中山美穗在1985年被星探发掘，凭借一部叫《惊动您了》的电视剧进入演艺圈。本着当时的偶像“演中山美穗而优则唱”的原则。同年6月，她发行了单曲《C》，开始了偶像歌星的生活。1986年的《水手服反叛同盟》和1987年的《偶像妈妈》令美穗成为当时红极一时的偶像，唱片销量也一路长红，而她更凭端正、美丽的相貌多次当选为“最美丽的偶像”。

Miho Nakayama (中山 美穂, Nakayama Miho, born 1 March 1970) is a Japanese singer and actress. She is affiliated with Big Apple Co., Ltd.[3][4] Nakayama is nicknamed Miporin (ミポリン), and sometimes uses the pseudonyms Mizuho Kitayama (北山 瑞穂, Kitayama Mizuho) or Issaque (一咲(いっさく), Issaku) when she writes the lyrics. Nakayama made her debut on 21 June 1985 with her single "C", as well as a starring role in the film Be-Bop High School. Throughout her career as a singer and actress, Nakayama recorded 22 studio albums and scored eight No. 1 singles on Oricon's charts; two of them selling over a million copies each. In 1995, director Shunji Iwai cast Nakayama in the starring dual roles of Hiroko Watanabe and Itsuki Fujii in the film Love Letter. The film was a huge box-office success, and Nakayama won Best Actress awards for her role in the film at the 38th Blue Ribbon Awards, the 17th Yokohama Film Festival[8] and the 18th Hochi Film Awards. Nakayama was nominated for a Best Actress Japanese Academy Award in 1998 for her role in Tokyo Biyori, and has appeared in a number of TV series including Love Story (2001).