One of her claims to fame is the ability to cover 5 octaves when singing, something she puts to good use in her songs. After that, she gave herself the name 'MISIA', a combination of 'Misaki' and 'Asia.' (or 'Messiah' and/or 'Asia').
She first appeared in 1998 after being spotted at an BMG Japan audition in '97. During high school, she began training with some African-American vocal coaches in gospel and R&B such as Frank Toddy Winfrey, who was her vocal coach from 1994 to 1997. She started voice training at the age of 15. The Fukuoka music scene is usually associated with rock acts such as Sheena and the Rokkets, Number Girl and Shiina Ringo, but it was gospel and R&B music that influenced her. Misia was born on July 7, 1978, and grew up on the island of Tsushima in Nagasaki Prefecture, but moved to Fukuoka at the age of 14 to pursue a music career.
