Miwa

Miwa is a Japanese singer-songwriter with hints of Western stars such as Carole King and Joni Mitchell running through her work.

Miwa was born in Hayama, Kanagawa in 1990 but was moved to Tokyo at a young age. She grew up around music, infected with her father's love of it as a child. She began to learn guitar in high school (though attempts to learn on her own were quickly abandoned in favour of paid-for lessons) and by 15 was writing her own songs.

Despite Miwa's high school banning students from working, Miwa quietly got a part-time job and spent her money on a Gibson guitar. She began secretly playing small shows around Tokyo and Okinawa, where her parents had a second home. During the period Miwa self-published two singles, 'Song for You/Today' and 'Soba ni Itai Kara'. By the end of high school she had begun attracting interest from labels and during her third year signed with Sony Music Entertainment Japan.

Her major label debut came in 2010 while she was studying at Keio University. Her single 'Don't Cry Anymore' was used as the theme song for the drama 'Nakanai to Kimeta Hi' and cracked the Oricon Singles Chart top 20. She went on to get further exposure from the world of TV with her third single, 'Change', when it was used over the credits of the anime 'Bleach'.

In 2011 Miwa's debut album, 'Guitarissimo', was released and hit number one on the Oricon album chart. Since then she has put out a string of top-five albums, 'Guitarium' (2012); 'Delight' (2013); 'Oneness' (2015) and 'Splash World' (2017).