is a female

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

competitive eater Competitive eating, or speed eating, is an activity in which participants compete against each other to eat large quantities of food, usually in a short time period. Contests are typically eight to ten minutes long, although some competitions c ...

and singer. Her popularity has helped produce a resurgence in Japanese competitive eating, or ''ōgui'', after the outcry following the death of a Japanese schoolboy imitating an eating stunt in 2002 resulted in a three-year hiatus for major Japanese eating contests.

Contest history

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

'
"Gluttonous King"
contest held in the fall of 2005, open to both men and women, Sone qualified for the finals and beat out Miyuki Iwata, then considered the leading Japanese female competitive eater after the legendary (and currently inactive)

Takako Akasaka Takako Akasaka ( Japanese: 赤阪尊子 ''Akasaka Takako'' born February 24, 1955) is a Japanese competitive eater from Osaka, Japan. She is considered the most successful female competitive eater in Japan. Akasaka has earned multiple nicknames b ...

, fo
sixth place
by just 6 grams of bread. TV Tokyo followed up its mixed gender contest with
women's only contest
in the spring of 2006 in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. Sone easily won the event and had a comfortable enough lead in the final contest that she could afford to fix her makeup while the contest clock was running. Gal Sone improved to 3rd from 6th in the fall 200
"Gluttonous King"
contest, held in

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

and retained her crown in the spring 200
"Gluttonous Queen"
contest in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. In addition to her "Gluttonous King/Queen" competitions, Sone has made numerous other television appearances, most notably a weekly Wednesday morning contest with "The Giant" Nobuyuki Shirota, runner-up in Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2004. On July 11, 2006, Sone ate 6 kg of curry in 23 minutes (Shirota required 14 minutes) In another telecast, the "Gal" consumed 40,000 calories in several restaurants. In a recent program, Gal Sone attempted in a single meal to exceed the 15,000 calories that it is claimed that

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

consumed every day near the end of his life. When an

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

was performed on her stomach, it appeared to be normal size, but its connection to the small intestine was larger than normal. Gal Sone has appeared in a commercial for Aoki's Pizza, who created
mayonnaise pizza
in her honor. Mayonnaise sauce is her favourite sauce.

Music career

Sone appeared in two

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

television programs in late 2006. On one show, she ate sushi quickly during an instrumental section of her song. On April 24, 2007, it was announced that Sone would form a singing group directed by

Tsunku , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer, record producer, and songwriter. He is the lead singer of the rock band Sharam Q. As a songwriter, Tsunku is the primary producer for Morning Musume and other Hello! Project acts, such as Coconut ...

named Gyaruru with Nozomi Tsuji and

Ami Tokito is a Japanese female pop singer and gravure idol. She made her debut in 2005 Miss ''Young Jump'', winning Tsunku's honorable award. She started acting as a child actress using her former stage names, Sachie Komatsu and Hikaru Asakura. She feat ...

. On May 14, 2007, after Tsuji's resignation from the band,

Asami Abe is a former Japanese singer and actress, also known as the younger sister of Japanese singer and actress Natsumi Abe. She started her career doing commercials for Nintendo Puzzle Collection, and she has also appeared in a few TV dramas. Biograp ...

joined in her place
Their first single
, was released on June 20, 2007 on Japanese independent label TN-mix through

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affiliate ...

. Sone's nickname in Gyaruru is Sonene.

References

External links

Gal Sone's blogWired.com profile by Lisa Katayamagal's official friendster profileEatFeats (competitive eating) blog Natsuko "Gal" Sone categoryarticle about Sone's victory in a Hokkaidō seafood eating contest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sone, Gal 1985 births Japanese competitive eaters Living people People from Kyoto Prefecture 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers