(born 28 June 1985) is a Japanese singer, songwriter and actress. After signing with Avex Trax, Nakamura released her debut single, "Yogoreta Shitagi" in 2006. She attracted public attention after coming out as a

transgender woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

publicly via her official website on 11 September 2006. Nakamura's second single " Tomodachi no Uta", which details her struggling with the

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied wit ...

and unrequited love for her friend, became her breakthrough hit, reaching number nine in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. Her debut studio album, ''Ten Made Todoke'', was released in January 2007 and certificated Gold by

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 ...

. Her fourth studio album ''Shōnen Shōjo'' (2010) won the 52nd Japan Record Awards for Excellence Album Award. In May 2011, Nakamura released her first

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

, ''Wakage no Itari''.

Early life

Ataru Nakamura was born on 28 June 1985, in

Sumida, Tokyo is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Sumida City. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 257,300, and a population density of 18,690 persons per k ...

. Her parents divorced when she was little, and she was raised by her mother. Nakamura began studying music early in her life, teaching herself to play the piano at the age of ten, and beginning to write her own songs at fifteen.

Music career

2004–2005: Switch to Avex Trax and ''Ten Made Todoke'' era

In 2006, she switched to a major label, the popular Avex Trax. Her first major label single, "Yogoreta Shitagi", was released on her birthday, and received minor attention. "Yogoreta Shitagi" was written about an ex-boyfriend who was cheating on her and is written from the former boyfriend's point of view. Nakamura called this individual on the telephone to explain that the song she had written about him was to be her debut single. Her second single, "Tomodachi no Uta", received greater attention, and placed at number 150 on the

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 i ...

charts. However, it was not until Nakamura came out as a transgender female that she received major attention. Her explanation garnered a lot of media attention, and her single rose to number 9 on the Oricon charts. "Tomodachi no Uta" became the theme song for the popular television drama '' Watashi ga Watashi de Aru Tame ni'', a

primetime television Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

drama about a young transsexual woman. Nakamura even received a small

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

on the program. Nakamura wrote "Tomodachi no Uta" when she was fourteen years old; notably, it was the first song she ever wrote. She wrote the song to say goodbye to the friends in

junior high A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

she would never see again. "Tomodachi no Uta" was featured in an Avex Trax musical titled " Kokoro no Kakera". The soundtrack featured 21 songs chosen from the company's hits over the past two decades. Her third single, "Watashi no Naka no Ii Onna", entered the Oricon charts at number 39. On the same day "Watashi no Naka no Ii Onna" was released, the song "Chewing Gum" written by Nakamura for the band

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...

, debuted on the Oricon chart. Her two songs competed with one another for four weeks. Her first album, ''Ten Made Todoke'', was released on 1 January 2007. A month later, she released "Kaze ni Naru", her fourth single. "Kaze ni Naru" was the theme song for the film '' Sakebi''. Her song "Kakeashi no Ikizama" was used as the closing theme for the anime series '' Reideen''.

Late 2007–2008: ''Watashi wo Daite Kudasai'' era

Nakamura's fifth single marked the promotion of her second album titled ''Watashi wo Daite Kudasai''. The album was released on 5 December 2007. "Ringo Uri", the album's first single, premiered on 27 June 2007, and peaked at number 30 on the Oricon charts. The album's second single, "Hadaka Denkyū", premiered on 21 November. "Tori no Mure", the album's third single and her seventh overall, received minor airplay.

2009: ''Ashita wa Haremasu You Ni'' era

"Kaze Tachinu" debuted on 9 July 2008. The song was used as the theme song for the live-action film '' GeGeGe no Kitaro Sennen Noroi Uta''. The single did well and was received much like "Tomodachi no Uta". Nakamura appeared at

AP Bank Fes AP Bank is a Japanese non-profit organization dedicated to renewable energy and environmental projects, founded in 2003. AP Bank's seed money was provided by record producer Takeshi Kobayashi, musician Kazutoshi Sakurai and composer and musician ...

' 08, a musical festival, on 20 July 2008, to promote the single. Nakamura released "Kotonakare Shugi", a rock song produced by

Kameda Seiji is a Japanese music producer, arranger and bass guitarist. He has worked extensively with Ringo Shiina, serving as her producer and touring bassist for many years, including his tenure with their band Tokyo Jihen from 2005 to 2012. Biography ...

, on 17 December 2008.Ataru Nakamura Discography
Retrieved on 16 July 2009. She wrote a song called "Hare-butai" for Jero, Japan's first

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

enka singer. ''Ashita wa Haremasu You Ni'' was Nakamura's third studio album, released on 25 February 2009 in both standard and deluxe editions, the latter containing a DVD containing various performances and music videos.

2010: ''Shōnen Shōjo'' era

In 2010 Ataru Nakamura switched her management from Avex Trax to Yamaha Music Communications. She released the single "Iede Shoujo," which debuted at No. 90 on the Oricon charts and sold 796 copies the first week. On 9/22 her album came out titled ''Shōnen Shōjo'' it debuted at No. 65 on the Oricon and sold 2,103 copies the first week. The album was later awarded a

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 ...

, despite its lack of commercial success.

Personal life

Nakamura was

assigned male at birth Sex assignment (sometimes known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex at or before birth. A relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the external genitalia when the baby is delivered and, in more than 99.95% of bir ...

but transitioned after struggling with issues of

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...

. This was mentioned in her official biography short during her appearance at the 2007 '' Kouhaku Uta Gassen''.

Musical style

Nakamura is notable for the two different styles in which she sings. Her first style is a modern rock/pop sound. Her second style is an

enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than '' ryūkōka'' music, ...

-inspired sound; thus far her enka-styled

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

have been her largest successes. Her singles have thus far alternated between these two styles.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

Promotional singles

Filmography

* ''Hazard Lamp'' (2022)

Notes

References

External links

Ataru Nakamura Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamura, Ataru 1985 births Avex Group artists Japanese LGBT songwriters Japanese women composers Japanese actresses Japanese women pop singers Japanese-language singers Japanese multi-instrumentalists Japanese women singer-songwriters Japanese pianists Japanese women pianists Transgender composers Japanese LGBT singers Transgender songwriters Singers from Tokyo Transgender women musicians Transgender women writers Living people Japanese transgender people 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese pianists 21st-century Japanese LGBT people 21st-century women pianists Transgender singers