Miyuki Kawanaka is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese Enka

Enka

is a popular Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern enka, however, is a relatively recent musical form which arose in the context of such postwar expressions of modern Japanese nonmaterial nationalism as nihonjinron, while adopting a more...

 singer.

She was born Kimiko Kawanaka in Suita, Osaka

Suita, Osaka

is a city located in northern Osaka, Japan. As of August 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 356,751 and the density of 9,880 persons per km². The total area is 36.11 km²....

. At a young age she moved to Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

 where she grew up. In 1973 she debuted as Kasuga Harumi with the song Shinjuku Tenshin. She later tried to become an idol with the release of Kantsubaki no Shima Kara. Both singles failed and she returned to Osaka to work at her mother's okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki

is a Japanese dish containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked" . Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the...

restaurant. In 1976 she won a contest singing Anatani Inochi Gake. She later released that song as Miyuki Kawanaka; her second debut. It was not until 1980 that Miyuki hit it big with the single Futarizake.