Kosei Fujita (Japanese: 藤田 晃生, Fujita Kosei; born July 14, 2002) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to…Kosei Fujita (Japanese: 藤田 晃生, Fujita Kosei; born July 14, 2002) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of The Mighty Don't Kneel stable. He is a three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and the winner of the 32nd Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
Kosei Yamada (山田洸誓; born 4 November 1992) is a retired Japanese kickboxer, who spent his entire professional career…Kosei Yamada (山田洸誓; born 4 November 1992) is a retired Japanese kickboxer, who spent his entire professional career competing in the super lightweight division of RISE. He held the RISE Super Lightweight Championship from 2019 until 2022. Between July and December 2021, he was ranked as a top ten featherweight kickboxer by Combat Press. He re-entered the rankings at #10 in April 2022, and remained ranked until July 2022.
Yuzuki Aikawa (愛川 ゆず季, Aikawa Yuzuki; born May 16, 1983) is a Japanese gravure idol and retired professional wrestler.…Yuzuki Aikawa (愛川 ゆず季, Aikawa Yuzuki; born May 16, 1983) is a Japanese gravure idol and retired professional wrestler. Starting her modeling career in 2003, Aikawa went on to become one of Japan's top gravure idols, earning the nickname "The Gravure Queen of the Next Generation" by appearing in various men's magazines, advertising campaigns, films, television programs and video games. In 2010, Aikawa transitioned into professional wrestling, joining the newly founded World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion, becoming its public face and the inaugural holder of the Wonder of Stardom and Goddesses of Stardom Championships. Aikawa's first year in professional wrestling ended with the Tokyo Sports magazine naming her the 2011 female wrestler of the year. A year later, having successfully defended the Wonder of Stardom Championship throughout the year, while also winning the inaugural 5Star Grand Prix, Aikawa became the first wrestler to win the award two times in a row. Aikawa also produced six of her own independent wrestling events under the banner of Yuzupon Matsuri, in the vein of her trainer Fuka Kakimoto's old Fuka Matsuri events. Aikawa retired from professional wrestling on April 29, 2013. She was never defeated for either of her championships, being stripped of the Goddesses of Stardom Championship in October 2012, after her partner Yoko Bito was injured, and relinquishing the Wonder of Stardom Championship a month prior to her final match.
Nana Kondō (近藤 奈々, Kondō Nana; born January 21, 1980), better known by the stage name Nana Mizuki (水樹 奈々, Mizuki Nana)…Nana Kondō (近藤 奈々, Kondō Nana; born January 21, 1980), better known by the stage name Nana Mizuki (水樹 奈々, Mizuki Nana), is a Japanese voice actress, singer, and narrator. She is represented by the agency StarCrew. Mizuki was trained as an enka singer, releasing one single under her birth name in 1993 and made her debut as a voice actress in 1997. Her prominent roles include Hinata Hyuga in the long-running ninja series Naruto as well in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Tamao Tamamura in Shaman King 2001 and 2021, Colette Brunel in Tales of Symphonia, Fate Testarossa in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Tsubasa Kazanari in Symphogear, Moka Akashiya in Rosario + Vampire, Tsubomi Hanasaki (Cure Blossom) in Heartcatch Precure! and Ann Takamaki in Persona 5. She also had official dubbing roles in live action version of Itazura na Kiss from Korea and Taiwan, as well in Hunger Games film series as Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence). She is also known for dubbing Ariel Lin's roles. Mizuki released her first single, "Omoi", under the King Records label in 2000. One year later, she released her debut album, Supersonic Girl, in 2001. In the years that followed, Mizuki enjoyed modest success that concluded with the release of her single "Innocent Starter", which reached the top 10 Oricon singles chart, charting at No. 9. Since then, Mizuki's releases have charted steadily higher in Japan, establishing her as a successful singer in the country. In 2009, her album Ultimate Diamond reached #1, her first release to do so; while her single "Phantom Minds", released in 2010, also charted at #1. Mizuki is the first voice actress to top the weekly Oricon albums chart and the weekly Oricon singles chart since its inception in 1968.
