- published: 31 Jul 2012
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Hitomi Furuya (古谷仁美, Furuya Hitomi?, born January 26, 1976) better known by her stagename hitomi, is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She began her career as model, but after meeting Tetsuya Komuro he began managing her career as a pop singer. In 1998 she left the "Komuro Family" and started working with other musicians and producers, oriented to other musical genres such as pop rock, and more recently to electropop.
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 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.
Hitomi Akano (赤野 仁美, Akano Hitomi?, born July 27, 1974), is a Japanese female mixed martial artist. She uses a song she penned herself called "Between the Sky" as her entrance music.
Akano is a former Smackgirl Middleweight Champion at 128 pounds. She is currently the #7-ranked 135-pound female fighter in the world according to the Unified Women's MMA Rankings.
Akano made her mixed martial arts debut on November 26, 2004 against veteran Megumi Yabushita. She was defeated by Unanimous Decision.
On August 17, 2005, Akano submitted Takayo Hashi at 1:19 of the first round at Smackgirl - Dynamic!!
Akano faced Tara LaRosa at MFC - USA vs. Russia 3 on June 3, 2006. She lost the fight by Unanimous Decision.
She faced Molly Helsel at Smackgirl - Women Hold Their Ground on September 15, 2006. She won the fight by armbar submission in the second round and became the second Smackgirl Middleweight (128-Pound) Champion.
On April 14, 2007, Akano faced Amanda Buckner at BodogFight - Clash of the Nations. She was defeated by Unanimous Decision.
Miesha Tate (pronounced /ˈmiːʃə/; born August 18, 1986) is a professional mixed martial artist. She is the former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion and the current Freestyle Cage Fighting Women's Bantamweight Champion. She has also competed and won a silver medal in the FILA Grappling Championships.
Tate is currently the #6-ranked pound-for-pound female MMA fighter in the world by MMARising.com and the #3-ranked 135-pound female fighter according to the Unified Women's MMA Rankings.
Tate wrestled on the boys' wrestling team in high school. In 2005, she won the high school women's state championship and went on to win nationals at the World Team Trials in the 158 lb division.
While attending Central Washington University Miesha's colleague, Rosalia Watson, encouraged her to attend the mixed martial arts club with her. Soon after attending, Tate officially joined the mixed martial arts sport club at Central Washington University that was run by her current boyfriend and trainer, Bryan Caraway. She amassed a 5-1 amateur record in MMA before turning pro.