Meiko Nakahara

Meiko Obara known publicly as Meiko Nakahara,, is a Japanese former singer and composer. Active from 1982-1992, she was known for her music in the city pop genre. She also created the opening and closing songs for the Dirty Pair and Kimagure Orange Road anime televion series.

Early life and career

Akika Obara was born on May 8, 1959 in Chiba Prefecture. She began composing music while in Junior High School.
She debuted in 1982 with the single Kon'ya dake Dance Dance Dance and the album Coconuts House. Her 1984 single Kimitachi Kiwi Papaya Mango dane was the 50th best-selling single of the year in Japan, with 237,000 copies sold. She became instantly popular.
Her song Ru-Ru-Ru-Russian Roulette was the opening theme and Uchū Ren'ai was the ending theme for the 1985 anime television series Dirty Pair. Ru-Ru-Ru-Russian Roulette won the award for Best Song at the 8th Anime Grand Prix in 1986. For the 1987–1988 anime television series Kimagure Orange Road, Kagami no Naka no Actress was the third opening theme song and Dance in the Memories was the third ending song.
The 1992 live tour was the last public performance from her and her singing career is considered to have ended around this time.

Later career and Legacy

After ceasing her singing career, Nakahara worked as a composer for groups and singers like Checkicco and Vivian Hsu. She has mostly faded out of public eye since 1992. A tribute band to her called Lotos was formed in 2010 and was still active as of 2019. In an article for Sankei Shimbun, Nakahara was recognized as a significant artist in the city pop genre.