Maborosi

Maborosi, known in Japan as Maboroshi no Hikari (Japanese: 幻の光, literally "phantasmic light", but best translated as 'a trick of the light') is a 1995 Japanese film by director Hirokazu Koreeda starring Makiko Esumi, Tadanobu Asano, and Takashi Naito. It is based on a novel by Teru Miyamoto.

The film won the Golden Osella for Best Director at the 1995 Venice Film Festival.

Plot summary

Yumiko (Esumi) and Ikuo (Asano) are a young Osaka couple who have a new baby. One day Ikuo is walking along the tracks and is hit by a train. It seems like he may have done this deliberately yet there is no apparent motive. A few years pass. Yumiko agrees to an arranged marriage with a widower, Tamio (Naitō), and she and Yuichi (her son, now played by Gohki Kashima) move to Tamio's house in a rustic village on the Sea of Japan coast, shot on location in Wajima, on the Noto Peninsula (the actual location where the film was shot is Uniumachi about 5 km west from Wajima along the coast, map location: 37.400260N, 136.852101E).

Kanon Wakeshima

Kanon Wakeshima (分島 花音, Wakeshima Kanon, born June 28, 1988) is a Japanese singer and cellist. Originally produced by musician and fashion designer Mana, Wakeshima debuted under the DefStar Records label on May 28, 2008 with the single "Still Doll", the ending theme for the anime adaptation of the manga series Vampire Knight. She also provided the voice for a maid that appears in the eighth episode of the series. Wakeshima's second single "Suna no Oshiro", released on November 12, 2008, was used as the ending theme for the series' second season (subtitled Guilty).

She was nominated for a Best Newcomer award for 2008 in the fourth annual Shōjo Beat Music Awards, nominees of which are determined by surveying "record companies, music journalists, music experts, and music fans".

Life and career

Early life

At the age of three, she began learning cello, marking her entry into the world of music. In junior high school she formed her own ensemble group. At the age of fifteen, she transited from her former classical ensembles into playing in the baroque section. Appearing in a variety of recitals and concerts throughout her school years, she began writing her own music and combining singing with her cello playing at the age of sixteen. As she transited from junior high school to high school, she began writing her own music and singing. She gave her first vocal performances during a high school festival.

Joe Inoue

Joe Inoue (井上ジョー, Inoue Jō, born August 30, 1985) is an American rock musician signed to Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Ki/oon Records label. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, to two Japanese immigrants. It was not until middle school that he became interested in music and that eventually led him to start his musical career in 2007. He was accepted to UCLA and UC Berkeley but had chosen music. Inoue performs every instrument on his recordings in addition to writing and composing the pieces on his own. Although he was born and raised in the United States, his first language is Japanese. He spoke Japanese at home and later learned English when he entered public school. He claims to have learned Japanese by reading manga and watching anime.

He gained prominence when his song "Closer" was used as the fourth opening theme for Naruto: Shippuden. His fifth single "Kaze no Gotoku" was used as the second theme song for the Yorinuki Gin Tama-san anime.

Inoue contributed to tetsuya's 2011 solo album Come On! by rapping on the track "Eden" and later wrote and was featured on TOTALFAT's 2011 single "World of Glory", later included on the album Damn Hero. He also wrote the track "Adrenaline" on high school friend and fellow musician Yoko Yazawa's second album Give Me!!!.