Hideki Fujisawa
(born October 12, 1963) is a Japanese musician, better known by the stage name . Dance☆Man calls himself an alien from "Mirror Ball Planet". He is always seen wearing a huge afro wig and sideburns, matched with sunglasses. He is very secretive about his identity to the public, and does not release any personal information in his CDs or his official website. Fujisawa is currently signed to independent record label In Da Groove, distributed by Nippon Columbia. Career Fujisawa went to Dokkyou University, a private college in Saitama prefecture, majoring in economics but eventually dropped out before he could graduate. During his stay in the university, he joined a band called JADOES. The band became official in 1986, when Kadomatsu Toshiki became their record producer. The band's drummer, Yukio Shimamura, did some roadshows with band Casiopea, inspiring Fujisawa to do some roadshows himself. He started his own career in 1998, calling himself as a space alien from "Planet Mirr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Japanese People
The are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago."人類学上は,旧石器時代あるいは縄文時代以来,現在の北海道〜沖縄諸島(南西諸島)に住んだ集団を祖先にもつ人々。" () Japanese people constitute 97.9% of the population of the country of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 129 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 122.5 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live outside Japan are referred to as , the Japanese diaspora. Depending on the context, the term may be limited or not to mainland Japanese people, specifically the Yamato (as opposed to Ryukyuan and Ainu people). Japanese people are one of the largest ethnic groups in the world. In recent decades, there has also been an increase in the number of multiracial people with both Japanese and non-Japanese roots, including half Japanese people. History Theories of origins Archaeological evidence ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Love Machine (Morning Musume Song)
is Morning Musume's 7th single, released on September 9, 1999 as an 8 cm CD. It sold a total of 1,646,630 copies, making it a massive hit (a #1 single in Japan) and their highest selling single. In 2004, it was re-released as part of the Early Single Box and again in 2005 as a 12 cm CD. The single also marked the debut of the "Third Generation" member Maki Goto and the departure of Aya Ishiguro. Packaging The original 8 cm CD release was housed in a J-card-type 12 cm slimline single case instead of the then-industry CD snap-pack packaging. The case used was 7 mm thick, showing artwork through the front, and also through the spine and part of the back of the case. The CD itself was inserted upside-down, allowing the artwork on the disc itself to show through the transparent back of the case. This is one of only two 8 cm CD singles released by Morning Musume to adhere this packaging (the other being their eighth single '' Koi no Dance Site'' (2000)). ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hiroko Anzai
(born February 9, 1979, in Kanagawa, Japan) is a Japanese actress, model and gravure idol, who has appeared in various magazines and photo albums. Her first photo album was released in 1996 and titled ''Mystic''. Fuji TV selected Hiroko as its Visual Queen of 1998. She has body measurements of 89-62-90 cm, and stands 1.57 m tall. Life and career After graduating from junior high school in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Anzai moved to Tokyo to attend Tsurukawa High School. Since the school does not allow students to appear in television commercials, however she left Tsurukawa to attend North Toshima High School, where she completed her studies. In 1996 Anzai made her show business debut as a gravure idol, despite being one year short of the Japanese age of majority. For this reason, she actually attended the coming of age ceremony twice. Several years later she confessed to having lied about her age during an appearance on the Japanese television variety program Downtown DX. Ho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Seiko Matsuda
, known professionally as , is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter, known for being one of the most popular Japanese idols of the 1980s. Since then, she is still actively releasing new singles and albums, doing annual summer concert tours, winter dinner shows, high-profile TV commercials and movies, and makes frequent TV appearances and radio broadcasts. Due to her popularity in the 1980s and her long career, she has been dubbed the "Eternal Idol" by the Japanese media. In January 2011, the Japanese music television program Music Station listed her as the 2nd best-selling idol of all time in Japan, with 29,510,000 records sold. She placed right behind pop group SMAP and ahead of Akina Nakamori, her biggest rival from the 1980s, who was listed in third place. In 2016, however, Ian Martin of ''The Japan Times'' compared her output unfavorably with that of Hikaru Utada, describing Matsuda as "first and foremost an idol rather than an artist. Her legacy is best expressed in single ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Arisa Mizuki
is a Japanese actress, singer, and model. Mizuki is represented by the talent agency Vision Factory. Born in Nerima, Tokyo to Japanese-American parents, Mizuki began modelling for magazines and appearing in commercials at the age of four. On March 21, 2015, she announced that she married Koji Aoyama, a president of a construction company. History She become a child model in 1980 and first appeared in television series in 1983, but made her official acting debut in 1991, in the Fuji TV drama ''Mō Dare mo Aisanai''. In 1992, Mizuki landed her first leading role in the Fuji TV drama ''Hōkago''. She later starred in the popular series ''Nurse no Oshigoto'', which, after producing four seasons, was also made into a film, ''Nurse no Oshigoto: The Movie'' (2002). Mizuki won the Japan Academy Award for Best Newcomer for her performance in ''Chō Shōjo Reiko'' (1991) and later earned a Japan Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her role in ''Bokunchi'' (2003). In May 1991 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sharan Q
