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Ayaka Hirahara
is a Japanese pop singer. She was affiliated with the Dreamusic label until 2013 when she moved to Universal Music Japan. Biography Hirahara comes from a musical family; her father, Makoto Hirahara, is a saxophone player, her grandfather, Tsutomu Hirahara, was a trumpet player, and her older sister, Aika Hirahara, also is a singer under the EMI Music Japan label. Ayaka was a member of the Matsuyama Ballet for 11 years, beginning at age 6. She started playing saxophone when she was 13 years old, then learned classical saxophone at Senzoku Gakuen High School. Currently, she is studying in the Faculty of Jazz majoring in saxophone at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music. Her first single, "Jupiter", was released in Japan in December 2003, and went on to be one of the biggest selling singles of 2004. The melody of the song is based on the "Jupiter" movement in ''The Planets Suite'' by Gustav Holst. Similarly, the melody of her song, "Siciliana", is based on "Siciliano" by Johann Sebasti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 million residents ; the city proper has a population of 13.99 million people. Located at the head of Tokyo Bay, the prefecture forms part of the Kantō region on the central coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island. Tokyo serves as Economy of Japan, Japan's economic center and is the seat of both the Government of Japan, Japanese government and the Emperor of Japan. Originally a fishing village named Edo, the city became politically prominent in 1603, when it became the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. By the mid-18th century, Edo was one of the most populous cities in the world with a population of over one million people. Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the imperial capital in Kyoto was mov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Misérables (musical)
''Les Misérables'' ( , ), colloquially known as ''Les Mis'' or ''Les Miz'' ( ), is a sung-through musical and an adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel of the same name, by Claude-Michel Schönberg (music), Alain Boublil, Jean-Marc Natel (original French lyrics) and Herbert Kretzmer (English lyrics). The original French musical premiered in Paris in 1980 with direction by Robert Hossein. Its English-language adaptation by producer Cameron Mackintosh has been running in London since October 1985, making it the longest-running musical in the West End and the second longest-running musical in the world after the original Off-Broadway run of '' The Fantasticks''. Set in early 19th-century France, ''Les Misérables'' is the story of Jean Valjean, a French peasant, and his desire for redemption, released in 1815 after serving nineteen years in jail for stealing a loaf of bread for his sister's starving child. Valjean decides to break his parole and start his life anew after a b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
21st-century Japanese Women Singers
The 1st century was the century spanning AD 1 ( I) through AD 100 ( C) according to the Julian calendar. It is often written as the or to distinguish it from the 1st century BC (or BCE) which preceded it. The 1st century is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period. The 1st century also saw the appearance of Christianity. During this period, Europe, North Africa and the Near East fell under increasing domination by the Roman Empire, which continued expanding, most notably conquering Britain under the emperor Claudius (AD 43). The reforms introduced by Augustus during his long reign stabilized the empire after the turmoil of the previous century's civil wars. Later in the century the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which had been founded by Augustus, came to an end with the suicide of Nero in AD 68. There followed the famous Year of Four Emperors, a brief period of civil war and instability, which was finally brought to an end by Vespasian, ninth Roman emperor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1984 Births
Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). * January 10 ** The United States and the Vatican City, Vatican (Holy See) restore full diplomatic relations. ** The Victoria, Seychelles, Victoria Agreement is signed, institutionalising the Indian Ocean Commission. *January 24 – Steve Jobs launches the Macintosh 128K, Macintosh personal computer in the United States. February * February 3 ** Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo transfer from one woman to another, resulting in a live birth. ** STS-41-B: Space Shuttle Challenger, Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' is launched on the 10th Space Shuttle mission. * February 7 – Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered spac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc. was originally set up as a subsidiary of Original Confidence and took over the latter's Oricon record charts in April 2002. The charts are compiled from data drawn from some 39,700 retail outlets (as of April 2011) and provide sales rankings of music CDs, DVDs, electronic games, and other entertainment products based on weekly tabulations. Results are announced every Tuesday and published in ''Oricon Style'' by subsidiary Oricon Entertainment Inc. The group also lists panel survey-based popularity ratings for television commercials on its official website. Oricon started publishing Combined Chart, which includes CD sales, digital sales, and streaming together, on December 19, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spirited Away
