Italian
Miho Nakayama, a Japanese singer and actor best known for the 1995 romance film “Love Letter,” was found dead at her home in Tokyo on Friday. She was 54.
Nakayama’s team confirmed the news in a post on her website, writing: “We are deeply sorry to have to suddenly announce this to all the people involved who have always looked after her and to all the fans who have supported her, but this incident was so sudden that we, too, are shocked and saddened. We are currently investigating the cause of death and other details.”
According to the BBC, an acquaintance of Nakayama found her dead in a bathtub after she did not show up for work. The acquaintance called the paramedics, who pronounced her dead at the scene. She had been scheduled to perform at a Christmas concert in Osaka on Friday, but had canceled her appearance citing health reasons.
Born on March 1, 1970, in Saku, Japan, Nakayama made her screen debut in the series “Maido Osawagase Shimasu” in 1985, which catapulted her to instant stardom. She released her first single, “C,” shortly after and then starred in the blockbuster film “Be-Bop High School.” Her work across film, TV and music made her one of Japan’s most popular idols during a time of huge success for the country’s cultural output in the ’80s and ’90s.
Popular on Variety Her most notable film was the 1995 romance “Love Letter,” which follows a woman grieving her fiancé who strikes up an unusual relationship with another woman who shares her late fiancé’s name. Nakayama played both roles in the film, which was a local and international box office hit and won the audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival. For her performance, she was named best actress at the following year’s Blue Ribbon Awards in Japan as well as the Hochi Film Awards.
Over the course of her career, Nakayama recorded 22 studio albums and had eight No. 1 singles in Japan, including “Catch Me,” “You’re My Only Shining Star” and “Sekaijū no Dare Yori Kitto” (“Surely More Than Anyone in the World”). In total she starred in 14 films, the most recent being 2022’s “Lesson in Murder,” and dozens of series and TV movies.
Nakayama is survived by a son that she shares with her former husband, musician Hitonari Tsuji.
