Hibari Misora
was a Japanese singer, actress and cultural icon. She received a Medal of Honor for her contributions to music and for improving the welfare of the public, and was the first woman to receive the People's Honour Award, which was conferred posthumously for giving the public hope and encouragement after World War II. Misora recorded a total of 1,200 songs and sold 68 million records. After she died, consumer demand for her recordings grew significantly, and, by 2001, she had sold more than 80 million records. By 2019, record sales surpassed 100 million. Her swan-song is often performed by numerous artists and orchestras as a tribute to her, including notable renditions by The Three Tenors (Spanish/Italian), Teresa Teng (Taiwanese) and Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan (Mexican). Each year there is a special on Japanese television and radio featuring her songs. A memorial concert for Misora was held at the Tokyo Dome on November 11, 2012. It featured numerous musicians such as Ai ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Yokohama, Kanagawa
is the second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a population of 3.7 million in 2023. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu. Yokohama is also the major economic, cultural, and commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area along the Keihin Industrial Zone. Yokohama was one of the cities to open for trade with the West following the 1859 end of the policy of seclusion and has since been known as a cosmopolitan port city, after Kobe opened in 1853. Yokohama is the home of many Japan's firsts in the Meiji period, including the first foreign trading port and Chinatown (1859), European-style sport venues (1860s), English-language newspaper (1861), confectionery and beer manufacturing (1865), daily newspaper (1870), gas-powered street lamps (1870s), railway station (1872), and power plant (1882). Yoko ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Santa Clara County Library District
The Santa Clara County Library District is a public library system for Santa Clara County headquartered in Campbell, California. The library serves the communities and cities of Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Saratoga, and all unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County. Other cities in Santa Clara County run their own library systems. In addition to these libraries, the library provides mobile library service with a bookmobile which visits preschools, retirement communities, migrant farmworker camps, and rural communities without easy access to library services. In 2020, SCCLD also launched a new website featuring a 24/7 online library. Branch libraries include Campbell Library, Cupertino Library, Gilroy Library, Los Altos Library, Woodland Branch Library (Los Altos), Milpitas Library, Morgan Hill Library, and Saratoga Library. The Santa Clara County Library District has been repeatedly recognized as a Sta ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fishmonger
A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, merchandising and selling their product. In some countries modern supermarkets are replacing fishmongers who operate in shops or fish markets. Worshipful Company of Fishmongers The fishmongers guild, one of the earliest guilds, was established in the City of London by a Royal Charter granted by Edward I shortly after he became king in 1272. Partnership with foreigners was forbidden and the sale of fish was tightly controlled to ensure freshness and restrain profit, which was limited to one penny in the shilling. Nevertheless, the guild grew rich and, after Edward's victory over the Scots, was able to make a great show, including one thousand mounted knights. During the reign of Edward II, the political power of the fishmongers waned ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Guinness Publishing
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listing world records both of human achievements and the extremes of the natural world. Hugh Beaver, Sir Hugh Beaver created the concept, and twin brothers Norris McWhirter, Norris and Ross McWhirter co-founded the book in London in August 1955. The first edition topped the bestseller list in the United Kingdom by Christmas 1955. The following year the book was launched internationally, and as of the 2025 edition, it is now in its 70th year of publication, published in 100 countries and 40 languages, and maintains over 53,000 records in its database. The international Franchising, franchise has extended beyond print to include television series and museums. The popularity of the franchise has resulted in ''Guinness World Records'' becoming the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Colin Larkin (writer)
Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of '' The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book '' All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited the ''Guinness Who's Who of Jazz'', the ''Guinness Who's Who of Blues'', and the ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock''. He has over 650,000 copies in print. Early life Larkin was born in Dagenham, Essex. He spent much of his early childhood attending the travelling fair where his father, who worked by day as a plumber for the council, moonlighted on the waltzers to make ends meet. It was in the fairground, against a background of Little Richard on the wind-up 78 rpm turntables, that Larkin acquired his passion for the world of popular music. Larkin studied at the South East Essex County Technical High School and at the London College of Printing, where he took typography and graphic design. Art and publishing Larkin's company Scorpi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Encyclopedia Of Popular Music
