There has always been no shortage of beautiful women in Hong Kong movies, but Nakayama Shinobi is a very magical one.
She was a former Japanese idol singer and the sister of Japanese superstar Miho Nakayama.
Crossing the ocean to China to develop, with "Jingwu Hero" a blockbuster, but suddenly disappeared, let people remember to this day.
What's going on in between? How is she doing when she is still unmarried?
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Nakayama's childhood, like her name, is full of patience and silence.
Before she was born, her parents opened a western restaurant in Akita Prefecture and had a decent day. However, shortly after she was born, her parents suddenly divorced, and she and her sister were sentenced to their mother.
Since then, life has plummeted, and the mother and daughter can only rely on each other for their lives and live a life under the fence.
In order to go out to earn money to support the family, the mother had to keep them in the homes of relatives, and each family took turns to take care of them for several days. Some relatives are friendly and good to them, while others are not familiar with them at all, and the politeness is all indifference.
For a long time, he was at home with various relatives, which made Nakayama very insecure. She was like a rootless Ping, without any dependence. Living cautiously every day, for fear of attracting the dissatisfaction of relatives, he slowly developed a silent and introverted personality.
However, the cold eyes of relatives are still secondary, and the most terrible thing is that the family has also suffered harm.
When her sister Miho Nakayama was in elementary school, she came home from school one day and a stranger claimed to have been entrusted by her mother to pick her up from school. Miho Nakayama thought it was a strange relative again, so she followed her to the car, but she almost got abducted to Tokyo, but fortunately nothing happened later.
Miho Nakayama
This incident gave Miho Nakayama a great stimulus. She simply cut her hair short, began to exercise seriously, and sunburned her whole body to a healthy wheat color, like a little boy.
Her original intention was to protect herself, but she unexpectedly got a huge opportunity, and even indirectly affected her sister Nakayama Shinobi.
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In 1982, 12-year-old Miho Nakayama was accidentally excavated by scouts because of her youthful and healthy "tomboy" image and began to enter the advertising circle.
After working as a part-time model for several years, because of her good appearance, she was favored by the agency and officially debuted as an idol singer.
When he first debuted, he was still relatively dark
In 1988, Miho Nakayama participated in the New Year's "Red and White Song Festival" for the first time (her influence in Japan was comparable to that of the Spring Festival Gala in China), which completely became popular and became a top star in Japan. Later, with the movie "Love Letter", it became popular throughout Asia.
The fiercely competitive Red and White Song Festival
This summer, 15-year-old Nakayama Shinobi sent his sister out to perform at the airport, but he was unexpectedly favored by his fellow producers.
At that time, Fuji TV was filming a youth drama series, and it needed a quiet girl role, and it could not find a suitable candidate. The appearance of Shinobu Nakayama made the producers shine. The pure appearance and shy demeanor are completely in line with the positioning of the character.
Nakayama Shinobi debut
Soon after, the producer personally came to the door to invite.
Miho Nakayama felt that her sister was introverted and not suitable for the complex entertainment industry, and was very resistant at first. But the leader personally came to the door, she was not good at strong refusal, and finally reluctantly agreed to try.
Unexpectedly, Nakayama Shinobu's performance in the play was very wonderful and received unanimous praise. So it officially entered the entertainment circle.
In the next two years, Miho Nakayama disciplined her sister very strictly, hoping that she could copy her path to fame and debut as a singer first.
Therefore, after Shooting the first scene, Nakayama Shinobu turned to an idol singer. He has released several albums and joined a group called "Happy Angel".
At that time, Miho Nakayama was red and purple in Japan, and Nakayama Shinobi, as his sister, received a lot of attention.
But it was also because of too much excessive attention that made her miserable.
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Since his debut, Nakayama has been practicing singing hard. I thought I could catch up with my sister quickly, but I went farther and farther.
Several albums did not sell particularly well, and they were even criticized as "music idiots".
What was even more sad was that she suddenly found that she had been living in the shadow of her sister all along.
In 1991, Nakayama Shinobu participated in a variety show, originally wanting to promote his new work, but the host was talking about Miho Nakayama from beginning to end, and let her constantly imitate her sister. Afterwards, Nakayama learned that there was no such requirement in the original script.
The huge frustration and lack of respect made Nakayama completely collapse. Soon after, Shinobu Nakayama announced that he would end his status as an idol singer and devote himself to the film and television circle.
In the following two years, Nakayama Shinobi took over many small fresh serials, because of its pure and lovely image, gradually began to emerge.
It even caught the attention of a Chinese director and got a rare opportunity.
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In 1994, Jet Li's Zhengdong Pictures prepared to shoot "Jingwu Hero", in order to ensure the quality, he deliberately chose Chen Jiashang, who had directed "Truant Weilong" and "Wu zhuangyuan Su Qi'er", as the director.