Kenji Fukuda (福田 健二, Fukuda Kenji; born October 21, 1977) is a former Japanese football player. He is a left-footed…Kenji Fukuda (福田 健二, Fukuda Kenji; born October 21, 1977) is a former Japanese football player. He is a left-footed forward.
Takashi Fukunishi (福西 崇史, Fukunishi Takashi; born September 1, 1976) is a Japanese former professional footballer who…Takashi Fukunishi (福西 崇史, Fukunishi Takashi; born September 1, 1976) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He played for Japan national team.
Masahito Kakihara (Japanese: 垣原 賢人, Kakihara Masahito; born April 29, 1972) is a Japanese former professional wrestler…Masahito Kakihara (Japanese: 垣原 賢人, Kakihara Masahito; born April 29, 1972) is a Japanese former professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, who is known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and UWF International (UWFI).
Katsuya Kondō (近藤 勝也, Kondō Katsuya; born June 2, 1963 in Ehime Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese manga artist…Katsuya Kondō (近藤 勝也, Kondō Katsuya; born June 2, 1963 in Ehime Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese manga artist, character designer, animator and animation director. He is best known for his character design work on the Studio Ghibli films Kiki's Delivery Service and Ocean Waves, as well as the PlayStation game Jade Cocoon. His character designs are considered the epitome of the Studio Ghibli style. After graduating from high school, he began working for Osamu Dezaki and Akio Sugino at their Studio Annapuru. Under the direction of Shinji Ōtsuka, Kondō worked as a key animator of the TV anime series Cat's Eye. He then worked as a free agent on such shows as The Mighty Orbots, Rainbow Brite and Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears. His first work with Studio Ghibli was as a key animator on Castle in the Sky. After working on the Gainax film The Wings of Honneamise and the OVAs Devilman and Meikyū Bukken File 538, Kondō began to be known for the high quality of his work. Kondō collaborated with Ken'ichi Sakemi on a manga retelling of the Joan of Arc story, as well as doing the character designs for the Jade Cocoon video game series. He also collaborated with Sakemi by creating the character designs for the 1990 NTV TV movie Like the Clouds, Like the Wind (based on Sakemi's novel Kōkyū Monogatari), which tells the story of a young country girl who is chosen to become one of the Emperor's concubines. He also worked with Tomomi Mochizuki on the NHK Minna no Uta music video titled Kaze no Tōri Michi, produced by Ajia-do Animation Works for Sayuri Horishita. In 2007, he was announced as the supervising animator of the Studio Ghibli film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. He also wrote the lyrics for the film's theme song.
Mitsutaka Fujita (藤田 光孝, Fujita Mitsutaka; August 16, 1959 – March 18, 1998) was a Japanese physicist. He proposed the…Mitsutaka Fujita (藤田 光孝, Fujita Mitsutaka; August 16, 1959 – March 18, 1998) was a Japanese physicist. He proposed the edge state that is unique to graphene zigzag edges. Also, he theoretically pointed out the importance and peculiarity of nanoscale and edge shape effects in nanographene. The theoretical concept of graphene nanoribbons was introduced by him and his research group to study the nanoscale effect of graphene. He was an associate professor at Tsukuba University, and died of a subarachnoid hemorrhage on March 18, 1998. His posthumous name is Rikakuin-Shinju-Houkou-Koji (理覚院深珠放光居士) in Japanese.
Kazushito Manabe (真鍋和人, Manabe Kazushito; born October 12, 1958) is a retired Japanese weightlifter. He won a bronze…Kazushito Manabe (真鍋和人, Manabe Kazushito; born October 12, 1958) is a retired Japanese weightlifter. He won a bronze medal in the flyweight category at the 1984 Summer Olympics, as well as two bronze medals at world championships in 1981 and 1984; weightlifting at the latter championships was combined with the 1984 Olympics. He finished eighth at the 1988 Games. He graduated from the Niihama Technical High School and later worked at the Izumi Chemical company.
Shinya Ono (小野 晋也; born 28 April 1955) is a former Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, who was a…Shinya Ono (小野 晋也; born 28 April 1955) is a former Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, who was a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet.
Seiei Kimura (木村 聖裔, Kimura Seiei; born September 4, 1953) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, best known…Seiei Kimura (木村 聖裔, Kimura Seiei; born September 4, 1953) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Kengo Kimura (木村 健悟, Kimura Kengo) and for his many years working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in Japan.
