Mifu Ashida (芦田美歩, Ashida Mifu) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to the Japanese promotion Tokyo…Mifu Ashida (芦田美歩, Ashida Mifu) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to the Japanese promotion Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling. She is previously known for her tenure with Ice Ribbon where she is a former International Ribbon Tag Team Champion.
Ryōsuke Moriwaki (森脇 亮介, Moriwaki Ryōsuke; born July 13, 1992 in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, Japan) is a professional Japanese…Ryōsuke Moriwaki (森脇 亮介, Moriwaki Ryōsuke; born July 13, 1992 in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, Japan) is a professional Japanese baseball player. He plays pitcher for the Saitama Seibu Lions.
Kazuki Yoshimi (吉見 一起, Yoshimi Kazuki; born September 19, 1984) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. As…Kazuki Yoshimi (吉見 一起, Yoshimi Kazuki; born September 19, 1984) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. As a player, Yoshimi spent his entire 15-year career in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) with the Chunichi Dragons.
Kōji Wada (和田 光司, Wada Kōji; January 29, 1974 – April 3, 2016) was a Japanese pop singer. He was best known for…Kōji Wada (和田 光司, Wada Kōji; January 29, 1974 – April 3, 2016) was a Japanese pop singer. He was best known for performing theme songs for several installments of the Digimon anime television series, including his recording debut in 1999 with his first and most famous single, "Butter-Fly", the theme song of the anime Digimon Adventure. He was signed with the Lantis recording label. His nickname is "Immortal Butterfly Anisong Singer" (不死蝶のアニソンシンガー).
Yuko Nakazawa (中澤 裕子, Nakazawa Yūko; born June 19, 1973) is a Japanese pop and enka singer, and actress, best known as…Yuko Nakazawa (中澤 裕子, Nakazawa Yūko; born June 19, 1973) is a Japanese pop and enka singer, and actress, best known as one of the original members of the all-female J-pop group Morning Musume. She is also a member of Japanese pop group Dream Morning Musume.
Kenta Kobashi (小橋 健太, Kobashi Kenta; ring name: 小橋 建太) (born, March 27, 1967) is a Japanese professional wrestling…Kenta Kobashi (小橋 健太, Kobashi Kenta; ring name: 小橋 建太) (born, March 27, 1967) is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired wrestler. Broadly referred to by the nickname "Tetsujin" (鉄人; Iron Man), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. He is best known for his two runs in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah, of which he captured AJPW's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship thrice, and Noah's GHC Heavyweight Championship once. He is the winner of numerous Match of the Year and Wrestler of the Year awards, including from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) and Tokyo Sports. Kobashi started his wrestling career in AJPW in 1987, debuting the next year and becoming the star rookie of the promotion. Booked as a resilient jobber by AJPW founder Giant Baba, he became a key major figure in the shift between old wrestlers to younger ones in the turn of the Super World of Sports exodus. In 1993, he was officially dubbed as one of the members of the Four Heavenly Kings (プロレスの四天王, Puroresu no shiten'nō; also called the Four Pillars of Heaven) of AJPW, alongside Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, and Akira Taue. He became renowned for his matches and rivalries with gaijin (foreign) wrestlers and fellow Japanese wrestlers alike. He became a widely successful tag wrestler, teaming with Misawa, the AJPW ace, as part of the Super Generation Army (超世代軍, Chou Sedai-gun), and becoming a noted combatant in some of the most highly acclaimed tag team wrestling matches of the 1990s. He became successful as a singles wrestling star later on, usually by his determination and performance in highly acclaimed matches, usually for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship or in the Champion Carnival tournament. His matches with his fellow Kings, as well as the likes of Steve Williams, Stan Hansen, Burning stable-mate and tag partner Jun Akiyama, and Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy, are held in high regard and praise, especially those against the Kings and Hansen. As a top singles wrestler in AJPW, he qualified for the 1997 and 1999 Champion Carnival finals, and won the 2000 tournament. Kobashi was part of the dissenting crew who would take part in the second exodus of All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2000, which led to the creation of the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion, and would later continue to work as a wrestler for the promotion for thirteen years. He notably concluded the inter-promotional rivalry with Misawa in Noah, winning the GHC Heavyweight Championship from him on March 1, 2003. He went on to have the longest singular reign for the championship of all time, holding it for 735 days, losing it to Takeshi Rikio on March 5, 2005. In that reign, he had defended the title thirteen times (the second most ever behind Takashi Sugiura, who had one more than Kobashi), and had sold out each of the Noah-affiliated shows that had him defend his title. Kobashi spent many of the later years of his career sidelined due to various injuries. He underwent numerous surgeries on his arms and legs in the early-mid 2000s before retiring from in-ring action in May 2013. Kobashi continues to make sporadic appearances in Noah, as well as DDT Pro-Wrestling, whilst also promoting his own shows under the Fortune Dream banner.
