Eisai Co., Ltd. (エーザイ株式会社, Ēzai Kabushiki-gaisha^?, TYO: 4523) is a Japanese pharmaceutical company, ranking among the top 25 in the world by revenue and achieving $8 billion USD in sales for the fiscal 2008 year. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, it has some 10,000 employees, among them about 1,500 in research. Eisai is a member of the Topix 100 and Nikkei 225 indices.

Nihon Eisai Co. Ltd. was established in 1941. In 1944, merger with Sakuragaoka Research Laboratory resulted in creation of Eisai Co. Ltd. The American subsidiary of the company, Eisai Inc., was established in 1995 and became one of America's fastest growing companies, reaching $1 billion in revenue within five years.^{[citation needed]}

In 1996, Eisai received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Aricept (donepezil), a drug discovered in the company's labs and co-marketed with Pfizer. Three years later in 1999, the company received USFDA approval for Aciphex (rabeprazole), a drug co-marketed with Johnson & Johnson.

Myōan Eisai (明菴栄西^?, May 27, 1141 – July 2, 1215) was a Japanese Buddhist priest, credited with bringing the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism and green tea from China to Japan. He is often known simply as Eisai Zenji (栄西禅師), literally "Zen master Eisai".

Born in Bitchū Province (modern-day Okayama, Okayama), Eisai was ordained as a monk in the Tendai sect. Dissatisfied with the state of Buddhism at the time, in 1168 he set off on his first trip to Mt. Tiantai in China, the origin of the sect, where he learned of the primacy of the Chan (later known in Japan as Zen) school in Chinese Buddhism of the time. He spent only six months in China on this first trip, but returned in 1187 for a longer stay as a disciple of Xuan Huaichang, a master in the Linji (Rinzai) line, at Jing-de-si (Ching-te-ssu, 景德寺) monastery.

After his certification as a Zen teacher, Eisai returned to Japan in 1191, bringing with him Zen scriptures and tea seeds. He immediately founded the Hōon-ji Temple in remote Kyūshū, Japan's first Zen temple.

Nikolaos (Nikos) Vertis (Greek: Νίκος Βέρτης) (Born August 21, 1976) is a popular Greek singer who was born in Gorinchem, Netherlands. To date, he has released five studio albums along with one CD single, and two special edition CD/DVD albums.

At the age of 6, Vertis and his family moved to Thessaloniki, Greece and at 7, he started playing the Bouzouki. By the age of 15, he started getting involved with singing. At age 16, he moved back to the Netherlands for 2 years, where he attended a technical high school. He returned to Greece for his military duties, and once completed started getting involved with his love of singing. He started singing in small clubs in Thessaloniki and other locations around the region of Macedonia. In the summer of 2002, he started singing at the popular club "Rodon" where he made a big impact, and continued singing there until summer 2003.

In 2003, Vertis signed with Universal Music Greece and released his debut album titled Poli Apotoma Vradiazei (It becomes night quickly). The songs "Asteri Mou", "An Feigeis", "San Trelos Se Agapao" and the title track because radio hits in a short time, while Peggy Zina lent her voice for 2 duets on the album titled "Eimaste Horia" and "Hanomaste" which were also radio hits. For the winter season of 2003-2004, Vertis moved to Athens, Greece where he collaborated with Peggy Zina at club Apollon. At the 3rd annal "Arion Awards" in 2003, Vertis won the award for "Best New Artist".

Anastasios "Sakis" Rouvas II (Greek: Αναστάσιος "Σάκης" Ρουβάς, pronounced [ˈsakis ruˈvas]; 5 January 1972), often referred to mononymously as Sakis, is a Greek recording artist, film and television artist, businessman, and former pole vaulter who is one of the most successful and influential entertainers of all time in Greece and Cyprus. Beginning a career as a member of the national athletics team, Rouvas commenced a musical career in 1991 and became one of Greece's first pop performers; widely recognized as the genre's main performers to this day, he is credited with breaking cultural and generational barriers and aiding in the popularization of Western music genres in Greece and Cyprus.

In the early 1990s after winning the Thessaloniki Song Festival, Rouvas became a dominant figure in Greek entertainment, gaining a mass fanbase and being cited as a phenomenon. His sexualized image and live performances utilizing complex choreography and costumes have earned him notoriety. He and manager Elias Psinakis formed a famous partnership in Greek show business. Rouvas' increasing popularity was coupled with criticism of both professional choices and personal struggles, which damaged his public image and lead to a brief, relatively unsuccessful period in the mid 90s. After five commercially successful albums with PolyGram Greece, Rouvas signed with Minos EMI in 1998. Having been a notable artist in the Balkans for years, Rouvas embarked on multiple projects abroad and represented his country in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 and 2009 and co-presented the 2006 contest, while also venturing into film and television.

Antonis Remos (Greek: Αντώνης Ρέμος; Greek pronunciation: [anˈdonis ˈremos]) (born Antonis Paschalidis; Greek: Αντώνης Πασχαλίδης; 19 June 1970), is a Greek laïko singer.

Antonis Remos was born in Düsseldorf, West Germany. He was raised there by his Greek parents, and later his family moved back to their native Thessaloniki, Greece, where he finished school. During his childhood he got involved with music and learned to play guitar by himself. He worked in multiple jobs, but finally, his singing earned him an income.

After many appearances in Thessaloniki, in 1995 Antonis Remos had his first live appearance in Athens. He performed live next to famous artists, such as Dimitris Mitropanos, Stefanos Korkolis and Marios Tokas. This same year he signed his first contract with Sony Music Greece, planning to release his first album. The first album which was released in 1996 and was titled after his name, became platinum in a few months. In April 1998 his second album, Kairos Na Pame Parakato ("Time to Move On") was released. For the first time, some of the most-prestigious Greek composers had given their songs to Antonis Remos, and for a second time in a row, the album gained platinum status.