Birth name: Miyuki Nakajima (中島 美雪)

Birth place: Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

Nakajima is best known for her powerful, distinctive voice and lyrics that manage to be both inspiring and deeply personal—the kind that stick with you. Over her career, she's released 37 studio albums, 40 singles, 2 live albums, and various compilations, with sales hitting over 21 million copies. Beyond her solo work, she's written more than 90 songs for other artists, several of which became chart hits.

Her music has had remarkable reach across Asia, particularly in Taiwan and Hong Kong, where countless cover versions exist. She's also the only musician to serve on Japan's National Language Council, which speaks to how seriously the music industry takes her.

Her songs are everywhere in Japanese TV dramas, and she's done some film work herself—she appeared in Sayonara COLOR, among others. Fans often note that her strict, commanding delivery combined with lively, expressive songwriting is what sets her apart from her contemporaries.

In 2009, the Japanese government recognized her contributions by awarding her the Medal of Honor with purple ribbon.