Miho Fukuhara

Biography

Miho Fukuhara (福原 美穂, Fukuhara Miho) (born June 19, 1987) is a Japanese singer, songwriter and actress who made an independent label debut in 2006, releasing a single titled "The Roots×The Roots24 May 2006 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Sir duke3:532Englishman in New York5:593A Natural woman3:33" and mini-album titled Step Out. In early 2008, she made her major-label debut under Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Her single, "Change×CHANGE16 April 2008 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1CHANGE3:592恋はリズム～Believe My Way～4:073BECAUSE YOU LOVED ME4:38", was the number ninety-two song on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 Singles year-end charts for 2008. With her single, "Let It Out×LET IT OUT9 September 2009 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1LET IT OUT4:202LET IT OUT -「鋼の錬金術師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST」 ED Ver.-1:343LET IT OUT instrumental4:17", she had her first major anime tie-in with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
In early 2013, Fukuhara signed on to be the frontwoman of the worldwide music project Sweetbox, along with rapper/singer LogiQ Pryce. In 2015, she set up her own record label Happy Field Records.

Early life

Fukuhara was born in Sapporo, Hokkaido in the countryside, and brought up with five siblings. She has one-quarter American ancestry through her grandfather, whom she never met.
She credits her parents, especially her father who owned a large record collection, and her elder sister for having introduced her to soul and blues music at a young age.

Early career (2006–2008)

Fukuhara was initially signed to the independent, local Sapporo-based Yumechika Records label and released her debut single and mini-album, titled "The Roots×The Roots24 May 2006 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Sir duke3:532Englishman in New York5:593A Natural woman3:33" and Step Out respectively. She performed in-store live performances to promote her records during 2006, which prompted Sony Music Japan to pick her up as a performing artist. Her first major-released appearance was on a Celine Dion tribute album singing "Because You Loved Me".
She released her first single in early 2008 to varied success. Penning her own lyrics and co-producing the song, "Change×CHANGE16 April 2008 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1CHANGE3:592恋はリズム～Believe My Way～4:073BECAUSE YOU LOVED ME4:38" was a hit in terms of radio airplay, reaching as high as the top 3, but only managing the 14th position in terms of sales. The single came in only one format, which is unusual for Japanese maxi singles. She released her second single, "Himawari", which narrowly made the top 25 in the sales category but failed to impact top 10 in terms of airplay. It was not until her third single, Yasashii Aka, that she had real major success. It was, first and foremost, her first single to be released in multiple formats. Although it was neither as strong on airplay or as a seller as "Change" was, it sold well digitally, and become her first single to become certified by the RIAJ. It was the number 17 song of December 2008 and quickly become certified gold. Her follow-up song, "Love (Winter Song)" would match the success of "Yasashii Aka" similarly and ultimately surpass it, also going gold and becoming the number 10 song of January 2009.

Mainstream success (2009–2012)