Toshiyuki Kato (加藤 敏幸, Katō Toshiyuki; born February 16, 1949) is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of…Toshiyuki Kato (加藤 敏幸, Katō Toshiyuki; born February 16, 1949) is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Niihama, Ehime and high school graduate, he was elected for the first time in 2004.
Jun Shiraoka (白岡 順, Shiraoka Jun; 1944 – 17 March 2016) was a Japanese photographer. Internationally exhibited…Jun Shiraoka (白岡 順, Shiraoka Jun; 1944 – 17 March 2016) was a Japanese photographer. Internationally exhibited photographer Shiraoka pursued his singular photographic vision largely outside his native Japan, working abroad for almost three decades.
Tōru Shinohara (篠原とおる, Shinohara Tōru; born April 28, 1936) is a Japanese manga artist. He was born in Niihama, Ehime.…Tōru Shinohara (篠原とおる, Shinohara Tōru; born April 28, 1936) is a Japanese manga artist. He was born in Niihama, Ehime. After graduating from high school in 1955, he started working at a factory in Osaka making car parts but quit after only ten months. He studied manga via a mail-offered course and wrote to various manga magazines. In 1958, came his first commercially printed work Fukumenhakushi (覆面博士) and he began his career as a manga artist. He is best known for Nippon Keibaden that detailed the history of Japan's horse racing industry and its horses. He is also known for beautiful amazon-like heroines who are never daunted by the hardship they endure. Since 1970, he has written a series of works titled Sasori, lit. scorpion, which is the name for a female inmate and heroine seeking escape and revenge upon those who wronged her. Director Shunya Ito started a series of ten films starring Meiko Kaji based on the manga, the most famous one being the initial film, Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion. However, Ito withdrew from the project after three, and Kaji four films. Many of his works have been turned into movies since 1972.
Motoshi Fujita (藤田 元司, Fujita Motoshi; (August 7, 1931 – February 9, 2006) was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher…Motoshi Fujita (藤田 元司, Fujita Motoshi; (August 7, 1931 – February 9, 2006) was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher and manager. He spent his entire career with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball, winning two Japan Series titles as a player and two more as manager.
Giichi Nishihara (西原 儀一, Nishihara Giichi; 1929 – 16 August 2009), also known as Shirō Sekiya (関谷四郎, Sekiya Shirō), was…Giichi Nishihara (西原 儀一, Nishihara Giichi; 1929 – 16 August 2009), also known as Shirō Sekiya (関谷四郎, Sekiya Shirō), was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor best known for his low-budget and sensationalistic pink films made for his Aoi Eiga studios in the 1960s and 1970s. He has been called both "Japan's sleaziest movie-maker," and "a cult favorite among devotees of extreme cinema."
Shinji Sogō (十河 信二, Sogō Shinji; 14 April 1884 – 3 October 1981) was the fourth president of the Japanese National…Shinji Sogō (十河 信二, Sogō Shinji; 14 April 1884 – 3 October 1981) was the fourth president of the Japanese National Railways (JNR), and is credited with the creation of the first "bullet train", the Tōkaidō Shinkansen. Born in Niihama, Ehime, Shikoku, in 1884, Shinji Sogo graduated from the Faculty of Law at Tokyo Imperial University in 1909, and joined the Railway Agency. While working for the Teito Reconstruction Agency after the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923, he was strongly influenced by Shinpei Gotō, the Agency president. After leaving the government railways in 1926, he became a director of the South Manchuria Railway. While at the South Manchuria Railway, he became closely connected with Kwantung Army officer Ishiwara Kanji, the key force behind the Manchurian Incident. Sogō acted as part of Ishiwara's "brain-trust" when Ishiwara was at the height of his power in 1936–1937. Sogō was part of Ishiwara's efforts to deny General Kazushige Ugaki the position of Prime Minister in January 1937, and install General Senjūrō Hayashi as Prime Minister. He helped Hayashi form his cabinet. Later that year his patron Ishiwara was forced out of power, and Sogō also lost his influence. After World War II, he served as Chairman of the Railway Welfare Association until he was appointed JNR president in 1955.
