Japanese Wa (倭^?, "Japan, Japanese", from Chinese Wō 倭, Hangul Wae 왜) is the oldest recorded name of Japan. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato "Japan" with the Chinese character 倭 until the 8th century, when the Japanese found fault with it, replacing it with 和 "harmony, peace, balance".

The earliest textual references to Japan are in Chinese classic texts. Within the official Chinese dynastic Twenty-Four Histories, Japan is mentioned among the so-called Dongyi 東夷 "Eastern Barbarians". Note that the following texts are chronologically ordered by date of compilation, which does not always correspond with the sequence of Dynasties in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese units of measurement, distance is recorded in lǐ 里, which varied among dynastic standards, roughly equivalent to 300–400 meters. Tsunoda (1951:4) cautions that great distances in thousands of lǐ "are, of course, not to be taken literally."

Possibly the earliest record of Wō 倭 "Japan" occurs in the Shan Hai Jing 山海經 "Classic of the Mountains and Seas". The textual dating of this collection of geographic and mythological legends is uncertain, but estimates range from 300 BCE to 250 CE. The Haineibei jing 海內北經 "Classic of Regions within the North Seas" chapter includes Wō 倭 "Japan" among foreign places both real, such as Korea, and legendary (e.g. Penglai Mountain).

Japan ⁱ/dʒəˈpæn/ (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国  Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.

Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.

Salvatore, Knight Adamo, simply known as Adamo (born 1 November 1943, Comiso, Sicily, Italy) is a Belgian – Italian composer and singer of ballads, mainly in French, but also in other languages such as German, Italian and Spanish. He had commercial success during the 1960s and 1970s, mostly in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, but also in Japan and the United States. Now he lives in Belgium. He is of Sicilian/Italian ancestry.

His father Antonio, a well digger, emigrated to Belgium in February 1947 to work in the mines of Marcinelle, and in June of the same year, his wife, Concetta, a housewife, and their son Adamo joined him in the town of Ghlin (Mons) before moving to Jemappes (Mons). In 1950, Adamo was bedridden for a year with meningitis. Adamo’s parents did not want their son to become a miner, so Adamo went to a Catholic school run by the Frères des Ecoles Chrétiennes. By 1960, the family of Antonio and Concetta Adamo had seven children overall. Adamo grew up in Jemappes (Mons) where he was a dedicated student at school and distinguished himself in Music and the arts, in general, from an early age, making an impression with his singing abilities. At the end of the 1960s, Adamo married Nicole. Their son, Anthony, was born in 1969, while in the 1980s Benjamin and then Amélie were born. At the height of Adamo's stardom, his father died by drowning on 7 August 1966.

Lee Jung Hyun is a Korean pop singer and actress. She is widely known as "The Techno Warrior" or "The Techno Queen", but due to other singers singing Techno, she changed her title to "The Queen of Transformation". Her English name is AVA and her Japanese name is Hyony.

She made her movie debut at the age of 16 in A Petal, which won domestic and foreign film awards.

Before releasing her first solo music she featured as a guest vocalist on the Jo PD single "Fever", also appearing in the music video. She also appeared in the music video for Goofy's "The Rule of the Game".

Lee assumes a unique persona for each album, such as a mermaid, Barbie doll, tribal queen, soldier, Korean folk dancer, belly dancer, or princess of the sea. She has garnered many nicknames over the years, including Techno Queen of Korea, Ms. Charisma, Little Giant, and Queen of Change.

Her early work is techno-style dance music. Her first single, Wa (와, "Come") topped the Korean charts for three weeks, while her second, Bakkwo (바꿔, "Change") won awards for Best Song and Most Broadcast Song. These two songs in particular were covered by artists throughout Asia and Europe. Many of her earlier songs are sung in an angry mood, from the perspective of a rejected lover.

Lee Jung aka J. Lee (born Lee Jung Hee, 이정희, on October 24, 1981) is a South Korean singer and actor. He made his debut as a member of 7 Dayz; Lee has since become a solo singer. Although his last album has underperformed, he has continued his popularity by becoming a mainstay on KBS's Heroine 6, becoming part of the "Gag Team 3" with Shin Jung Hwan from Country Kko Kko and Kim Jong Min from Koyote.

In January 2007, Lee claimed that another singer used his voice to debut. He stated that he heard his recording being used by another artist by viewing the performance on television. He previously thought the song was going to be his debut song to launch his singing career. "Lee Jung lipsynch singer" went on to become most searched keyword at one point.

He joined the Korean marines on October 12, 2008.