Rio Okano (岡野 里音 Okano Rio, born on March 5, 1991, in Kobe, Japan), also known as Rionos, is a Japanese singer…Rio Okano (岡野 里音 Okano Rio, born on March 5, 1991, in Kobe, Japan), also known as Rionos, is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and music producer. She has provided the music for anime, video games and other singers. The name "Rionos" is derived from the nickname "Rio no Suke" that her friend called her.
Masami Okui (奥井 雅美, Okui Masami; born March 13, 1966) is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Itami, Hyōgo. She began…Masami Okui (奥井 雅美, Okui Masami; born March 13, 1966) is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Itami, Hyōgo. She began her professional musical career at age 21 as a concert backup singer. From almost the very beginning of her career, Masami has sung themes for anime television and movies. She is especially well known for her songs from Revolutionary Girl Utena, Tales of Eternia The Animation, Slayers, Sorcerer Hunters, Di Gi Charat, Magical DoReMi, Magic User's Club, Jungle de Ikou!, Akihabara Dennou Gumi, Ray the Animation, He Is My Master and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. She has performed material for more than 50 singles and 20 albums to date (including her work with JAM Project and Chihiro Yonekura). Okui hosts @Tunes, an anime music news program, on the Japanese anime television network Animax.
Eizo Sakamoto (坂本 英三, Sakamoto Eizō; also credited as さかもと えいぞう Sakamoto Eizō, born February 23, 1964) is a Japanese…Eizo Sakamoto (坂本 英三, Sakamoto Eizō; also credited as さかもと えいぞう Sakamoto Eizō, born February 23, 1964) is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter who was born in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture. He is most famous for being the lead vocalist of heavy metal band Anthem. In the 1990s he started up the band Animetal which performed heavy metal covers of anime and tokusatsu opening and closing themes. He also was involved with the Anison band JAM Project before reuniting with Anthem. Sakamoto then began a new project called Eizo Japan which is similar to Animetal: more heavy metal covers of theme songs post-disbanding, along with original material.
Kanako Wada (Japanese: 和田 加奈子, Hepburn: Wada Kanako; born 28 October 1961) is a Japanese singer and songwriter.…Kanako Wada (Japanese: 和田 加奈子, Hepburn: Wada Kanako; born 28 October 1961) is a Japanese singer and songwriter. Originally studying classical piano, she studied sculpture and managed the rugby team at the Tokyo University of the Arts before being scouted at a concert she organized. Debuting in November 1985, she released seven original albums and eleven singles with Toshiba EMI before retiring in 1991. She was also a television personality who worked as Akira Inoue's assistant on NHK's Best Sound II , as well as a radio personality at networks such as Asahi Broadcasting Corporation and Nippon Cultural Broadcasting. Her music has received renewed attention amidst the city pop boom of the 2010s and 2020s.
Yū Aku (阿久 悠, Aku Yū), occasionally credited as You Aku (February 7, 1937 – August 1, 2007), was a Japanese lyricist…Yū Aku (阿久 悠, Aku Yū), occasionally credited as You Aku (February 7, 1937 – August 1, 2007), was a Japanese lyricist, poet, and novelist.
Tokiko Iwatani (岩谷時子, Iwatani Tokiko; March 28, 1916 – October 25, 2013) was a Japanese lyricist, poet, and translator.…Tokiko Iwatani (岩谷時子, Iwatani Tokiko; March 28, 1916 – October 25, 2013) was a Japanese lyricist, poet, and translator. Born Tokiko Iwatani (岩谷トキ子, Iwatani Tokiko) in Seoul, Korea, she moved with her family to Japan at the age of 5, where they settled in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. After attending schools in her hometown she entered the English Literature Department of Kobe College, and graduated in 1939. She then joined the publishing department of the Takarazuka Revue, where she became acquainted with the future star Fubuki Koshiji. When Koshiji decided to leave the revue in 1951 to join Tōei and become an actress and singer, Iwatani also quit the company, and moved to Tokyo with Koshiji, whose manager she was for about 30 years, until Koshiji died in 1980. After becoming a full-time independent lyricist in 1963, she wrote the lyrics to or translated over 3000 songs, for singers or groups including The Peanuts, Yūzō Kayama, Frank Nagai, Hiromi Go, and translated the lyrics of, among others, Hymne à l'amour, Save the Last Dance for Me, Million Roses, My Way, and the musicals Kiss Me, Kate, Anne of Green Gables – The Musical, Me and My Girl, and Les Misérables. In 2010 she established the Iwatani Tokiko Foundation, which awards the annual ¥3,000,000 yen Iwatani Tokiko Award. She died in October 2013 from pneumonia.