is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Tohokushinsha Film, and Mitsubishi and distributed by Toho.Sen To Chihiro No Kamikakushi ". http://www.bcdb.com, 13 May 2012 The film features the voices of Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takeshi Naito, Yasuko Sawaguchi, [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Studio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and has also produced several short subjects, television commercials, and two television films. Its mascot and most recognizable symbol is a character named Totoro, a giant spirit inspired by raccoon dogs (''tanuki'') and cats from the 1988 anime film ''My Neighbor Totoro''. Among the studio's highest-grossing films are '' Spirited Away'' (2001), '' Howl's Moving Castle'' (2004) and '' Ponyo'' (2008). The studio was founded on June 15, 1985, by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki, after the successful performance of Topcraft's '' Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'' (1984). It has also collaborated with video game studios on the visual development of several games. Five of the studio's films are among the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Hisaishi
, known professionally as , is a Japanese composer, musical director, conductor and pianist, known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. He is also known for his piano scores. Hisaishi's music has been known to explore and incorporate different genres, including minimalist, experimental electronic, Western classical, and Japanese classical. He has also worked as a music engraver and arranger. He has been associated with director and animator Hayao Miyazaki since 1984, having written scores for all but one of Miyazaki's films. He is also recognized for his music for filmmaker 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, including '' A Scene at the Sea'' (1991), '' Sonatine'' (1993), '' Kids Return'' (1996), ''Hana-bi'' (1997), '' Kikujiro'' (1999), '' Brother'' and '' Dolls'' (2002), and for the video game series '' Ni no Kuni''. He was a student of anime composer Takeo Watanabe. Life and career Early life Hisaishi was born in Nakano, Nagano, Japan, as . He started le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oceans (2010 Film)
''Oceans'' (french: Océans) is a 2009 French nature documentary film directed, produced, co-written, and narrated by Jacques Perrin, with Jacques Cluzaud as co-director. The film, produced in association with the Census of Marine Life, explores the marine species of Earth's five oceans and reflects on the negative aspects of human activity on the environment, with Perrin (Pierce Brosnan in English) providing narration. Budgeted at around $80 million, it was filmed in over 50 different places and took four years to film. In North America, the film was produced by Disneynature and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, who cut 20 minutes mostly depicting violent massacres of sea animals (recreated through visual effects) in order to aim it at a younger audience. Plot ''Oceans'' presents details and facts about the journey of the ocean. The film begins on a beach and there are boys and one of them wonders what the ocean is. The scene cuts to the Galapagos where a clan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Disneynature
Disneynature is an independent film studio that specializes in the production of nature documentary films for The Walt Disney Studios. The production company was founded on April 21, 2008, and is headquartered in Paris, France. The company's nature films are consistently budgeted between $5 million to $10 million, with their distribution and marketing handled by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The label's event films are released on Earth Day and have a conservation campaign based on the feature of the film with an appropriate conservation charity receiving donations based on tickets sold, at a pace of one per year. The eight Disneynature theatrical films have a gross of $151.6 million at the box office, at an average of $19 million, with ''Earth'' the top earner at $32 million. Background Disney had a background in making nature films prior to the creation of Disneynature; ''Bambi'' (1942) featured forest life and was a hit. From 1948 through 1960, the company produced t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saiunkoku Monogatari
is a series of Japanese light novels written by Sai Yukino and illustrated by Kairi Yura set in fictional ancient China. As of July 2011, the eighteenth and final volume was released, concluding the series. Four side story anthologies have also been released, collecting stories originally published in ''The Beans'' magazine. A manga version, also illustrated by Kairi Yura, is serialized in ''Beans Ace'', which is published by Kadokawa Shoten. However, when ''Beans Ace'' ended, the manga was moved to '' Monthly Asuka''. Currently, nine ''tankōbon'' volumes have been released. The series has been licensed by Viz Media for an English release in North America as part of their Shojo Beat imprint. The anime adaptation series, produced by Madhouse and directed by Jun Shishido, was broadcast on the Japanese television network NHK on Saturday mornings. The first season began airing on April 8, 2006, and completed its run on February 24, 2007, airing a total of 39 episodes. The se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
