Kana Nishino
Kana Nishino, born Kanako Nishino on March 18, 1989, in Matsusaka, Mie, Japan, is a Japanese pop and R&B singer. She debuted in 2008 with the single “I” and quickly became one of Japan’s most popular female artists of the late 2000s and 2010s. Her early hits include the R&B track “Tookutemo” with Wise and “Kimi ni Aitaku Naru Kara.”
Her first album, Love One. (2009), went platinum, and her second album, To Love (2010), topped the charts. Its singles “Motto…,” “Dear…,” “Best Friend,” and “Aitakute Aitakute” had huge digital sales. She released more successful albums—Thank You, Love (2011), Love Place (2012), and With Love (2014)—and explored country pop with “Darling” (2014) and “Torisetsu” (2015). Her later albums Just Love (2016) and Love It (2017) continued her success. In 2016, she won the Grand Prix at the Japan Record Awards for “Anata no Suki na Tokoro,” and in 2017 she became the first artist born in the Heisei era to perform at the Tokyo Dome.
Nishino announced an indefinite hiatus in January 2019, which began in February that year. She returned in 2024 with a greatest-hits collection, All Time Best: Love Collection 15th Anniversary, and the single “EYES ON YOU,” followed by the EP Love Again. She announced a nationwide arena tour for 2025 and performed at NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen in 2024.
She is known as a fashion icon in Japan and was linked to the Gyaru fashion subculture early in her career. She has sold more than six million records and over 46 million downloads. She studied abroad in Guam and Los Angeles, was discovered at a Sony Music audition in 2005, and signed with Sony Music Entertainment Japan in 2006. Nishino married her former manager on her 30th birthday in 2019, and they have one child, born August 5, 2023.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 11:54 (CET).