Tetsuo Asano (浅野哲夫 (Asano Tetsuo), born 1949 in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese computer scientist, the…Tetsuo Asano (浅野哲夫 (Asano Tetsuo), born 1949 in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese computer scientist, the president of the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. His main research interest is in computational geometry.
Yūji Aoki (Japanese: 青木 雄二, Hepburn: Aoki Yūji; June 9, 1945 – September 5, 2003) was a Japanese manga artist and…Yūji Aoki (Japanese: 青木 雄二, Hepburn: Aoki Yūji; June 9, 1945 – September 5, 2003) was a Japanese manga artist and essayist born in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, Japan. He is best known for his 1990 debut manga Naniwa Kin'yūdō (ナニワ金融道; literally The Way of Osaka Financing, colloquially translated as The Way of the Osaka Loan Shark), for which he won the 1992 Kodansha Manga Award for general manga and the 1998 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Award for Excellence. Takahiro Kochi was his assistant.
Sadakazu Tanigaki (谷垣 禎一, Tanigaki Sadakazu; born 7 March 1945) is a Japanese politician who served as a member of the…Sadakazu Tanigaki (谷垣 禎一, Tanigaki Sadakazu; born 7 March 1945) is a Japanese politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1983 to 2017, as Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2006, as President of the Liberal Democratic Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2009 to 2012, as Minister of Justice from 2012 to 2014, and as LDP Secretary-General from 2014 to 2016. He was only the second LDP leader who was not simultaneously Prime Minister of Japan. He retired from politics following a spinal cord injury in 2016 that saw him using a wheelchair.
Osamu Shimomura (下村 脩, Shimomura Osamu; August 27, 1928 – October 19, 2018) was a Japanese organic chemist and marine…Osamu Shimomura (下村 脩, Shimomura Osamu; August 27, 1928 – October 19, 2018) was a Japanese organic chemist and marine biologist, and professor emeritus at Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and Boston University School of Medicine. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2008 for the discovery and development of green fluorescent protein (GFP) with two American scientists: Martin Chalfie of Columbia University and Roger Tsien of the University of California-San Diego.
Nao Deguchi (出口 なお) (January 22, 1837 – November 16, 1918) was a Japanese religious leader who founded the Oomoto…Nao Deguchi (出口 なお) (January 22, 1837 – November 16, 1918) was a Japanese religious leader who founded the Oomoto religion together with Onisaburo Deguchi. The origins of Oomoto began when she was possessed by a spirit called Ushitora no Konjin in 1892. Even though she was illiterate, she wrote 200,000 pages of prophesies while possessed. While Nao Deguchi is the Foundress (開祖, Kaiso) of Oomoto, Onisaburo Deguchi is the Holy Teacher (聖師, Seishi).
Yurika Nakamura (中村 友梨香, Nakamura Yurika) (born 1 April 1986 in Fukuchiyama) is a Japanese long-distance runner.…Yurika Nakamura (中村 友梨香, Nakamura Yurika) (born 1 April 1986 in Fukuchiyama) is a Japanese long-distance runner. Nakamura grew up in the Hyōgo Prefecture. She finished seventh at the 2006 World Road Running Championships, helping the Japanese team win the bronze medal in the team competition. In 2008, she won the Nagoya Marathon in her marathon debut. In the 2008 Summer Olympics marathon, she finished 13th. She won the 2009 Sapporo Half Marathon title with a time of 1:09:20.
