hitomi

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hitomi

Background information
Birth name 古谷 仁美 (Furuya Hitomi)
Born January 26, 1976 (1976-01-26) (age 32)
Origin Kanagawa, Japan
Genre(s) J-Pop
Years active 1994–present
Label(s) Avex Trax
Love Life Records
Website http://www.hitomilovelife.net/
This article discusses the Japanese singer Hitomi. For other uses of the term "hitomi" see Hitomi (disambiguation).

hitomi (ヒトミ, born January 26, 1976) is a Japanese singer and songwriter.

Some of her biggest hits include "Candy Girl" (1995), "Love 2000" (2000), and "Samurai Drive" (2002). Her last studio album, Love Concent, was released on September 27, 2006. On December 5, 2007 hitomi released an entire-career compilation album, Peace.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Born Hitomi Furuya (古谷仁美 Furuya Hitomi?) in Tochigi, Japan, hitomi's family relocated to Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture when she was a child. Consequently hitomi always identified herself as a girl from Kanagawa. hitomi was an enthusiastic athlete throughout her childhood, playing baseball, soccer, and basketball, as well as an avid reader of manga. When hitomi was 16 years old, she was spotted and approached by a scout from a modelling agency. hitomi signed a short modelling contract and began appearing in magazines while she was still in high school.

In 1993, then 17 years old, Furuya was spotted by eminent Avex Trax music producer Tetsuya Komuro at an audition. Komuro signed Furuya to Avex, put Furuya through vocal training, and decided that she should use an all-lowercase 'hitomi' as her stage name. The following year, in November 1994, hitomi released her debut single, "Let's Play Winter", through avex trax, to which she wrote the lyrics. Since then, hitomi has been the lyricist for almost all of her songs. She has also performed covers, an example being the Bananarama hit "Venus" that she recorded an English-language cover for a Gillette commercial and later included on her June 2005 single, Japanese girl.

[edit] Debut and success

While the first two singles, Let's Play Winter and WE ARE "LONELY GIRL" were considerable failures, her third single CANDY GIRL was used as the theme for a Kodak CM, and secured a Top 20 spot on the Japanese Oricon music chart. Subsequent singles "By Myself" and "Busy Now" established hitomi, barely out of her teens, as one to watch in Japanese entertainment.

Komuro and hitomi went their separate ways in 1999. It is believed that hitomi was unhappy with being a marginalised figure in Komuro's stable of performers, as she was behind other Komuro-produced acts like Namie Amuro, globe, and Ami Suzuki at that time, and also wanted more creative control over her music and image. The split was apparently amicable, however, and in 2002, hitomi teamed up with Komuro once again for the SongNation project, a various-artists compilation intended to raise funds for the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. hitomi contributed lyrics and vocals for the song "My Planet."

Many of her songs have been featured on a wide range of products. Examples include "I am," which served as an opening song for the popular anime InuYasha, "kimi no tonari," which was the theme song for a PlayStation video game Persona 2: Innocent Sin, and "IS IT YOU?" was used as a theme song for a popular FujiTV drama series "dekichatta kekkon". In addition, hitomi is a perennial favourite of clothes, cosmetics and accessories brands like Trussardi and Gillette for her modeling experience, photogenic features, and slender figure. Hitomi is currently the spokesperson for Gillette Venus shaver in Japan and visited Hawaii to film a commercial.

Hitomi married boyband GASBOYS former member U-san in the autumn of 2002. They got divorced in november 2007, and they had no kids[1]. During this period as a married woman, her legal name changed to Hitomi Uesugi (上杉仁美 Uesugi Hitomi?).

Hitomi was largely out of the public eye from mid-2002 to early 2004, because it was discovered she had an ovarian cancer[2].

[edit] TRAVELER to peace

In May 2004, hitomi released a new studio album, TRAVELER. The concert tour she subsequently embarked upon was a huge success, and she played to packed arenas at almost every stop.

The cover of hitomi's 2004 album, 'Traveler'
The cover of hitomi's 2004 album, 'Traveler'


As the 10th anniversary of hitomi's debut came, she opened her own record label, LOVE LIFE Records, which functions as a subdivision of Avex. At present, hitomi holds the appointment of Chairwoman of the company's board.

In October 2005, it was announced that hitomi would feature at the annual NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen on December 31, as a member of the Red (females') team. However, hitomi ended up not performing, because of a minor throat infection, and on December 21 it was announced that her place would be taken by Suzuki Ami[citation needed].

In 2007 hitomi co-starred in the Japanese film Nightmare Detective ( 悪夢探偵 Akumu Tantei?). The film was directed by the horror film director, Shinya Tsukamoto, and stars Ryuhei Matsuda, as the lead role, while hitomi co-stars as a police officer named Keiko Kirishima. hitomi was praised as being 'ethereal' and for being able to make a semi-romantic angle between her and Matsuda believable, despite being more than 8 years older than her co-star.

Between late August to early September 2007, hitomi acted on the stage in performances of a drama called Waiting For The Sun performed by Kitty-stage.

hitomi released Peace, a complete Set of all her most popular songs and music videos across her past five albums on December 5, 2007.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • hitomi's own idol is the American 'Material Girl', Madonna, whom she has admired since watching a Madonna performance in 1987, when hitomi was eleven years old. hitomi maintains a sizeable cache of Madonna releases, and has performed Madonna's songs in English during her own concerts[citation needed].
  • Even though hitomi only speaks Japanese, she has performed in English and French.
  • hitomi is one of the few Japanese pop entertainers who play his or her own instruments during live performances. She plays the guitar. Her concerts are generally lively, high-tempo affairs with specifically-tailored themes, and hitomi is regarded as, despite her advanced age compared to other female Japanese singers, one of the fittest and most athletic of female Japanese performers.
  • Avex stock prices dropped hugely when it was rumored that hitomi, along with Ayumi Hamasaki (generally credited as the 'ringleader' of the action), hiro, Do As Infinity, and Every Little Thing were going to leave Avex if Avex managing director Masato 'Max' Matsuura, was forced out. Matsuura, whom Hamasaki credits for picking her out of obscurity and building her career, was at that time feuding bitterly with a rival executive, Tomoyuki Yoda, over the company's direction. Yoda eventually stepped down and Matsuura stayed.
  • hitomi was the face (and body) of Gillette Venus ladies' shaving kits in Japan in 2005. She was 29 years old at the time.
  • hitomi has sold over 8,830,000 copies of all her albums, singles, and video releases.
  • In October 2006, hitomi was featured in two commercials for JACCS CARD that showed insight into hitomi's personal life.
  • hitomi's pet dog, a white pug, makes its first appearance on screen in the JACCS CARD commercials[citation needed].

[edit] Discography

See hitomi discography.

[edit] References

  1. ^ hitomi離婚…方向性の違いが原因：芸能：スポーツ報知
  2. ^ http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitomi

[edit] See also

[edit] External links