Hitomi Furuya, known professionally as Hitomi, is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She began her career as teen model before making her singing debuting under the helm of Tetsuya Komuro in 1994, who produced Hitomi's earliest work in pop music. Hitomi strove for artistry over the course of her career, penning "forward-looking" lyrics and becoming known for her "unusual" fashion sense that accompanied a "supermodel allure". Her signature songs include "Candy Girl", "Love 2000" and "Samurai Drive".
Kumiko Kōda, known professionally as Koda Kumi, is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs.
D'espairsRay was a Japanese visual kei rock band active from 1999 to 2011. The lineup of Hizumi on vocals, Karyu on guitar, Zero on bass and Tsukasa on drums remained the same, with the group having released four full-length records, three EPs and thirteen singles. Outside Japan, D'espairsRay have toured Europe and North America and had domestic releases in those territories.
Orange Range are a 5-member Japanese rock band, based in Okinawa, Japan. Formed in 2001, the band began with Spice Music and later signed with Sony Music Japan's gr8! records division in 2003. The band left gr8! records in 2010 to start their own label, Super Echo.
Hitomi Takahashi is a Japanese pop rock singer from Shiogama, Miyagi. She is best known through her songs Bokutachi no Yukue and Aozora no Namida, which were theme songs to animation programs Gundam Seed Destiny and Blood+, respectively. With the former, she became the third artist in to top the Oricon charts with a debut single.
Secret is the fourth studio album by the Japanese R&B-turned-pop singer, Kumi Koda, released in February 2005. It charted at #3 on Oricon in Japan, her highest charting album at the time, and stayed on the charts for fifty-six weeks.
"Koi no Tsubomi" (恋のつぼみ / Bud of Love) is Koda Kumi's 31st solo under the Rhythm Zone label. It was the first single to bring in the new era after Best ~second session~. The single was released in CD and CD+DVD and charted at No. 2 on Oricon, selling over 140,000 copies in its first week and staying on the charts for twenty-one weeks. It became the highest selling song debut for a female artist, until Ayumi Hamasaki surpassed it with her single Blue Bird, which came out a month later on June 21.
Black Cherry is Koda Kumi's fifth studio album and first original album since secret (2005). It charted at No. 1 on Oricon, continuing the artist's streak and staying at No. 1 for one month. It remained on the charts for sixty weeks. It was released in CD, CD+DVD and CD+2DVD, with the latter being a limited edition that carried her movie debut Cherry Girl. The entire film's score was from the album.
"Jet Boy Jet Girl" is Hitomi Takahashi's 7th single under the Sony Records label, and was released on August 1, 2007 in two different versions - CD only and CD+DVD.
"Truth/Kaze no Mukō e" is a single released by Japanese boy band Arashi. It was released on August 20, 2008 by their record label J Storm. "Truth/Kaze no Mukō e" was released in three formats: a regular edition and two limited editions. The regular edition comes with a bonus track titled "Smile" and the instrumentals of all the songs while the limited editions both come with a DVD.
Trick is the seventh studio album released by J-Urban singer-songwriter Kumi Koda. The album continued her No. 1 streak and stayed on the Oricon charts for twenty-nine weeks. It was released on January 28, 2009, and came in CD and CD+2DVD with the latter being a limited edition and the second DVD containing her Live DVD "Koda Kumi Special Live "Dirty Ballroom" ~One Night Show~". The limited editions of both versions carried the bonus track "Venus," originally released by Shocking Blue in 1969.
Love Life 2 is the ninth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Hitomi, released on June 24, 2009, by Hitomi's sub-label of Avex Trax, Love Life Records. It was originally to be released June 10, 2009, but was pushed back for promotional reasons. The first pressing of the album came with an external bonus, a poster. An accompanying photobook of the same name, that shows the singer completely nude, was released on the same day.
Michiko Sellars, known by her stage name MiChi, is a Japanese British pop singer who began her career as an independent artist, but later signed to Sony Music Entertainment.
Huma-rhythm is the sixth studio album by Japanese singer Hitomi. It was released on January 30, 2002, through Avex Trax. Following the highly successful Love Life (2000), Hitomi began to notice a "disconnection" between her perception as a public figure and her true self in private. She sought to pursue the core of her being; articulating "our dissatisfaction with society" yet wanting to "live happily as [herself]".
Dejavu is the ninth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Koda Kumi. It was released on March 2, 2011, one month after her single "Pop Diva". Just like her previous albums, beginning with Best ~first things~ (2005), Dejavu topped the Oricon charts at No. 1 and remained on the charts for twenty-four weeks.
Collection is the only Japanese studio album and the second studio album overall by South Korean girl group 2NE1. It was released on March 28, 2012 in four different editions: CD plus two DVD+Photobook, CD+DVD, CD+Goods and a Regular edition.
Boys Meet U is the second Japanese studio album by South Korean boy band Shinee, released on June 26, 2013, in Japan by EMI Records Japan.
"Mint" is a song recorded by Japanese singer Namie Amuro. It was released on May 18, 2016 in Japan and May 27, 2016 in Taiwan as a CD single, DVD single, and worldwide on May 18 as a digital download by Avex Trax, Avex Taiwan and Amuro's own label Dimension Point. It also served as Amuro's fifth non-album maxi single, after the release of her December 2015 single "Red Carpet", and features the B-side song "Chit Chat". The track was written by Andreas Oberg, Emyli, Maria Marcus, and Tiger, while production was handled by Oberg and Marcus.
W Face is a two-part studio album release by Japanese recording artist Koda Kumi. The albums were packaged separately under the sub-titles Inside and Outside, and distributed on March 8, 2017 by Rhythm Zone and through digital retails stores by Avex Music Creative Inc. Production on both collections started in early-2016 when she finished her concert tour for Walk of My Life (2015), and launched the campaign with the promotional recording "Shhh!". Furthermore, the singer returns as the album's primary and only songwriter while collaborating with a variety of foreign and international composers and producers.
Singularity is the ninth studio album released by the Japanese hip hop group Lead, released on March 18, 2020, nearly two years after their previous album, Milestone. It debuted at No. 12 on the Oricon charts, becoming their first in eight years not to debut in the top ten.