''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Knowledge'', Christmas edition, 22 December 2007 – 4 January 2008. It is published by the Oxford University Press and was described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". History of the encyclopedia Larkin believed that rock music and popular music were at least as significant historically as classical music, and as such, should be given definitive treatment and properly documented. ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is the result. In 1989, Larkin sold his half of the publishing company Scorpion Books to finance his ambition to publish an encyclopedia of popular music. Aided by a team of initially 70 contributors, he set about compiling the data in a pre-internet age, "relying instead on information ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Isogo-ku, Yokohama
is one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward has an estimated population of 163,406 and a population density of 8,520 persons per km2. The total area is 19.17 km2. Geography Isogo is located in eastern Kanagawa Prefecture, and in the southeast corner of the city of Yokohama. The area is largely flatland, with scattered small hills. The Ward is bordered to the east by Negishi Bay, a minor bay on the coast of larger Tokyo Bay. Surrounding municipalities * Naka Ward * Minami Ward * Kanazawa Ward * Sakae Ward * Kōnan-ku History During the Edo period, area around present-day Isogo Ward was formerly part of the ''tenryō'' territory in Sagami Province controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate, but administered through various ''hatamoto''. The area consisted of small fishing villages, noted primarily for their catch of Sea cucumber. After the Meiji Restoration, the area became part of Kuraki District in the new Kanaga ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nobuyasu Okabayashi
is a Japanese folk singer-songwriter whose career spans more than 50 years. Often compared to Bob Dylan, ''Rolling Stone Japan'' called him an icon of Japan's politically turbulent 1960s and 1970s. Okabayashi made his debut in 1968 and quickly earned the nickname the with his protest songs. He spent 1975 to 1981 eschewing this title by experimenting with genres such as enka, pop, and new wave. Inspired by the rhythms of Japanese ''Bon Odori'' and Korean ''samul nori'', he then created his own genre in the mid-1980s and 1990s that he dubbed . Early life His childhood home was his father's church (established by William Merrell Vories, the founder of OMI Medical Supplies Corp). After receiving his education at Oumikyoudai Middle School and Shiga Prefecture Ritsuyoukai City Senior High School, in 1966 Okabayashi entered the theology department of Doushisha College. Originally a Christian, he began to doubt his family's work with juvenile delinquents and searched for an escape. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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AKB48
AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with its own theater and performing daily so fans could always see them live (which is not the case with usual pop groups giving occasional concerts and seen on television). This "Idols You Can Meet" concept includes teams which can rotate performances and perform simultaneously at several events and "handshake" events, where fans can meet group members. Akimoto has expanded the AKB48 concept to several girl groups within Japan, and internationally in Mainland China, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines and Malaysia. AKB48 have been characterized as a social phenomenon. They are among the highest-earning musical acts in Japan, and are the List of best-selling girl groups#Be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Exile (Japanese Band)
Exile (stylized in all caps as EXILE) is a 17-member Japanese boy band. Hiro is the group's leader, who debuted as a member of Zoo under For Life Music, but Exile have released their singles and albums under Avex Group's label Rhythm Zone. Hiro and Avex's president Max Matsuura came from the same high school. In 2003, the six original members of Exile founded the management and entertainment company LDH which has debuted many successful groups and soloists ever since. Exile is the representative group of the company. In total, they have sold over 15,600,000 albums. History Pre-debut The current leader, Hiro, was originally in the pop group Zoo before they split up in 1995. In 1999, he started a new group called J Soul Brothers, which later changed its name to Exile in 2001. (But the name of J Soul Brothers was later revived by Hiro again in 2007 when he helped to form another 7-member group under the new J Soul Brothers moniker.) Debut and second generation Atsushi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kiyoshi Hikawa
is a Japanese enka singer who was born on September 6, 1977, in Minami-ku, Fukuoka, Japan.Hikawa Kiyoshi: Profile Columbia Music Entertainment. Accessed May 6, 2008. His real name is and he is known as due to his young age and popularity. When he is marketing non-enka music, he goes by the name KIYOSHI, using capitalized letters of the Roman alphabet, instead of ''kanji'' or ''hiragana''. His record company is Columbia Music Entertainment, and his agency is Nagara Productions. He was given his stage name by Takeshi Kitano, who initially supported his career. Today, Hikawa makes frequent appearances on , as well as NHK's annual ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen''. History Hikawa was born on September 6, 1977, in Minami-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. As a high school student, Hikaw ...[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ken Hirai
is a Japanese singer-songwriter. Since his debut, Hirai has worked as a model, actor, composer, lyricist, singer, and brand ambassador. During his career, Hirai has released forty-seven singles and eleven studio albums as of January 2024. According to , his single '' Hitomi o Tojite'' (''Close Your Eyes'') became the best-selling single of 2004 in Japan,Oricon Annual Ranking 2004 while his compilation album '' [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |