is a Japanese media personality, singer, actress, voice actress, illustrator,

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

, and cosplayer. Also known by her nickname , she is best known as the presenter of '' Pokémon Sunday'', and as the performer of the opening theme from the anime ''

Gurren Lagann ''Gurren Lagann'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese mecha anime television series animated by Gainax and co-produced by Aniplex and Konami. It ran for 27 episodes on TV Tokyo between April and September 2007. It was directed by Hiroyu ...

''.

Biography

Born and raised in Tokyo metropolitan area to her father, Katsuhiko Nakagawa, actor and musician, and her mother Keiko Nakagawa, a great-granddaughter of Kazutaka Ito, who is known for introducing and promoting the salmon and trout hatchery business. Her father died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

on September 17, 1994 when she was 9. Nakagawa found escape from bullies by connecting with ''Pokémon'' when she was in 5th grade. "When I was a kid, I didn't have friends, but I did have ''Pokémon''." In the 2006 book , she wrote that her legal name was rather than , which she had been using for most of her life. At the time of her birth, she and her mother had to remain in the hospital, and her maternal aunt was left with registering her in the ''

koseki A or family register is a Japanese family register, family registry. Japanese law requires all Japanese households to make notifications of their vital records (such as births, adoptions, deaths, marriages and divorces) to their local Municipa ...

''. Her mother's intended name of was declined due to not being included in the list of

jōyō kanji The are those kanji listed on the , officially announced by the Japanese Ministry of Education. The current List of jōyō kanji, list of 2,136 characters was issued in 2010. It is a slightly modified version of the tōyō kanji, kanji, which ...

jinmeiyō kanji The are a set of 863 Chinese characters known as "name kanji" in English. They are a supplementary list of characters that can legally be used in registered personal names in Japan, despite not being in the official list of "commonly used char ...

that are approved for use in Japanese names. The aunt wrote in hiragana instead, but because she wrote very quickly, the small '' yo'' appeared larger than intended and the name was recorded as .

Career

She made her entertainment debut in 2001, winning the Grand Prix award at the Popolo Girl Audition and representing

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...

talent agency. Later, on the "Yume-Ga-Oka Residence" programme on

SKY PerfecTV! is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television, audio programming and interactive television services to households in Japan, owned by parent company SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation. SKY PerfecTV! is also a dire ...

, she was given Jackie Chan's photobook by Midorikawa Shobō, who were guests on the show. She commented "I thought he was an enemy of

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

's", apparently referring to ''

Enter the Dragon ''Enter the Dragon'' ( zh, t=龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Ahna Capri, Bob Wall, Shih Kien and Jim Kelly. ''Enter the Dragon'' was ...

''. In 2002, she was chosen as Miss Shōnen Magazine. Her official blog, ''Shokotan * Blog'', opened in 2004, and by April 2006 it had received a total of 100 million hits. On February 2, 2008, the daily Japanese newspaper ''

Mainichi Shimbun The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English-language news website called , and publishes a bilin ...

'' reported that her blog had been accessed 1 billion times. In 2004, she made a guest appearance in the 38th episode of ''

Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger is a Japanese Tokusatsu television show and the twenty-eighth production of the ''Super Sentai'' Media franchise, metaseries produced by Toei Company, Toei. It aired from February 15, 2004, to February 6, 2005, replacing ''Bakuryū Sentai Abara ...

'', after having previously appeared as a child in '' Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman''. She later appeared with Katsumura on '' Men B''. She appeared in a brief section of " Kangaeru Hito" ("People who think") on the

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

network in 2004 as an illustrator, after which she appeared regularly on the later version of the programme which started with minor changes in early 2005, "Kangaeru Hitokoma" ("Thinking about one frame f a cartoon strip). On the

show ''Kangaeru Hitokoma'', on which she is an occasional guest, she drew in the style of Kazuo Umezu. For one year starting in May 2005, Nakagawa appeared as a regular on the TBS programme " Ōsama no Brunch". In July 2006, she released her debut single "Brilliant Dream". It entered the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

chart at number 29, with initial sales of 6313 copies. Nakagawa performed at Anime Expo 2008 at the

Los Angeles Convention Center The Los Angeles Convention Center is a convention center located in the southwest section of Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. It hosts multiple annual conventions and has often been used as a filming locat ...

