Nakashima Mika is a Japanese singer, model, and actress who achieved five no.1 albums in Japan and also successfully embarked on an acting career, most notably in the live-action manga adaptattion, Nana. Born and raised in Kyushu, she grew up in the small town of Hioki, Kagoshima, where she has said there was "nothing there, only enka." She began listening to enka singer Segawa Eiko and studied classical Japanese dance, but as she loved dressing-up and make-up, she hoped to one day work in fashion magazines since she was too short to become a model. Nakashima decided not to attend high school after completing her compulsory junior high school education and began working at the age of 15 in Fukuoka. At the age of 17, she attended an audition not knowing what it was for. She was chosen from 3,000 girls to star as the female lead in the fall 2001 Fuji TV drama Kizudarake no Love Song. She sang the theme song, "Stars" which also became her debut on Sony Music Associated Records, and went on to become her best-selling single. Her next five singles were Top 10 hits and proved Nakashima's rising popularity. During the next few years her album sales were in the millions and she cemented her place as a celebrated pop star by consistently topping charts and winning awards, beginning with the prestigious "New Artist of the Year" award from the 44th Japan Record Awards. In 2005, Nakashima's acting career kicked off in the popular movie Nana, for which she sang one of the theme songs, "Glamorous Sky," written by mangaka Ai Yazawa and composer L'Arc-en-Ciel vocalist Hyde. It was Nakashima's only number 1 single on the Oricon Singles Charts. The single sold a million copies in 2005 and 2006. Due to the success of Nana, a sequel was released in December 2006. It included two new songs by Nakashima, "Hitoiro" (One Color), also written by Yazawa and composed by Glay's Takuro. Nana 2's premiered internationally in New York City in 2006, and Watch drama online for free.