". It was particularly apparent in her early days due to her association with the

Gyaru ( ja, ギャル) , is a Japanese fashion subculture. The term ''gyaru'' is a Japanese transliteration of the English slang word . The term for was introduced in Japan by the American jeans company ''Lee'', who introduced a new line of je ...

fashion subculture, leading her music to be referred to as "Gyaru Enka" ("Gyaru heartbreak songs"). In 2009,

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

said that she was the favorite singer of teenage girls in Shibuya, Tokyo. Nishino is also known for her "relatable" lyrics about love. She was awarded "Artist of the Year" two times in 2014 and 2015 by

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine ''Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence from ''Bi ...

. Since her debut, she has sold over six million records and over 46 million downloads, making her one of the most successful female artists in the digital chart history of Japan. On January 8, 2019, Nishino announced an "indefinite" hiatus starting on February 3 of the same year.

Biography

1989–2007: Early life and career beginnings

Nishino studied English from an early age, and went to America twice. She became interested in various genres of music, including hip-hop, R&B and reggae, but she also enjoyed

Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japanes ...

, and started singing Japanese folk songs. Her dream of becoming a singer started in junior high school. When she was 16, her mother secretly sent a demo tape of hers to the organized by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

, and she was rated the top singer entrant out of approximately 40,000 applicants. In 2006, she was signed to SME Records.

2008–2010: Debut and Breakthrough

In 2007, while preparing to be a singer, she was also studying

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

at college. At the time, she met Australian duo

Nervo Nervo (stylised as NERVO) are an Australian DJ duo comprising twin sisters Olivia and Miriam Nervo (born 18 February 1982). After signing with Sony/ATV Music Publishing at 18 years of age, the sisters pursued careers as songwriting partners and ...

, who offered Nishino a song called "I Don't Wanna Know" for use in her music project. Nishino rewrote the song's lyrics into Japanese herself, and re-titled it "I". In December 2007, her official site opened, and from that time onwards "*I* ~Merry Christmas ver.~" was available as a digital download from several Japanese sites, including

Mora Mora may refer to: People * Mora (surname) Places Sweden * Mora, Säter, Sweden * Mora, Sweden, the seat of Mora Municipality * Mora Municipality, Sweden United States * Mora, Louisiana, an unincorporated community * Mora, Minnesota, a city * M ...

. The original version of the song "I Don't Wanna Know" was available as a digital download on the American

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

site from New Year's Day onwards. The physical version was released two months later, on February 20, 2008. Nishino's second single was called "Glowly Days". Her third single, "

Style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

", was used as the second ending theme song for the

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series '' Soul Eater'' and her fourth single "Make Up" is used in the

ONA Ona or ONA may refer to: Anthropology * Ona people, an indigenous people of southern Argentina and Chile ** Ona language, a language once spoken in Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego * Ona, a pre-Aksumite culture in Sembel, Eritrea Geography * On ...

''Chocolate Underground'' from UK's miniseries ''

Bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

'' with one of its b-sides, "Kirari", as an insert song. After her first four singles, her music took a more R&B feel to it. Her fifth single "Tōkutemo feat. Wise" was released as a full-track digital song (''

Chaku Uta Full () is a Japanese telecommunications operator formed on October 1, 2000 through the merger of DDI Corp. (Daini-Denden Inc.), KDD (Kokusai Denshin Denwa) Corp. (itself a former listed state-owned enterprise privatized in 1998), and IDO Corp. It h ...

'') on March 11, 2009. The physical CD was released on March 18, 2009. It is her first physical single to enter the top 50 in the Japanese

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

single charts. Wise's digital single "Aenakutemo feat. Kana Nishino" debuted at number 9 on the

RIAJ Digital Track Chart The was a record chart that ranks the best selling digital singles in Japan, with data provided by the Recording Industry Association of Japan from April 2009. The chart measures cellphone downloads (着うたフル ''Chaku-Uta Full'') (not downlo ...

. Nishino released her sixth single " Kimi ni Aitaku Naru Kara" on June 3, 2009. The single hit number 14 on the Oricon weekly single charting, being her best single release of the six. The digital version of the single debuted at number 5 on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart. Her album ''Love One.'' was released on June 24, 2009, and features all six singles, a b-side, "Celtic", a pro and epilogue (featuring "kirari"), along with five completely unreleased songs: "doll" (track 3), "Girlfriend" (track 4), "Kimi no Koe o feat. Verbal (

M-Flo is a Japanese hip hop group consisting of record producer DJ Taku Takahashi, Verbal and Lisa. Lisa left the group in 2002 to pursue a solo career and the remaining members then started the M-Flo Loves... project working different vocalists fo ...