was a Japanese rock band composed of lead singer , on guitar, on drums and on keyboards. Biography They debuted with in 1992. They were not an instant hit initially, but their fourth single broke the top 50 of the Oricon charts. Eventually, the single got a lot of attention since it was used in the DNA^2 anime series, breaking into the top 10. The next single , also broke into the top 10. "Zurui Onna" is the 84th best-selling single in Japan of all-time. Their 11th single, , topped the charts in 1996. In 1997, the band held an audition on the evening show ''ASAYAN'' to find a new female vocalist. While the audition eventually yielded winner Michiyo Heike, the competition would be the impetus for the formation of Morning Musume. Runners-up Yuko Nakazawa, Natsumi Abe, Kaori Iida, Aya Ishiguro, and Asuka Fukuda took up Tsunku's offer after the competition to form a group he would personally produce if they could sell 50,000 copies of their debut independent single ''A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Atomic Kitten
Atomic Kitten is an English girl group formed in Liverpool in 1998, whose current members are Liz McClarnon, Jenny Frost and Natasha Hamilton. The group was founded by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) members Andy McCluskey and Stuart Kershaw, who served as principal songwriters during Atomic Kitten's early years. The group's debut album '' Right Now'' was released in October 2000 and charted at number 39 in the United Kingdom. After five top ten singles, original member Kerry Katona quit – four weeks before " Whole Again" reached number one in the UK Singles Chart – and was replaced by former Precious singer Jenny Frost. "Whole Again" became the group's most successful single, staying at number one for four weeks in the UK and six weeks in Germany, and reaching number one in many other territories; in Britain, it was the 13th best-selling single of the 2000s. The group re-released their debut album, with some tracks re-recorded with Frost's vocals: it peaked at num ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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BeForU
BeForU were a Japanese pop group that performed music primarily for the Bemani series of rhythm games. Their 2000 debut song "Dive" was particularly notable as being the first Japanese-language pop song in the '' Dance Dance Revolution'' series. BeForU was produced by Naoki Maeda, one of the lead Konami musical producers. In 2006, the group made their major label debut under Avex Trax. Biography The first generation BeForU formed via a competition held on November 20, 2000, for a new J-pop group singing for Konami and their bemani series of video games, namely Dance Dance Revolution. The four winners chosen for their talent, ability and emphasis were Riyu Kosaka (then aged 15; born January 17, 1985), Noria Shiraishi (then aged 19; born September 12, 1981), Yoma Komatsu (then aged 26; born December 30, 1974) and Shiyuna Maehara (then aged 21; born November 30, 1979). Their first single "Dive", promoted widely throughout the J-Pop community, appeared in the 2001 French film ''W ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Beatmania
(styled as ''beatmania'') is a rhythm video game developed and distributed by Japanese game developer Konami and first released in December 1997. It contributed largely to the boom of music games in 1998, and the series expanded not only with arcade sequels, but also moved to home consoles and other portable devices, achieving a million unit sales. The Bemani line of music games from Konami is named after the series, was first adopted in the arcade release of ''Beatmania 3rdMix'' and kept ever since. The series came to an end with the last game being ''Beatmania The Final'', released in 2002. ''Beatmania'' gave birth to several spinoffs, such as the ''Beatmania IIDX'' series (a more advanced version featuring 7 keys and higher difficulty levels, and to this day still receiving new version updates) and the other being ''Beatmania III'', a remake of the 5-key series which featured a more modern hardware platform, a pedal for optional effects and a 3.5" floppy disk drive to save ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Konami
, is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casinos around the world and operates health and physical fitness clubs across Japan. Konami's video game franchises include '' Metal Gear'', ''Silent Hill'', '' Castlevania'', ''Contra'', ''Frogger'', '' Tokimeki Memorial'', ''Parodius'', ''Gradius'', ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'', '' Suikoden'', and '' Pro Evolution Soccer''. Additionally Konami owns Bemani, known for ''Dance Dance Revolution'' and ''Beatmania'', as well as the assets of former game developer Hudson Soft, known for ''Bomberman'', '' Adventure Island'', '' Bonk'' and ''Star Soldier''. Konami is the nineteenth-largest game company in the world by revenue. Konami also publishes the ''Yu-Gi-Oh'' Trading Card Game. The company originated in 1969 as a jukebox rental and repair business in Toyo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Bandman
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun ''thee'') when followed by a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kōhaku Uta Gassen
, more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK network and by some overseas (mainly cable) broadcasters who buy the program. The show ends shortly before midnight. Before the show began broadcasting on television in late 1953, the show was held on 3 January and only consisted of a radio broadcast. The program divides the most popular music artists of the year into competing teams of red and white. The "red" team or is composed of all female artists (or groups with female vocals), while the "white" team or is all male (or groups with male vocals). At the end of the show, judges and the audience vote to decide which group performed better. The honor of performing on ''Kōhaku'' is strictly by invitation, so only the most successful singing acts in the Japanese entertainment industry can p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |