Rico Marumoto (丸本 莉子, Marumoto Riko; born May 16, 1990 in Hiroshima) is a Japanese singer and songwriter affiliated…Rico Marumoto (丸本 莉子, Marumoto Riko; born May 16, 1990 in Hiroshima) is a Japanese singer and songwriter affiliated with Furutachi Project. In 2015, she was appointed as special envoy for tourism of Kōchi Prefecture.
Haruka Kohara (小原 春香, Kohara Haruka; born April 12, 1988) is a former member of the Japanese idol groups AKB48 and…Haruka Kohara (小原 春香, Kohara Haruka; born April 12, 1988) is a former member of the Japanese idol groups AKB48 and SDN48.
Shigeaki Kato (加藤 シゲアキ, Katō Shigeaki; born July 11, 1987) is a Japanese musician, writer, actor and a member of the…Shigeaki Kato (加藤 シゲアキ, Katō Shigeaki; born July 11, 1987) is a Japanese musician, writer, actor and a member of the J-pop group NEWS, from ELOV-Label formerly known as Johnny's Entertainment.
Hitomi Shimatani (島谷ひとみ, Shimatani Hitomi; born 4 September 1980) is a Japanese pop singer. Formerly signed to the Avex…Hitomi Shimatani (島谷ひとみ, Shimatani Hitomi; born 4 September 1980) is a Japanese pop singer. Formerly signed to the Avex Trax label for 22 years, Shimatani started her career as an Enka singer with the release of her debut single "Ōsaka no Onna" (大阪の女, Ōsakan Woman) in 1999, but later decided to get into the dance/pop style for her music. Shimatani's music has also appeared in several video games and television shows. Shimatani is currently releasing music under her own label, AI.R LAND RECORD, under Daiki Sound.
Leyona (Japanese: 玲葉奈, Hepburn: Reiyōna; born August 31, 1977) is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Mihara city in…Leyona (Japanese: 玲葉奈, Hepburn: Reiyōna; born August 31, 1977) is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Mihara city in Hiroshima Prefecture. She presently belongs to Cutting Edge.
Juju (ジュジュ) (born February 14, 1976) is a Japanese jazz and J-Pop singer. She is represented by Sony Music Associated…Juju (ジュジュ) (born February 14, 1976) is a Japanese jazz and J-Pop singer. She is represented by Sony Music Associated Records.
Takayoshi Tanimoto (谷本 貴義, Tanimoto Takayoshi; born April 14, 1975), is a Japanese vocalist known for his theme song…Takayoshi Tanimoto (谷本 貴義, Tanimoto Takayoshi; born April 14, 1975), is a Japanese vocalist known for his theme song performances in Digimon, Zatch Bell! and Dragon Ball Kai, the last of which he sang "Dragon Soul" and "Yeah! Break! Care! Break!" as one-half of a special unit, Dragon Soul.
Porno Graffitti (ポルノグラフィティ, Poruno Gurafiti), also known as Porno (ポルノ, Poruno), are a Japanese rock band from Onomichi…Porno Graffitti (ポルノグラフィティ, Poruno Gurafiti), also known as Porno (ポルノ, Poruno), are a Japanese rock band from Onomichi (formerly Innoshima), Hiroshima Prefecture. The band got their name from the album Pornograffitti by the band Extreme. They currently record under the SME Records label and their agency is Amuse, Inc.
Hiromi Katayama (Japanese: 片山裕美, Hepburn: Katayama Hiromi; born April 5, 1972), known by the stage name Marina Ōno…Hiromi Katayama (Japanese: 片山裕美, Hepburn: Katayama Hiromi; born April 5, 1972), known by the stage name Marina Ōno (大野まりな, Ōno Marina), is a Japanese voice actress. She has also been known as Hiromi Matsumoto (松本裕美) and Hiromi Asō (麻生ひろみ). Some of her major roles in anime are: Faury Carat in Tristia of the Deep Blue Sea, Chiaki Nakahara in Dai-Guard, Aihara in Angel Links and Komoe Harumachi in Eiken. In video games, she voices Aki Nitta in Soul Link, Remit Marlena in Eternal Melody, Ayaka Nanase in First Kiss Story and Uriko in the Bloody Roar series.
Eiko Hiraiwa (平岩 英子, Hiraiwa Eiko; 17 February 1971 – 31 March 2021) was a Japanese singer-songwriter. After studying…Eiko Hiraiwa (平岩 英子, Hiraiwa Eiko; 17 February 1971 – 31 March 2021) was a Japanese singer-songwriter. After studying Dalcroze eurhythmics as a child and college student, she made her major-label debut in 1995. She released several singles and albums with Epic Records Japan and Village Records until 2000, entering into a hiatus afterwards.
Kōji Kikkawa (吉川 晃司, Kikkawa Kōji; born August 18, 1965) is a Japanese singer, musician and actor. His most recent…Kōji Kikkawa (吉川 晃司, Kikkawa Kōji; born August 18, 1965) is a Japanese singer, musician and actor. His most recent album is 2022's Over the Nine. Kōji was born in Hiroshima and his music career began on February 1, 1984, with "Monica" (later remade in Cantonese sung by Leslie Cheung) and he won eight music awards in the same year. After taking a short break in 1988, he came back as a lead singer in the band Complex with Tomoyasu Hotei (former guitarist of Boøwy) and "Be My Baby" was released. Complex remained as one of the most popular bands in Japan until 1990, when it was announced that Complex had disbanded. After "Complex", Kōji released series of hit singles such as "Setsunasa O Korosenai", "Kiss Ni Utarete Nemuritai" and "Boy's Life". Kōji completed a "20th Anniversary Tour" at Budokan on February 1, 2005. In 2006 he recorded "One World," the theme for the 2006 motion picture Kamen Rider Kabuto: God Speed Love. More recently, he had teamed up with popular Japanese DJ TWINS to release a single "Juicy Jungle". Also, DJ TWINS had released an album with remixes of several of Kōji's previous hits. With this new sound-disco revisit, Kōji redefined himself like he does year after year. Throughout all his career, it could be considered that Kōji had outgrown from an idol to an artiste that explore the music boundary. He writes his own songs, produced and arranged his own albums and also played most of the instruments in it. He had just released a remix album of his old hits-titled-DISCO K2. In April 2007, a new single "BABY JANE" was released. He portrayed Sokichi Narumi/Kamen Rider Skull in the Kamen Rider W franchise from 2009 to 2010, and sung "Nobody's Perfect," Skull's theme. In 2011, Kōji and Tomoyasu Hotei reunited as Complex for two concerts at the Tokyo Dome to benefit victims of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The duo had not performed together as Complex for almost 21 years. In 2017, Koji's single "SAMURAI ROCK" was used theme for the J-Sports broadcast of 2017 World Baseball Classic. In 2024, 13 years later, Kikkawa and Hotei reunited again for another Complex benefit concert at the Tokyo Dome, this time to benefit the victims of the 2024 Noto earthquake. In 2025, Kikkawa formed the unit Ooochie Koochie with Tamio Okuda.
Tamio Okuda (奥田 民生, Okuda Tamio; born 12 May 1965) is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and producer. He started his…Tamio Okuda (奥田 民生, Okuda Tamio; born 12 May 1965) is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and producer. He started his career in 1986 as a member of the band Unicorn. After Unicorn broke up, Okuda moved on to a solo career in 1994 with the single "Ai no Tame ni". He has written and composed many songs for various artists, particularly Puffy. He is signed to Sony Music Japan. He was ranked number 25 in a list of Japan's top 100 musicians, provided by HMV Japan in 2003. His band Unicorn was also ranked at number 61. Unicorn reunited in 2009. He appeared in the 2011 Batsu game on Gaki no Tsukai. He performed his song "Ai no Tame ni" with alternate lyrics to recap all that went on in the New Years' special. The Japanese dub of Cars 3 uses "Engine" as its ending theme. On July 11, 2018, Okuda, Kazuyoshi Saito, Yohito Teraoka (Jun Sky Walkers), Takashi Hamazaki (Flying Kids), Yo-King (Magokoro Brothers) and Tortoise Matsumoto announced the formation of a supergroup called the Curling Sitones (カーリングシトーンズ, Kāringu Shitōnzu). Each member is a multi-instrumentalist with all of them at-least being able to provide vocals and guitar and, like the Traveling Wilburys, each uses a pseudonym featuring "Sitone". They formed for a concert on September 23, 2018 at Zepp Tokyo celebrating Teraoka's 25th anniversary as a musician. In 2025, Okuda formed the unit Ooochie Koochie with Kōji Kikkawa.
Shinji Harada (Harada Shinji、原田真二) is a pop music artist in Japan. He was born on December 5, 1958 in Hiroshima. After…Shinji Harada (Harada Shinji、原田真二) is a pop music artist in Japan. He was born on December 5, 1958 in Hiroshima. After three years of practicing guitar, at the age of fifteen he was ready to play guitar with the band Yamaha. Harada became a musical sensation in Japan when he released his debut single Teens' Blues on October 25, 1977 when he was 18 years old. He released two more singles, Candy in November and Shadow Boxer in December same year. All three singles ranked within the top 20 in the Oricon chart simultaneously, which had never happened before. The debut album Feel Happy was to become number one in the first week of release in Japan in 1978. A documentary film about him, Our Song, was made in 1978. Harada has been prolific, releasing more than 70 singles from 1977 to 2015. Harada as a songwriter, has written or composed for Koji Kikkawa, Junko Yagami, Anri, Hiromi Go, Akina Nakamori, and other artists. His song 'Time Travell' from the album 'Feel Happy' was covered by Spitz. Spitz's 'Time Travel' was used in the famous 2011 Japanese drama Boku to Star no 99 Nichi starring Hidetoshi Nishijima and Kim Tae Hee.
Michiru Jo (城みちる, Jō Michiru; born 18 November 1957 in present day Kure, Hiroshima, Japan, as Kōtarō Jōya) is an actor…Michiru Jo (城みちる, Jō Michiru; born 18 November 1957 in present day Kure, Hiroshima, Japan, as Kōtarō Jōya) is an actor and J-pop musician in Japan. He first became famous when he applied to a Star Tanjō! audition at the age of 15. He released his first single, "Iruka ni Notta Shounen" ('The Boy Who Rode the Dolphin'), in 1973, which was his most well-known song. At the age of 20, he stopped singing to study at the Komazawa University in Tokyo, but then left at the age of 23 to return to Hiroshima. In Hiroshima, he lived with his parents and worked for them in their electrical appliance shop. He then got married when he was 25 and moved to Tokyo. His first child (a son) was born two years later. He soon divorced but then remarried again when he was 34, and not long after that, his daughter was born. His most famous television appearance was on the game show Takeshi's Castle during the late 1980s, where he played the role of one of the many henchmen working for Count Takeshi, portrayed by, Takeshi Kitano. Despite the rumours outside Japan, Michiru is not Takeshi Kitano's nephew. Most recently, he got a job on the local TV channel Hiroshima TV on a programme called "Susume, sports-genkimaru", where he talked about fishing once a month. The programme is still shown in Hiroshima, but it is unknown whether or not he is still on it. He is still listed as a "Class D Entertainer", which means that his appearance fee is between 1 and 2 million yen.
Hideki Saijō (西城 秀樹, Saijō Hideki; originally Tatsuo Kimoto (木本 龍雄, Kimoto Tatsuo); April 13, 1955 – May 16, 2018) was…Hideki Saijō (西城 秀樹, Saijō Hideki; originally Tatsuo Kimoto (木本 龍雄, Kimoto Tatsuo); April 13, 1955 – May 16, 2018) was a Japanese singer, composer, actor, drummer, voice actor, and television and radio show host. Due to his numerous pioneering achievements throughout Asia in the 1970s and 1980s, he is considered an icon amongst Shōwa era idols. With on-stage vivacity and highly acclaimed vocals as his defining trademarks, Saijō quickly came to dominate the Japanese charts of the 1970s. He was consistently promoted as part of the Shin-Gosanke (新御三家, "New Big Three") idol trio alongside two other soloists who debuted around the same time: Goro Noguchi and Hiromi Go. Almost seven years into his career, his 28th single "YOUNG MAN (Y.M.C.A.)" (a Japanese cover of the Village People song of the same name) became a social phenomenon in Japan, selling over 1.8 million copies.
Shōgo Hamada (浜田 省吾, Hamada Shōgo; born December 29, 1952) is a legendary Japanese singer-songwriter and former member…Shōgo Hamada (浜田 省吾, Hamada Shōgo; born December 29, 1952) is a legendary Japanese singer-songwriter and former member of the group Aido. He is a part of Sony Music Japan's SME Records division. He was born in Takehara City in Hiroshima Prefecture, and graduated from Kuremitsuta High School (where he was a member of the baseball team). He attended Kanagawa University, where he studied law, but left the school before graduating. In 1975, he made his professional debut as the drummer of the band Aido. Sunglasses have been his trademark ever since his debut, and he has never performed live without sunglasses of some sort (most commonly Ray-Ban Aviator or Ray-Ban Wayfarer). His solo debut came in 1976 with the album Umareta Tokoro o Tōku Hanarete. Though his exposure in the media has always been extremely low, relative to many performers with similar levels of mainstream popularity, he has acquired his many fans over the years through his steady series of live performances. Many of his early songs expressed his skepticism about how one should live their life. In addition to his well-known ballads, he was strongly influenced by his father's experience as a victim of radiation poisoning following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, and many of his songs have a very strong protest song tone. He has written music for many other artists, including Momoe Yamaguchi, and Akiko Wada. He is affectionately referred to as "Hamasho" by many of his fans.
Mariko Takahashi (高橋 真梨子, Takahashi Mariko; born March 6, 1949 in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese female…Mariko Takahashi (高橋 真梨子, Takahashi Mariko; born March 6, 1949 in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese female singer. She is known for her ballad pop songs. She began her singing career in 1973 singing covers, but soon progressed to writing her own songs. She is also able to play piano and saxophone. On May 20, 2009, Takahashi released the cover album of Japanese male singers, No Reason: Otoko Gokoro, in which she covered Kyu Sakamoto's "Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi o" and Yūzō Kayama's "Kimi to Itsumademo." The album debuted at No. 7 on the Japanese Oricon album charts. Representative works include'Peach Breath' (Peach Breath / 1984).
Takuro Yoshida (吉田 拓郎, Yoshida Takurō) is a Japanese male singer-songwriter. He was born on April 5, 1946, in Okuchi…Takuro Yoshida (吉田 拓郎, Yoshida Takurō) is a Japanese male singer-songwriter. He was born on April 5, 1946, in Okuchi, Kagoshima, and raised in Hiroshima. He made his debut with the single "Imeji no Uta / Mark II" on June 1, 1970. His 1972 recording of "Tabi no Yado" sold over one million copies by September that year, and was awarded a gold disc. He established the record company "For Life Records" with Yosui Inoue, Shigeru Izumiya, and Hitoshi Komuro in 1975. Yoshida is a musician whose songs have been used as theme songs in television series such as Jun (純) , the theme song of Cromartie High School, as well as being covered by another popular artists like Hirakawachi 1-chome (Yoshida's "Natsu Yasumi"), KinKi Kids (Yoshida's "Zenbu Dakishimete").
Riho Sayashi (Japanese: 鞘師里保, Hepburn: Sayashi Riho; born May 28, 1998) is a Japanese actress, singer and dancer. She…Riho Sayashi (Japanese: 鞘師里保, Hepburn: Sayashi Riho; born May 28, 1998) is a Japanese actress, singer and dancer. She is a former member of the Japanese pop group Morning Musume. In 2019, she was a touring member of Babymetal, including in their performance at Glastonbury Festival 2019.
Sora Izumikawa (イズミカワ ソラ, Izumikawa Sora; born February 14, 1971), is a Japanese artist, singer-songwriter, voice…Sora Izumikawa (イズミカワ ソラ, Izumikawa Sora; born February 14, 1971), is a Japanese artist, singer-songwriter, voice actress, composer and producer currently based on Japan. Also Ex-CEO for Dog-Rights Co., Ltd.
Ayano Ōmoto (大本 彩乃, Ōmoto Ayano; born 20 September 1988), nicknamed Nocchi (のっち, stylized as NOCCHi), is a Japanese…Ayano Ōmoto (大本 彩乃, Ōmoto Ayano; born 20 September 1988), nicknamed Nocchi (のっち, stylized as NOCCHi), is a Japanese singer and dancer. She is known as one of the members of the Japanese electropop group Perfume.