)" (track 5), "Life goes on..." (track 7), and "candy" (track 9). "Kimi no Koe o" reached number 5 on RIAJ's digital track charts. Nishino released her seventh single " Motto...". The full-track ringtone digital download of the song began on October 14 and the physical CD was released on October 21, 2009. The song debuted at the number 1 spot on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart. She released the

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

single " Dear.../Maybe" on December 2, 2009. After releasing two more singles " Best Friend" and " Aitakute Aitakute", she released her second album ''

'' on June 23, 2010. On August 4, 2010, Kana Nishino released her eleventh single, " If." This song was used as the theme and ending song of the movie " Naruto Shippuden 4: The Lost Tower".The single reached number 5 on the Oricon charts and sold over 85,000 copies. Her 12th single, " Kimi tte", was released on November 3, 2010.

2010–2013: Big success in Japan with Thank you, Love, Love Place, and more

Kana competed in the 61st

Kohaku Uta Gassen is the Japanese word for amber. Kohaku (琥珀) may refer to: Music * Kohaku, a song by Mikuni Shimokawa Characters * Kohaku (''Dr. Stone''), a character in the manga series ''Dr. Stone'' * Kohaku (''InuYasha''), a character in ''InuYash ...

, which took place on December 31, 2010, with "Best Friend." On February 9, 2011, the single "Distance" was released. She also collaborated with Wise on the single "By your side" which was released on March 16, 2011. Two months later on May 18, 2011, her new single "Esperanza" was released. On June 22, 2011, her third studio album Thank you, Love was successful on the Oricon charts by being number 1 during its first week. It sold 178,006 copies the first week and remained classified 67 weeks for a total of 376,102 copies sold. It contains four of his singles and eight new tracks. It comes out in CD and CD + DVD format, on DVD we can find the four clips of his four singles. Haruna Takekawa from "hotexpress" has been expressing Nishino's emotions and gaining a lot of sympathy until now, but criticized that it is proved by this work that she is now a step further. did. Also, "Alright" was mentioned as a song that he would like to note. In spring of 2012, Nishino's cute looks have her in the magazines "CUTiE" "JELLY", "JJ", "Popteen", "Ray", and "ViVi" (in alphabetical order). In September 2012, Nishino released her 4th album called Love Place. It was released in two versions: a limited CD+DVD edition and a regular CD-only edition. The song "Be Strong" was used to promote the album. The album was later re-released in Taiwan in a big package version including a unique 2013-year desk calendar. The album won the Best Prize in the "Grand Prix record Nippon! Shining 54th" latest original album "Love Place".

2013–2014: Best albums and box albums

Although her singles were downloaded several times, her physical single sales started to decline. Six months later, Kana released two more singles: "Believe" in June followed by "Namidairo" in August. To celebrate her 5th anniversary in the music industry, Kana announced her two best albums, Love Collection ~pink~ and Love Collection ~mint~, to be released simultaneously on September 4, 2013. The mint version reached #1 on the Oricon charts, with the pink version charting at #2. The two albums sold almost 650,000 copies. A month later, she released another single, "Sayonara". She was the best-selling female solo artist in Japan for the year. Seven months later into 2014, she released her 23rd single "We Don't Stop". The single reached #2 on the Oricon charts selling 33,000 copies. In August, she released her country music-themed single "Darling". The single reached #6 on the Oricon charts selling more than 42,000 copies and was certified Triple Platinum for being downloaded more than 750,000 times, becoming one of her more recent hit songs. She eventually released the ballad "Suki", which reached #9 on the Oricon charts selling only 24,803 copies. In November, she released her fifth album with LOVE. The album reached #1 on the Oricon charts selling almost 270,000 copies. For the year, she was the 2nd best-selling female solo artist.

