Orangestar is a Japanese Vocaloid music producer and composer. He began uploading songs to Niconico in 2013. In 2015…Orangestar is a Japanese Vocaloid music producer and composer. He began uploading songs to Niconico in 2013. In 2015, he released his first album Unfinished Eight Beats at the age of 17, which topped at rank 45 in Japan according to Oricon's weekly charts. Orangestar stopped his musical activities for about two years starting from 2017 due to his missionary responsibilities as a Mormon and became active again in 2020. Later that year, he married illustrator Kase (ja:夏背).
Yuzuru Hanyu (羽生 結弦, Ha'nyū Yuzuru; Hiragana: はにゅう ゆづる; born December 7, 1994) is a Japanese figure skater and ice show…Yuzuru Hanyu (羽生 結弦, Ha'nyū Yuzuru; Hiragana: はにゅう ゆづる; born December 7, 1994) is a Japanese figure skater and ice show producer. Widely recognized as one of the greatest figure skaters in history for his well-rounded skills, achievements, innovations, longevity, popularity, and impact on the sport, he started skating at four years old and competed in the men's singles discipline from 2004 to 2022. Hanyu is the first men's singles skater in 66 years since Dick Button to win back-to-back Olympic titles (2014, 2018), and the first Asian Olympic champion in that discipline. He is a two-time World champion (2014, 2017), six-time Japanese national champion (2012–2015, 2020–2021), and the first singles skater to win four consecutive Grand Prix Finals (2013–2016). With his win at the 2020 Four Continents Championships, he became the first skater in men's singles to complete the Super Slam, having won all major international junior and senior titles in the course of his career. He is also the only singles skater to be ranked first in the ISU World Standings for five consecutive seasons (2014–2018). Hanyu broke world records 19 times, the most in singles since the introduction of the ISU Judging System in 2003, and was the first skater to land a quadruple loop jump in international competition among other achievements. He is also the only male single skater besides German Jan Hoffmann to win seven world championship medals in the post-war era since 1946. According to Nikkei Asia, Hanyu's move to professional level in 2022 marked the "end of an era" in competitive figure skating. His first major work as a professional is the ongoing Yuzuru Hanyu Ice Story series, with its prelude event Prologue (2022) being the first solo ice show and the Repray Tour (2023–24) the first solo tour production in figure skating. His second solo show Gift (2023) was the first ice skating event to be held at Tokyo Dome, breaking the record for the largest ice show audience with 35,000 people. Hanyu's Ice Story series, which has attracted more than 200,000 spectators in total by April 2026, opened a new genre of performing art and entertainment, weaving live skating performances into comprehensive, philosophical stories with elaborate on-screen narration. At 16 years old, Hanyu experienced the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in his hometown of Sendai, which fundamentally shaped his life and career, having participated in different charity events and dedicated various performances to the victims of the disaster. He is also the chairperson of Nippon TV's annual 3.11 commemoration ice show Yuzuru Hanyu Notte Stellata, inaugurated in 2023. Since the earthquake, Hanyu has donated a cumulative total of more than $3 million USD for reconstruction, disaster prevention, and other humanitarian efforts. The donations include the full prize money of his Olympic wins and all royalties from his best-selling autobiography series Blue Flames I–IV. In recognition of his achievements, Hanyu became the youngest recipient of the People's Honor Award (2018), bestowed by the Prime Minister of Japan, received Japan's Medal of Honor with purple ribbon twice (2014, 2018) and was awarded the Kikuchi Kan Prize (2022). He is the first figure skater to be nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award (2019) and was named the Most Valuable Skater at the inaugural ISU Skating Awards (2020). He was also featured in prestigious lists, such as Forbes' 30 Under 30 Asia (2018), ESPN's top 25 of greatest Olympians of the 21st century (#10), and the International Sports Press Association's list of most impactful male athletes of the last 100 years (#6) (both 2024). In 2022, he was ranked sixth in the list of most-searched athletes on Google Search worldwide.
Jun Sasaki (佐々木 潤, Sasaki Jun; born July 7, 1966) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer. He is best known…Jun Sasaki (佐々木 潤, Sasaki Jun; born July 7, 1966) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his work as a record producer for acts including Misia, Chara, and Yuki Koyanagi. Sasaki also works as a photographer under the alias of Yajimax. In 2005, Sasaki married musician and actress Kaori Hifumi.
Yoko Kanno (菅野 よう子, Kanno Yōko; born 18 March 1963) is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer of soundtracks…Yoko Kanno (菅野 よう子, Kanno Yōko; born 18 March 1963) is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer of soundtracks for anime series, video games, television dramas and movies. She has written scores for Cowboy Bebop, Terror in Resonance, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Wolf's Rain, Turn A Gundam and Darker than Black. Kanno is a keyboardist and the frontwoman for Seatbelts, who perform many of her compositions.
Takashi Nagasaki (長崎尚志; born January 14, 1956) is a Japanese author, manga writer and former editor of manga. He…Takashi Nagasaki (長崎尚志; born January 14, 1956) is a Japanese author, manga writer and former editor of manga. He started his professional career at Shogakukan in 1980 and worked as an editor on the publisher's various manga magazines, including as editor-in-chief of Big Comic Spirits from July 1999 to 2001. Since becoming freelance, Nagasaki has worked as an author under various pen names, such as Keishi Edogawa (江戸川啓視), Garaku Toshusai (東周斎雅楽), Big O (ビッグ・オー) and Richard Woo (リチャード・ウー). He is best known for his collaborations with Naoki Urasawa, such as Pluto (2003–2009) and Billy Bat (2008–2016). The Kobe Shimbun wrote that Nagasaki brought the concept of a producer into the manga industry, and in doing so "established a new relationship with manga artists." Brian Ruh of Anime News Network described Nagasaki as the only editor who "has risen to the level of co-creator alongside the artist."
Kōji Wakamatsu (若松孝二, Wakamatsu Kōji; 1 April 1936 – 17 October 2012) was a Japanese film director who directed such…Kōji Wakamatsu (若松孝二, Wakamatsu Kōji; 1 April 1936 – 17 October 2012) was a Japanese film director who directed such pink films as Ecstasy of the Angels (天使の恍惚, Tenshi no Kōkotsu; 1972) and Go, Go, Second Time Virgin (ゆけゆけ二度目の処女, Yuke Yuke Nidome no Shojo; 1969). He also produced Nagisa Ōshima's controversial film In the Realm of the Senses (1976). He has been called "the most important director to emerge in the pink film genre," and one of "Japan's leading directors of the 1960s". His 2010 film, Caterpillar, was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival.