From an early age, she was influenced by her parents' liking for classic musical films, such as The Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden, The Little Prince, and Breakfast at Tiffany's.
[4][5] In junior high school, Teshima found herself moved by Bette Midler's 1979 song, The Rose, her amateur cover of which became the trigger of her debut as a singer.
[7] The Studio Ghibli music producer, Toshio Suzuki, was reportedly very impressed when he listened to her demo version of “The Rose” at the recommendation of Miyazaki.
[citation needed] In 2011, she once again collaborated with Gorō Miyazaki on his second feature, From up on Poppy Hill (2011), singing “Summer of Goodbye”, the main theme of the movie and other songs in the film, as well as voicing the character Yuko.
[12] On February 10, 2016, she released the first single from her 10th album, Ren'dez-vous, titled “Letter to Tomorrow (明日への手紙, Asu e no Tegami)”.