One year has passed since her death… Remembering the great star Miho Nakayama – Risa Tachibana and Eriko Kitagawa talk about their “wonderful memories

Gentle Memories

A year will soon pass since that day when all of Japan was enveloped in grief.

On December 6, 2012, actor and singer Miho Nakayama passed away at her home in Tokyo. The tragedy occurred just before she was to leave for a concert scheduled to be held in Osaka. She was 54 years old at the time of her untimely death.

Ms. Nakayama made her big break as an actress in 1985 when she played the role of a tsuppari girl in the hit comedy drama “Every Time I Saw You” (TBS). In the same year, she released the single “C” and began her career as a singer.

Actress Risa Tachibana (54), who was chosen to play the heroine in the third series of “Every time we say sorry,” remembers Ms. Nakayama’s kind smile.

Miho was very considerate of those around her. When we worked together on a singing show when we were idols, I was in a hurry to get to the studio for the show, so I took off my clothes to change into my costume and ended up taking them off in the TV station’s waiting room.

Then, to my surprise, my senior Miho-san folded the scattered clothes neatly …… and even hid my underwear in a place where it was hard to see.” In 1987, when we co-starred in the New Year’s special of “Daremo Osagasemasu,” I was so nervous that I kept making a lot of NGs, but she said, “Don’t worry. Don’t worry, don’t worry! He was very kind to me.

Tachibana, who was one year younger than Nakayama, had been in close contact with him right after his debut. The sadness she felt when she heard of his passing was beyond description.

At first I couldn’t believe it. But later that day, nostalgic images of her life came on the TV news, and I couldn’t stop crying. I wanted to talk more and sing with him. ……”

Eriko Kitagawa, 63, a scriptwriter who wrote the screenplay for “Love Story” (TBS), a drama series starring Ms. Nakayama that aired in 2001, and “I Have to Buy New Shoes,” a movie starring Ms. Nakayama that was released in 2012, said, “Although not well known to the public, Miho She is not well known to the public, but she was a very family-oriented girl,” confides Eriko Kitagawa, 63, who wrote the screenplay for the film.

When I made the offer to Miho, the most difficult thing was how to reconcile her desire to spend the most precious time with her family. When we shot “I Have to Buy New Shoes,” Miho’s child was still small and she was working hard to take care of her child. I was afraid that the filming would take up so much of my time that I would neglect my time with my family.

You may have the image of a woman who lived in love, but in reality she was a person who cherished her family very much. Miho was also very close with my daughter. When my daughter, who was in the third grade of elementary school, and I went to Paris, Miho picked her up and kissed her on the cheek when she was excited to see the Eiffel Tower. That is a wonderful memory.”

Click here for the second part 【 Miho Nakayama (54 years old) — Mayo Okamoto, her unexpected best friend talks about her ″unadorned true face″].

From the December 12, 2025 issue of FRIDAY