The film is remade in Bruce Lee's "Jingwumen", in order to break through the previous work, Chen Jiashang emphasized the literary drama part, not only removing the "extreme" confrontation in the old work, but also introducing two kind Japanese characters.
One is "Fumio Funakoshi" played by Hoshiaki Kurata, and the other is "Mitsuko Yamada" played by Shinobu Nakayama.
Hosaki Kurata is An old-school martial arts star in Hong Kong, which has long been determined.
However, Mitsuko Yamada's candidate is difficult to find, as a key role, not only to look pure and beautiful, but also to have a cold and stubborn temperament, so that the effect is the best.
Finally, under the comparison of many parties, the silent and dignified Nakayama Shinobi was selected to play.
Nakayama shinobi also lost hope, interpreting the profound righteousness of "photons" and youthful cuteness to the extreme. The regret that the two could not be together in the end, and the phrase "I will wait for you in Kyoto" have made countless fans still unforgettable.
After this drama, Zhongshan's popularity in China soared.
Everyone was talking about this pure Japanese girl, and everyone thought that she would stay in China to develop, but she did not expect to disappear and never be seen again.
What is the reason for this?
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At that time, there were rumors that Nakayama Shinobi fell in love because of drama and had a crush on Jet Li. Unfortunately, "the flowers fall intentionally, and the flowing water is merciless" Jet Li is obsessed with Li Zhi, so he politely refuses her love.
Nakayama had to secretly return to Japan and never married, even until now.
This statement seems romantic, but in fact, it is more of a beautiful imagination of the ending of the characters in the play.
The "disappearance" of Nakayama Shinobi has nothing to do with Jet Li, mainly related to movies.
Although "Jingwu Hero" is now regarded as a classic among classics, it was not high at the box office at that time. It was hastily removed after only 15 days of release, and the box office was less than 15 million, ranking only 17th on the annual list. Removing the high production costs, in fact, it did not make much money.
Not only was it a box office flop, but there were also no awards. I thought I could get the Academy Award for Best Action Director, but I lost to Jackie Chan's "Drunken Fist 2".
Liu Jialiang is the action director
At that time, Zhengdong Pictures was founded less than two years ago, and it was the time of life and death, and Jet Li should not have the heart to consider the love of his children.
Compared with Li Zhi's figure, the Kung Fu Emperor obviously liked the style of the imperial sister type, how could he fall in love with the pure love sen maiden who was 10 years younger.
Who would you choose?
The movie was not a success, and the boss had no idea of leaving anyone, so Nakayama had to return to Japan to develop, and there was no contact with Jet Li since then.
Many people regret that she has missed a great opportunity for development. In fact, even if Nakayama Shinobi stays in Hong Kong, she may not be particularly prominent, all of which is related to her personality.
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A year later, Shinobu Nakayama starred in the Japanese blockbuster Gamera: The Great Monster Aerial Showdown.
Don't look at it as a monster movie, in fact, the degree of classicism in Japan is no less than that of "Jingwu Hero". Nakayama Shinobu has played a lot of scenes in it, but it is still amazingly beautiful, and she also won the best supporting actress of the "Blue Ribbon Award" in Japan.
In the same year, her sister Miho Nakayama won the "Blue Ribbon Award" for best actress with "Love Letter".
"Love Letters" Miho Nakayama
The sisters stood on the podium together and were the hottest topic of the year. (The Blue Ribbon Award is one of the most authoritative film awards in Japan.)
This year, Nakayama Shinobi was only 22 years old.
Standing on such a high starting point, ordinary people will definitely take advantage of the chase, but Nakayama Shinobi is unusual and gradually returns to the field of TV dramas.
Nakayama's personality is introverted, likes to be quiet, and has a less utilitarian heart. The film circle is too fast-paced, and the interest struggle behind it is too fierce, making it difficult for her to adapt. Relatively speaking, the pace of TV dramas is slow, which makes people feel more secure.
So in the following decades, she has been deeply involved in the field of television dramas, and even won the title of "new queen of two-hour dramas".
Contrary to the rumors of not marrying and not falling in love, Nakayama Shinobi has talked about love several times, once to the point of talking about marriage, but for various reasons, it has not been realized.
Later, when a person got used to it, she began to enjoy the life of celibacy very much.
Today, the goddess is 48 years old. The years had not left too many marks on her face, still dignified and beautiful, but much more confident.
Everyone has their own way of life, and although it is regrettable to be single at an older age, the life of being alone is not necessarily bleak. As long as you are happy, it is more important than anything.
Bless Nakayama Shinobi and hope that the goddess will get better and better.
References for this article:
1. Southern Entertainment Weekly: Miho Nakayama: Waking Dreams
2. The 25th anniversary of Gamera: Great Monster Aerial Showdown
3. Chinese film box office list - 1994 year