. Some of her work was shown on May 11, edition of '' Downtown Deluxe'' on

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

network, Nakagawa was a member of the judging panel in the "Jump Damashii" section of the

Shūeisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

publication

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump (magazine line), Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many Action (fiction), action scenes and a fair ...

, starting from Jump number 13 of 2006. On May 30, 2006, airing of '' Kasupe!'', in the section entitled , "Fuji Bank Celebrity Evaluator", it was discovered that she liked the manga '' Kachō Shima Kōsaku'', eliciting a comment from the host, Sayaka Aoki, that she had pretty "grown-up tastes". In 2009, she opened a store called "mmts" with the theme of her hobby in Nakano Broadway. In 2009–2010, she appeared in a series of commercials for Norton AntiVirus. In March 2014, Nakagawa's book of autobiographical essays, ''Neko no Ashiato'' ("Cats' Pawprints"), was published by Magazine House. In March 2015, the book was adapted as an anime series titled ''Omakase Mamitasu'' ("Leave It to Mamitasu") on

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

, which featured characters based on Nakagawa's cat and her late father and grandfather. In 2018, Nakagawa returned to Anime Expo to perform as part of Anisong World Matsuri. In 2019, Nakagawa performed the song with Sachiko Kobayashi, which was used as the theme song to the theatrical film '' Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution''; it is a cover of a song originally performed by Kobayashi, which was used as the theme song to the 1998 film '' Pokémon: The First Movie''. In 2020 following the temporary loss of work due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

was a turning point, and she started distributing videos on YouTube, separate from the channel that distributes music videos set up by the office. Since then, her blog has hardly been updated. In 2021, she posted her swimsuit video on YouTube, and she became very popular with over 10 million views in two months. In October 2023, Nakagawa released the single "65535", the title song of which was used as the opening theme to the anime series '' 16bit Sensation: Another Layer''. The following day, she announced that she legally changed her name to be the same as her stage name.

Personal life

On April 28, 2023, Nakagawa announced her marriage to a non-celebrity. On May 5, 2025, on her 40th birthday, Nakagawa announced that she was pregnant with her first child. She also announced the establishment of her own agency, "miracle." She will have a business partnership with Watanabe Entertainment.

Filmography

TV

* ''AX MUSIC-TV 00'' (2003–2004) * (2006–2010) * (2004) as Falupian Yaako (guest appearance) Episode 38 * (2006) * (2007) * (2007) * (2007–2012) * (2007–2010) * (2008) * (2009) * (2010–2013) * (2013–2015) * (2014) as Okita * (2015) * (2015–present) * (2016) * (2017) * (2017)

Films

* '' Kabuto-O Beetle'' (2005) * ''Umezu Kazuo: Kyofu Gekijo – Zesshoku'' (2005) * ''Koala Kacho / Executive Koala'' (2005) * '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006) * ''

X-Cross is a 2007 Japanese action horror film directed by Kenta Fukasaku, based on the novel by Nobuyuki Jōkō. The film stars Nao Matsushita, Ami Suzuki, Shoko Nakagawa, Maju Ozawa, and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi. Plot Recovering from a failed love affair, S ...

'' (2007) * '' Gothic Lolita Battle Bear'' (2013)

Stageplays

* ''Maybe Happy Ending'' (2020)

Anime

Pokémon films

*Nakagawa also has voiced characters in every ''

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

'' movie since 2007 (except '' Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened'' and '' Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution''):

Video games

* '' Dragon Quest Heroes'' (2015) – Alena * '' Dragon Quest Heroes II'' (2016) – Alena * '' Toukiden 2'' (2016) – Gwen * ''Itadaki Street: Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary'' (2017) – Alena * ''

Kingdom Hearts III is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, and Nintendo Switch. It is the third main installment in the '' Kingdom Hearts'' series and the twelfth game overall, and ser ...