Fukuhara released the album Rainbow×RAINBOW28 January 2009 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1CHANGE3:552ANYMORE4:573Lose Control4:214雪の光4:345Everybody Needs Someone3:406ON TOP OF THE WORLD4:087ひまわり4:558LOVE～winter song～ (album version)4:309Getting There3:5110ドリーマー4:2211ICE & FIRE3:5012優しい赤4:54, which was mainly penned and co-produced by Fukuhara herself, in January 2009, with "Yuki no Hikari" as the digital/radio single helping to promote the album. "Yuki no Hikari" peaked at #50 on the Japan Hot 100, becoming her lowest charting single. With strong label backing, however, the album peaked at #2 and was beat only by the successful 7th album by legendary pop-star Kumi Koda. Rainbow went on to sell nearly 100,000 copies and become certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. Fukuhara later embarked on the successful Rainbow Tour 2009, which spanned six shows in multiple cities. She performed a mix of covers, original songs from Rainbow, and b-sides.
Following her album, she released her next single "Hanabi Sky×HANABI SKY17 June 2009 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1HANABI SKY4:092La La La FIGHTERS3:513I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)3:244HANABI SKY (instrumental)4:08" in June 2009. It was another major airplay hit, peaking at number 3. Overall, the single peaked at number 5, but only received number 26 for sales. She quickly announced her next single, "Let It Out×LET IT OUT9 September 2009 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1LET IT OUT4:202LET IT OUT -「鋼の錬金術師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST」 ED Ver.-1:343LET IT OUT instrumental4:17", second ending theme to popular anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood in early July. "Let It Out" is both Fukuhara's first major anime tie-in and her first single to be released in 3 separate formats, and was released on September 9, 2009. While it was a much bigger hit than "Hanabi Sky", it still fared relatively poorly in terms of both physical and digital sales in comparison to her previous singles "Love (Winter Song)", "Change×CHANGE16 April 2008 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1CHANGE3:592恋はリズム～Believe My Way～4:073BECAUSE YOU LOVED ME4:38" and "Yasashii Aka". Leading up to the release of her second studio album Music Is My Life×Music is My Life16 June 2010 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11RISING LIKE A FLAME4:142HANABI SKY4:073未来-ミライ-4:194LET IT OUT (album version)4:195もしかして4:216Apologies5:007Cry No More (album version)4:318Baby Baby3:169なんで泣きたくなっちゃうんだろう (album mix)3:4810TOUCH & LOVE4:4511Sotsugyou5:3512THANK YOU4:5713あいのうた4:49Disc 21HANABI SKY (MUSIC VIDEO)2LET IT OUT (MUSIC VIDEO)3なんで泣きたくなっちゃうんだろう (MUSIC VIDEO)4未来-ミライ- (MUSIC VIDEO)5Baby Baby (MUSIC VIDEO) (2010), Fukuhara released the singles "Nande Nakitaku Nacchau n Darō" (2009), "Mirai" (2010) and "Moshikashite" (2010).
In 2010, Fukuhara began releasing conceptual extended plays. The first, Regrets of Love, featured ballads, while the second two in 2011, The Soul Extreme EP and The Soul Extreme EP II×The Soul Extreme EP II12 October 2011 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Get Up!3:482Bad Thing4:063Better Than Love3:494Sunday Morning4:485One Day4:11, featured soul and R&B music. The leading track of The Soul Extreme EP, "O2", featured R&B singer Ai, and became a commercial success, with her record label tracking 300,000 legal downloads of the song.
Fukuhara's third album The Best of Soul Extreme×The Best of Soul Extreme13 June 2012 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 29 tracks · 3 discsDisc 11O23:442Get Up!3:493Open Eyes4:074Dream On4:165STARLIGHT3:586Regrets of Love3:367DON'T TAKE IT AWAY3:448Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!4:149Cinnamon Dreams3:3810You3:4411Save Me4:2012Black Star3:3813You Are My Reason4:41Disc 21SIR DUKE3:532Englishman in New York5:573Natural Woman3:334Hard To Handle3:235I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)3:256BEN2:587Virtual Insanity5:058One Day4:159恋人たちのクリスマス Live ver. (from「Live in Music Vol.3」 2011年)5:05Disc 31O22Get up!3Dream On4STARLIGHT5Regrets of Love6THANK YOU7Apologies was released in June 2012, led by the single "Dream On" featuring Daichi Miura. The album featured a second duet with Ai, as well as a song performed with Leona Lewis.

Sweetbox and parting with Sony (2013–2015)

In early 2013, it was announced that Fukuhara signed on to be the newest frontwoman of the worldwide pop music project Sweetbox along with male singer/rapper LogiQ Pryce. The two recorded their first album Z21 in the first part of 2013 and released their first single "#Z21 (#Zeitgeist21)" in June 2013, shortly after Miho released her singles "Rising Heart", a song used in a campaign for Coca-Cola, and "Beyond", a song used for the anime Space Brothers.
In 2014, Fukuhara parted ways with Sony Music Japan, and became an independent musician. In a music industry wide poll taken from the popular TV program Wednesday's Downtown, Fukuhara was ranked as the seventh most talented singer in Japan.

Happy Field Records (2015–present)

In 2015, Fukuhara set up her own record label Happy Field Records (named after the English translation of her name, Fukuhara) and released an extended play entitled Something New on December 23, along with the music video for her promotional single "Something New×Something New23 December 2015 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracks1I Want More3:312Wasabi Green4:103No Way2:594Something New3:425Broken Heart4:096Something New (English version)3:43" on December 25. The music video focuses on her pregnancy and the upcoming birth of her daughter.
Her next EP release was in 2019 with Love Don't Come Easy.
In November 2020, Fukuhara began releasing a variety of music regularly on her official YouTube channel, from stripped-down acoustic versions of her own music to covers of famous songs in both Japanese and English.
On March 11, 2022, Fukuhara participated in the Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami tribute concert "One Last Live", performing "Respect" (with Maki Ohguro).

Acting career

In 2012, Fukuhara debuted as an actress on the musical comedy Kaeru no Ojōsama as Minami Haneda, a member of a singing group called Chansons. As a member of the cast, she performed music throughout the series.
Fukuhara made her stage debut in 2023 with the musical Dreamgirls, in which she portrayed Effie White.

Artistry

Fukuhara has named Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Mariah Carey, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, The Beatles, Roberta Flack, Prince, Otis Redding, Sly and the Family Stone, The Rolling Stones, Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill, Sade, TLC, Bill Withers, Curtis Mayfield and Whitney Houston among her musical influences. She particularly credits Franklin's Lady Soul, Gaye's What's Going On, Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life and Carey's Music Box for deepening her relationship to music. Among newer artists, she named D'Angelo, Solange and Michael Kiwanuka as having released albums that influenced her. She also enjoys music from Kylie Minogue and Charlie Puth.

Personal life

Fukuhara met her husband at Arabaki Rock Festival. On March 4, 2016, she gave birth to their daughter, Sophie.
Her favourite manga is Slam Dunk.

Studio albums

Rainbow (2008)
Music Is My Life (2010)
The Best of Soul Extreme (2012)