is a Japanese singer, signed with Sony Music Japan's SME Records. She debuted on February 20, 2008, with the single "I".
Considered one of Japan's most popular songstresses 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 second album, To Love (2010), her first number-one album, 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 (RIAJ), establishing Nishino as a dominant force on music charts and digital platforms. The Triple Platinum certified album became the third best-selling album of 2010 and the single "Aitakute Aitakute" was the hottest selling digital song of the year. While enjoying mammoth mainstream success with her following records Thank You, Love (2011), Love Place (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 with the singles "Darling" (2014) and "Torisetsu" (2015). The latter, the theme song of the live action film Heroine Shikkaku, became the best-selling digital song of 2015 with over one million copies sold. She subsequently released the albums Just Love (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 in 2005. In 2017, she reached a new milestone when becoming the first female artist born in the Heisei era to perform at the prestigious Tokyo Dome 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 usually regarded as a fashion icon. It was particularly apparent in her early days due to her association with the Gyaru fashion subculture, leading her music to be referred to as "Gyaru Enka" ("Gyaru heartbreak songs"). In 2009, CNN 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. 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 and returned to the music industry in 2024.
Career 1989–2007: Early life and career beginnings Kana Nishino was born on March 18, 1989, in Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture. From an early age, Nishino had an interest in living abroad, so she decided to stay with a host family in Guam when she was in the fifth grade of elementary school and in Los Angeles when she was in her first year of high school. After returning home from Los Angeles, she began learning folk songs under the tutelage of an acquaintance of her mother's.
In 2005, when Nishino was 16 years old, her mother signed her up for the "Super Heroine Audition Miss Phoenix," an audition jointly held by Kadokawa Pictures and Sony Music Artists Inc. Despite the fact that it was an actress audition, Nishino's singing voice was discovered among the 40,000 applicants. In 2006, she signed a contract with Sony Music Japan and spent three years of high school as a preparation period, learning Tsugaru folk songs, taking vocal training and constantly practicing with her mother. In 2007, while preparing for her debut, she began to attend an undisclosed university to study English literature. At the time she met Australian duo Nervo, 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."
2008–2009: Debut and breakthrough On February 20, 2008, Nishino made her major label debut with the single "I." Ahead of the CD release, a download version of the single was simultaneously distributed in Japan and the United States. In December 2007, the previous year, a Christmas version of the debut single, "*I* ~Merry Christmas ver.~" was also available for download. The CD single of "I" reached number 155 on the Oricon Singles Chart and charted for one week, selling around 500 copies. The song did a lot better on Billboard Japan Hot 100, reaching number 10 on that chart. On April 23, 2008, Nishino released her second single "Glowly Days." The single reached number 126 on the Oricon charts and charted for 2 weeks, while it peaked at number 22 on the Japan Hot 100. After two unsuccessful singles, Nishino was chosen to sing the second ending theme for the anime Soul Eater. "Style." was released as her third single and was her highest selling single in 2008 due to the popularity of the anime series, peaking at number 57 on Oricon. In September 2008, about six months after her debut, she participated in Cyndi Lauper's Japan tour, performing as the opening act at all four venues. In December 2008, Nishino was appointed as the youngest ever "Mie Prefecture Tourism Ambassador" by the Governor of Mie Prefecture, Akihiko Noro.
On January 28, 2009, Nishino released her fourth single, "Make Up." It reached number 119 on the Oricon Chart and charted for one week. Meanwhile, it peaked at number 39 on the Japan Hot 100. After her first four singles, her music took a more R&B feel to it. Nishino released her fifth single "Tookutemo feat. Wise" on March 18, 2009, which was also her 20th birthday. The song became Nishino's breakthrough, becoming her first release to chart in the Oricon top 50 by charting at number 40. "Tookutemo feat. Wise" was certified double platinum by the RIAJ for selling over 500,000 legal downloads, her first song to receive a certification by the RIAJ for digital sales. The song also peaked at number 17 on the Japan Hot 100. Wise's digital single "Aenakutemo feat. Kana Nishino" debuted at number 9 on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart.
