Mitski Miyawaki was born Mitsuki Laycock[1] on September 27, 1990 in Japan to an American father and a Japanese mother.[2] While growing up she moved frequently due to her father's job at the United States Department of State, living in many countries, including Turkey, China, Malaysia, Japan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, before eventually settling in the United States.[3][4][5][6] Mitski says she was eighteen when she wrote her first song.[7] She stated that she liked to create different personas for each new school she moved to, as she only stayed for around a year at a time.