, better known by her

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

, was a Japanese cabaret hostess and

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to display commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as an artist's model. Modelling ("modeling" in American English) entails using one's body to represent someone ...

, who was known as a featured model on the popular

gyaru (, ) is a Japanese street fashion, Japanese fashion subculture for young women, often associated with gaudy fashion styles and dyed hair. The term is a Japanese transliteration of the English slang word . In Japan, it is used to refer to you ...

fashion magazine ''

Koakuma Ageha ''Koakuma Ageha'' (, lit. "Little-devil Swallowtail ") is a Japanese magazine that introduces the latest fashion magazine, fashion and lifestyle magazine, lifestyle trends popular among hostesses that is published twice a year, with the main targ ...

''."Deceased gal model's dream realizes, a meeting of children with incurable diseases is held"
October 24, 2009, '' Chiba Nippo''

Early life and education

Born in Isawa, Iwate, Sumire grew up the child of a

single mother A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include death, divorce, break-up, abandonment, bec ...

in a small town. While in high school she dreamed of becoming a

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

Career

After high school, she began working as a hostess at a

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

hostess club A hostess club is a type of night club found primarily in Japan which employs mostly female staff and caters to men seeking drinks and attentive conversation. Host clubs are a similar type of establishment where mostly male staff attend to women. ...

, in order to raise the money she needed to start her career in

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...

. She took her genji name "Sumire" from Shonan no Kaze's 2006 single "Junrenka" (), immediately becoming a successful hostess at the club until, at the age of 20, she was approached by ''

s editor in the club about modeling. She then began to appear in the magazine as a model."Profile of Sumire"
'' Spysee'' Sumire immediately gained enormous popularity among ''Ageha'' readers and began modeling for the non-Ageha scenes such as the Sendai Collection show. She moved to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

in March 2009 to pursue modeling and her real dream of becoming a fashion designer."Sumire-san, a model for the likes of 'Koakuma Ageha', dies of brain hemorrhage."
June 13, 2009, ''

Livedoor News was a Japanese company that functioned as an Internet service provider and operator of a web portal and blog platform before being brought down by a scandal in 2006. The company was founded and led in its first 10 years by Takafumi Horie, known ...

'' She launched her own fashion brand named "Divas" while working as a model. On June 10, 2009, when

Gackt , better known as Gackt (stylized in all caps), is a Japanese singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. Born in Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa to a Ryukyuan people, Ryukyuan family, Gackt learned the piano at a young age and was rai ...

's single " Koakuma Heaven" was released, its cover featured Sumire along with other ''Ageha'' models such as Sayaka Araki and

Sayo Hayakawa is a Japanese fashion model. She is best known for her stint as a main model for the ''Koakuma Ageha'' cabaret-gyaru fashion magazine. Hayakawa is well known as a former prominent cabaret hostess. After retiring from nightwork in 2010, she sti ...

Death

On June 11, 2009, Sumire was found dead at age 21 in her condominium by her agency's staff. Prior to her death she had complained of headaches, and the cause of death was later determined to be due to a

brain hemorrhage The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

Legacy

Sumire was well known for her charity work for children in need. She began doing charity work when she was a middle school girl, and her charity work had become more active since early 2009 when she joined the Japan Welfare Children and Families Association after she found out that fellow model(s) had donated money to the association. She donated all the profits from the necklace which she designed and released on the Fancy & Co accessory company, and attended several charity events related to children with incurable diseases in May. After her death, her friends and fellow models founded a charity organization, "H=and Project", with the concept of "succeeding Sumire's willingness". "H=and Project" consists of numerous fashion models and has provided help mainly to children with incurable diseases or disabilities, poverty-stricken children outside Japan (

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in particular), and sometimes to the likes of environmental projects and animal welfare projects."Summary report of H=and Project"
''H=and Project''

References

External links

Official website

Official blog
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