Nishino released her sixth single "Kimi ni Aitaku Naru Kara" on June 3, 2009. The single hit number 19 on the Oricon weekly single charting, being her best-selling single release of the six. The digital version of the single debuted at number 5 on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart. "Kimi ni Aitaku Naru Kara" was certified double platinum for ringtone sales of 500,000 downloads, as well as double platinum four selling over 500,000 full-length downloads. With this song she made her first appearance on TV Asahi's Music Station on July 10, 2009. Nishino's debut album Love One. was released on June 24, 2009. Commercially, the record peaked at number four on the Oricon Albums Chart in Japan and remained on the chart for 85 weeks.
Nishino released her seventh single "Motto..." on October 21, 2009. The song debuted at the number 1 spot on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart. The RIAJ certified the track triple platinum for ringtone downloads of over 750,000 units. By February 2014, "Motto..." was certified million for full-length downloads of over 1,000,000 units. Nishino released the double A-side single "Dear.../Maybe" on December 2, 2009. "Dear..." was certified triple platinum by the RIAJ for ringtone downloads of over 750,000 units, while also being certified million for selling over one million full-length downloads. "Maybe" was certified gold for selling over 100,000 cellphone downloads.
2010–2012: Big success in Japan with To Love, Thank you, Love and Love Place Nishino released her ninth single "Best Friend" on February 24, 2010. "Best Friend" was certified million in two different categories by the RIAJ for selling over one million ringtone downloads, along with selling one million full-length downloads. May 21, 2010, saw the release of Nishino's tenth single, "Aitakute Aitakute." The song became her biggest hit to date and was named the hottest selling digital song of the year 2010. "Aitakute Aitakute" is listed as one of the best-selling multi-format singles in Japan, with total sales exceeding 5.097 million units (5,000,000 downloads and 97,000 physical units). Nishino released her sophomore album To Love on June 23, 2010.Citations regarding the physical formats of To Love: The album was extremely successful, making Nishino the first artist born in the Heisei era to top the Oricon Albums Chart. To Love is Nishino's most successful album to date, selling over 750,000 units and staying on the charts for 104 weeks. It was certified triple platinum by the RIAJ in August 2010.
On August 4, 2010, 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 was certified triple platinum for ringtone downloads of over 750,000 units; eventually it was also certified million for full-length downloads of over one million units. Her 12th single, "Kimi tte," was released on November 3, 2010. The song was certified million for both ringtone and full-length downloads of over one million units. On December 31, 2010, she competed in the 61st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen as a member of the red team, marking her first appearance at the prestigious event.
On February 4, 2011, just three years after her debut, the total number of downloads of nine categories, including distribution to mobile phones such as ringtone downloads, full-length downloads and video clips, as well as PC downloads exceeded 25 million. On February 9, 2011, the single "Distance" was released. "Distance" was certified double platinum for ringtone downloads of 500,000 units, as well as platinum for cellphone downloads of over 100,000 units. 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. "Esperanza" was certified double platinum for selling over 500,000 full-length downloads. 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 and was certified double platinum. From July 29 to September 8, 2011, Nishino embarked on her first nationwide hall tour, Kanayan Tour 2011 ~ Summer~ (16 shows), concluding with her first-ever performance at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. November 9, 2011, was the day Nishino's fifteenth single "Tatoe Donna ni..." was released. The song was certified double platinum for ringtone downloads of 500,000 units. It was additionally certified triple platinum for full-length downloads of over 750,000 units.
Nishino started off 2012 by releasing her sixteenth single "Sakura, I Love You?" on March 7, 2012, which was certified platinum for selling 250,000 downloads. Her seventeenth single, "Watashitachi," was released on May 23, 2012; it was certified platinum for selling 250,000 downloads. On July 25, 2012, she released her 18th single, "Go For It!!." It was her last number one song on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart before it went defunct on July 27, 2012. On September 5, 2012, Nishino released her 4th album called Love Place. It was commercially successful on the Oricon Albums Chart, debuting at the runner-up spot and was certified platinum by the RIAJ. Nishino promoted Love Place by embarking on her first arena tour titled Kanayan Tour 2012 ~Arena~ between October 13, 2012, to November 24, 2012. On November 7, 2012, Nishino released her nineteenth single "Always," which was certified gold for selling 100,000 PC downloads. The album Love Place won the Japan Record Award for the Best Album at the 54th Japan Record Awards held on December 30 of the same year.
2013–2014: Best albums and With Love