2015–2016: Japan Record Awards win and other projects

After the long chart run of her single "Darling", she released another country music-themed single in April called "Moshimo Unmei no Hito ga Iru no Nara". The single only reached #11 on the Oricon charts but managed to sell almost 42,000 copies. The single was certified Double Platinum for being downloaded more than 500,000 times by May 2016. After the release of this single, her physical single sales started to increase again. In September, Kana released another country music-themed single "Torisetsu". The single was used as the theme song for the movie Heroine Shikkaku and reached #6 on the Oricon charts. This is also her first single that was able to sell more than 25,000 copies in its first week since "GO FOR IT!!" as well as her best selling single since "Kimi tte" released in 2010. The RIAJ has certified the single Gold for shipment of over 100,000 copies. On November 18, she released another pair of best-of albums: Secret Collection ~RED~ and Secret Collection ~GREEN~, containing only b-sides of previously released singles and albums. The green version reached #2 on the Oricon charts, and the red version placed #3, selling almost 250,000 copies as a pair. A new song "No.1" was used as the title track for the show Okitegami Kyoko no Biboroku and was certified Platinum for being downloaded more than 250,000 times. She was the best-selling female solo artist in Japan in 2015 with 303,365 copies sold. Her 28th single "Anata no Suki na Tokoro" was released on April 27, 2016. The single reached #5 on the Oricon charts selling almost 33,000 copies. On July 13, she released her sixth studio album Just LOVE. The album reached #1 on Oricon charts with first week sales of almost 127,000 copies. Nishino won her first grand prize for the song at the 58th Shining!

Japan Record Awards is a major music awards show, held annually in Japan that recognizes outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association. Until 2005, the show aired on New Year's Eve, but has since aired every December 30 on TBS Japan at 6:30 P.M JST a ...

held on December 30 of the same year. On October 26, the 29th single " Dear Bride " was released. Was held in December of the same year 5 days, " the 49th Japan Cable Awards his first at" the same song Grand Prize was awarded the same year.

2017–2019: 10th anniversary, hiatus and marriage

Nishino was selected as a winner of the "2016 ISUM Bridal Music Awards" held on March 15, 2017. On April 8 the same year, the 10th-anniversary calendar “KANA NISHINO 10th ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL CALENDAR” was released. Nishino has decided to hold her first solo two-large dome tour, "Kana Nishino Dome Tour 2017" Many Thanks". Kyocera Dome Osaka on August 26 and 27, 2017 and Tokyo on September 23 and 24, 2017. The dome performed 2 performances each, and a total of 160,000 people were mobilized in all 4 performances. On August 26 the same year, as described above, on the first day of the first two major dome tours, the 32nd single “Reason for holding hands” (released October 18) and the 7th album “LOVE it” (released November 15, 2017). It is announced that it will be released in autumn. From May 19, 2018 to July 25, 2018, Nishino performed her first National Hall Tour 2018 “LOVE it Tour” (26 performances) for the first time in seven years. ~ 10th Anniversary ~ '(12 performances) held 38 performances, mobilizing a total of 200,000 people. On October 4, the 10th anniversary of her debut, it will be announced that the two best albums "Love Collection 2-mint-" and "Love Collection 2-pink-" will be released simultaneously on November 21 for the first time in 5 years. Following the release of the best album on October 10, the special live Kana Nishino Love Collection Live 2019. LOVE it Tour-10th Anniversary – "at the same arena, the venue for the final performance. On December 25, the live viewing of Kana Nishino Love Collection Live 2019. On January 8, Nishino announced that she will taking an indefinite hiatus on her official Twitter, official website and official fan club. On February 3, the activity was suspended with the performance of "Kana Nishino Love Collection Live 2019" at the Yokohama Arena. Nishino announced that she married her former manager on her 30th birthday.Eater, Fireworks Singer Kana Nishino Gets Married
/ref>

Discography

;Studio albums * 2009: ''Love One.'' * 2010: ''

'' * 2011: '' Thank You, Love'' * 2012: ''

Love Place ''Love Place'' is the fourth album by Japanese singer and songwriter Kana Nishino. It was released on September 5, 2012. It won Best Album at the 54th Japan Record Awards The took place at the New National Theater in Tokyo on December 30, 201 ...

'' * 2014: ''With Love'' * 2016: ''

Just Love ''Just Love'' (Traditional Chinese: 老婆大人) is a TVB modern drama series broadcast in May 2005. The drama was broadcast in Singapore's MediaCorp TV Channel 8 in 2007. Play of family background, surrounded mainly scratching between husban ...

'' * 2017: ''Love It'' ;Compilation albums * 2013: ''Love Collection: Pink'' * 2013: ''Love Collection: Mint'' * 2015: ''Secret Collection: Red'' * 2015: ''Secret Collection: Green'' * 2018: ''Love Collection 2: Pink'' * 2018: ''Love Collection 2: Mint''

Million download certification by RIAJ

Excluding ringtone (short version) in this Table.

Awards

MTV Video Music Awards Japan The MTV Video Music Awards Japan (MTV VMAJ for short) are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards. Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online votin ...

, - , 2010 , ''Motto..'' , Best Karaokee! Song , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2011 , ''Kimitte'' , Best Pop Video
Best Karaokee! Song , , - , ''To Love'' , Best Album , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2012 , ''Tatoe Donna ni..'' , Best Female Artist Video , , - , ''Esperanza'' , Best Karaokee! Song , , - , rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;", 2013 , ''Always'' , Best Female Artist Video , , - , ''Love Place'' , Best Album , , - , ''Always'' , Best Karaokee! Song , , - , 2014 , ''Believe'' , Best Pop Video , , - , rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;", 2016 , ''Anata no Suki na Tokoro'' , Best Female Artist Video , , - , ''Just Love'' , Best Album , , - , ''Anata no Suki na Tokoro'' , Best Pop Video , , - , rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;", 2017 , ''Pa'' , Best Female Artist Video , , -

Japan Record Awards

The

Japan Record Award is a major music awards show, held annually in Japan that recognizes outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association. Until 2005, the show aired on New Year's Eve, but has since aired every December 30 on TBS Japan at 6:30 P.M JST a ...

s is a major music awards show held annually in Japan by the

Japan Composer's Association The Japan Composer's Association, or JACOMPA (日本作曲家協会 in Japanese) is an organization of Japanese composers, established in 1959. Among its members are some of Japan's most renowned composers of contemporary classical music. Presiden ...

. , - , 2010 , ''to LOVE'' , Excellence Album Award , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2011 , rowspan="2" , ''Esperanza'' , Grand Prix , , - , Excellent Work Award , , - , rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;", 2012 , rowspan="2" , ''GO FOR IT!!'' , Grand Prix , , - , Outstanding Works Award , , - , ''Love Place'' , the Best Album Award , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2013 , rowspan="2" , ''Sayonara'' , Grand Prix , , - , Outstanding Works Award , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2014 , rowspan="2" , ''Darling'' , Grand Prix , , - , Outstanding Works Award , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2015 , rowspan="2" , ''Torisetsu'' , Grand Prix , , - , Outstanding Works Award , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2016 , rowspan="2" , ''Anata no Sukina Tokoro'' , Grand Prix , , - , Outstanding Works Award , , -

Japan Cable Awards are an annual set of music awards, sponsored by the . The awards are presented annually since 1968 and are based on requests from the audience received by cable broadcasters. The awards is finished in 2017, Kiyoshi Hikawa, who is a Japanese enk ...

, - , 2010 , ''Kimitte'' , rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;" , Music Excellence Award , , - , 2011 , ''Tatoe Donna ni...'' , , - , 2012 , ''Watashitachi'' , , - , 2013 , ''Sayonara'' , , - , 2014 , ''Darling'' , , - , 2015 , ''Torisetsu'' , , - , rowspan="2" , 2016 , rowspan="2" , ''Dear Bride'' , , - , , , - , 2017 , ''Te Wo Tsunagu Riyuu'' , , , -

Japan Gold Disc Award The is an award presented by the Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Associa ...

, - , rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;", 2011 , ''to LOVE'' , Best 5 Albums , , - , ''Aitakute Aitakute'' , Song Of The Year By Download , , - , ''if'' , rowspan="2", Best 5 Songs By Download , , - , ''Best Friend'' , , - , style="text-align:center;", 2013 , ''Tatoe Donna ni...'' , Best 5 Songs By Download , , - , style="text-align:center;", 2015 , ''Darling'' , Best 5 Songs By Download , , - , rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;", 2016 , rowspan="2" , ''Torisetsu'' , Song Of The Year By Download , , - , Best 5 Songs By Download , , - , ''Moshimo Unmei no Hito ga Iru no Nara'' , Best 5 Songs By Download , , -

Billboard Japan Music Awards ''Billboard Japan'' Music Awards are an annual set of music awards, founded by ''Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hans ...

, - , style="text-align:center;", 2010 , rowspan="3", Kana Nishino , Best Pop Artist , , - , style="text-align:center;", 2014 , rowspan="2", Artist of the Year , , - , style="text-align:center;", 2015 ,

Chinese Music Awards The Chinese Music Awards () is a music awards founded in 2008 to recognize outstanding achievement in the Chinese music industry. Categories * Top 10 Mandarin Albums * Top 10 Cantonese Albums * Top 10 Mandarin Songs * Top 10 Cantonese Songs * Bes ...

, - , style="text-align:center;", 2014 , Kana Nishino , Asia’s Most Influential Artist ,

References

External links

Official website

Official blog
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nishino, Kana 1989 births Japanese women pop singers Japanese lyricists 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers Living people Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Musicians from Mie Prefecture People from Matsusaka, Mie