'' (2019) –

Rapunzel "Rapunzel" ( ; ; or ) is a German fairy tale most notably recorded by the Brothers Grimm and it was published in 1812 as part of '' Children's and Household Tales'' (KHM 12). The Grimms' story was developed from the French literary fairy tale ...

Japanese dub

Live-action

Moon Geun-young Moon Geun-young (; born May 6, 1987) is a South Korean actress. Affectionately called the "Nation's Little Sister", Moon began modeling at the age of 10, then made her acting debut in 1999 as a child actress. She first rose to stardom through h ...

**'' Innocent Steps'' – Jang Chae-min **'' My Little Bride'' – Bo-eun * ''

Silent Hill is a horror media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four main games—'' Silent Hill'', '' Silent Hill 2'', '' Silent Hill 3'', and '' Silent Hill 4: The ...

'' (2006) – Alessa Gillespie (voice-over for

Jodelle Ferland Jodelle Micah Ferland (born October 9, 1994) is a Canadian actress. She debuted as a child actress at the age of six in the television film ''Mermaid'' (2000) for which she won a Young Artist Award and received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination, ...

) * '' Transformers: Age of Extinction'' (2014) – Tessa Yeager (voice-over for Nicola Peltz) * '' Ra.One'' (2015) – Desi/Dawsal (voice-over for

Priyanka Chopra Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is India's highest-paid actress and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awards and fiv ...

) * ''

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

'' (2018) – Anne Weying (voice-over for

Michelle Williams Michelle Williams or Michele Williams may refer to: * Michelle Ann Williams (born circa 1965), American public health scholar * Michelle Williams (singer) (born 1979), American singer, previously a member of Destiny's Child * Michelle Williams (actr ...

) * '' Venom: Let There Be Carnage'' (2021) – Anne Weying (voice-over for Michelle Williams)

Animation

* '' Tangled The Series'' (2017–2020) –

* ''

Tangled ''Tangled'' is a 2010 American animated musical film, musical Adventure film, adventure fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Loosely based on the German fairy tale "Rapunzel" in th ...

'' (2010) –

* ''

Ralph Breaks the Internet ''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' is a 2018 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It is the sequel to the 2012 film ''Wreck-It Ralph''. The film was directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston (filmmaker), Phil Joh ...

'' (2018) – Rapunzel *'' Puss in Boots: The Last Wish'' (2023) –

Goldilocks "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an impudent old woman who enters the forest home of three anthropomorphic bachelor bears while th ...

Discography

Shoko Nakagawa is signed to Sony Japan.

Singles

Collaboration Singles

Cover albums

Mini albums

Best albums

Albums

Other songs

*"Moeyo Giza Mimi Pichū!" (Ending for '' Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl'') *"Dori Dori" (Ending for '' Pokémon the Series: XY'') *"Kaze to isshu ni" (Ending for '' Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution'') *"Taipu: Wairudo" (Ending for '' Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon'')

Printed media

Photobooks

Blogs

References

External links

*
Watanabe Entertainment profile

Official website of Shoko Nakagawa's label

Shoko Nakagawa's brand

Shoko Nakagawa's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakagawa, Shoko 1985 births Living people Actresses from Tokyo Japanese bloggers Japanese women television personalities Japanese women pop singers Japanese women rock singers Japanese idols Japanese gravure models Japanese film actresses Japanese lyricists Japanese television actresses Japanese video game actresses Japanese voice actresses Mandarin-language singers of Japan People from Nakano, Tokyo Cosplayers Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Singers from Tokyo Anime singers Pokémon Japanese women bloggers Watanabe Entertainment 20th-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers