TV Stars
Nakayama Miho
(Tokyo, 1970 - 2024)
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Nakayama Miho is one of the few aidoru (pop idols) of the 1980's who managed to use the transition to actress to build a career as an established star. She is now one of the most commonly seen faces in TV commercials, a sure sign of success. Her face, like those of most successful actresses not entirely 'au naturale', is used to hock everything from cosmetics to computers, cameras to beer.
Like many young singers, actresses and models, Nakayama was discovered by a scout while shopping in Tokyo's Harajuku, a popular spot for young teens. She made her debut in 1985, at the age of 15, with the single C and in the teen movie Be-bop High School. Over the course of (count them) 17 albums in five years, she followed the usual idol path of bland but big-selling pop releases, TV appearances and movies but was beautiful and ambitious enough to keep this career going beyond her teens. In the '90s, she started writing her own songs and moving beyond the boundaries of pop into jazz and latin music, releasing another 23 albums, many of them collections.
Her acting breakthrough came in 1995 when she starred in the critically acclaimed movie Love Letter (poster) and the popular TV drama For You. Love Letter won the Audience Award at the 1998 Montreal Film Festival. She also starred with Kimura Takuya in the 1999 drama series Nemureru Mori (A Sleeping Forest). Like Koizumi Kyoko, as a successful and maturing actress, Nakayama was able to pick and choose her dramatic roles and didn't appear often. She appeared in over 30 drama series but most were in the first decade of her career. But also like Koizumi, her commercial appearances kept her very firmly in the public eye.
In June 2002, Nakayama's marriage to Akutagawa prize-winning novelist and musician Tsuji Jinsei (42) caused quite a stir.
Nakayama's death was announced by her management company in December 2024. According to a newswire report, she was found in the bath tub at her home by management company staff, who called the police. Her death was confirmed later dead by doctors at the scene. She had been scheduled to perform in Osaka that evening but had cancelled earlier in the day for health reasons.
(Note: her younger sister Shinobu was also briefly a successful idol.)