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Namie Amuro

Namie Amuro (安室 奈美恵; born September 20, 1977) is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a teen idol, and transitioned into a leading pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentation. Due to her career reinventions and longevity, she is known as an icon across Japan and Asia. She has been referred to as the "Queen of Japanese Pop", and her influence domestically has drawn equivalent comparisons to artists such as Janet Jackson and Madonna in Western pop culture.

Born in Naha, Okinawa, Amuro debuted as the lead singer of the idol group Super Monkey's in 1992 when she was 14 years old. Despite early sales disappointments, Amuro's rising popularity helped to score a major hit with the 1995 Eurobeat single "Try Me (Watashi o Shinjite)". Signing to Avex Trax for her solo career, Amuro catapulted to fame with a string of number one singles including "Chase the Chance" and "Don't Wanna Cry". A close partnership with renowned producer Tetsuya Komuro resulted in a dance-pop sound with Western influences. Her first four releases, including Sweet 19 Blues (1996) and Concentration 20 (1997), each received multi-million certifications. Her 1997 single "Can You Celebrate?" remains as the best selling single by a solo female artist in Japanese music history.

In the early 2000s, "Never End" became Amuro's last successful single before a decline in sales, and her music began evolving from pop to R&B as she reined in creative control of her career. This transition was marked by the Suite Chic project in 2002 and her sixth studio album Style (2003). Amuro's eighth studio album, Play (2007), with the hit single "Baby Don't Cry", began a period of commercial resurgence. Her comeback was solidified with the 2008 single "60s 70s 80s" and its parent release Best Fiction. She continued to experiment musically in the 2010s, dabbling in EDM and recording in English, beginning with her tenth studio album Uncontrolled (2012). It featured the million-certified single "Love Story". She later founded her own management company, Stella88, and record label, Dimension Point.

Amuro finished her career with the 2017 greatest hits album Finally, which became the best selling album of the decade and made her the only artist to achieve a million-seller in each of their teens, 20s, 30s and 40s. She officially retired from the music industry on September 16, 2018. As it coincided with the closure of the Heisei era (1989–2019), she became labelled as the representative "Heisei diva" with many calling it the "end of an era", in both senses.

Having sold more than 40 million records, Amuro is recognized as one of the best-selling artists in Japan by Oricon. She has received accolades from the Japan Record Awards, Japan Gold Disc Awards, MTV Video Music Awards Japan and the World Music Awards.

1977–1995: Early life and career beginnings
Namie Amuro was born on September 20, 1977, at Okinawa Red Cross Hospital in Naha, Okinawa. She is one of four children of Emiko Taira. Through her mother, Amuro is a quarter Italian. Having divorced when Amuro was only 4 years old, Taira raised her children solely in Okinawa – she worked as a nursery school employee and a bar hostess to support her family. Although Amuro had no ambition to become a singer, she was discovered at age 12, while visiting a friend. One year later, Amuro was scouted by Masayuki Makino, the owner of Okinawa Actors School, and eventually she was enrolled there. In 1991, Makino placed her in an idol group named Super Monkey's, with four other girls: Anna Makino, Hisako Arakaki, Minako Ameku and Nanako Takushi. The sixth member, Rino Nakasone, joined the group one year later. On September 16, 1992, Super Monkey's released their debut single, "Koi no Cute Beat/Mr USA". However, Anna Makino left the group at the end of that year. In 1993, the remaining members of Super Monkey's moved to Tokyo.

Super Monkey's did not gain much success and the group went through constant lineup changes. In 1994, the group changed their name to Namie Amuro with Super Monkey's to reflect Amuro's rising popularity as an upcoming actress and fashion model. Aside from group's musical activities, Amuro had bit parts in Japanese television series and small films. Super Monkey's experienced a large amount of success with their single "Try Me (Watashi o Shinjite)", produced by Italian eurobeat producer Dave Rodgers, and Japanese businessman Max Matsuura. Released on January 25, 1995, the song reached number eight on the Oricon Singles Chart, and stayed in the top 200 chart for 25 weeks. Despite the beginning success as a group, the other four members of the Super Monkey's formed their own sub-group, MAX, under the Japanese record label Avex Trax. As a result, Amuro released two more solo singles under Toshiba-EMI before moving to Avex Trax herself.

After signing with Avex Trax in 1995, the corresponding record company Avex Group enlisted Japanese musician Tetsuya Komuro to work with Amuro on her then-upcoming album. Amuro made her solo debut with Avex, releasing the single "Body Feels Exit" on October 25, 1995. It became a huge success in Japan, peaking at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart and sold over 882,000 units in Japan. Amuro's second single with Komuro, "Chase the Chance", became her first number-one single on the Oricon Singles Chart and her first single to sell over 1 million units in Japan. For Amuro's success with those singles, she won the Golden Arrow Award in 1995.

1996–1998: Sweet 19 Blues, Concentration 20, pregnancy, marriage, breakthrough, 181920 and motherhood
After a brief hiatus, Amuro released two more singles in 1996: "Don't Wanna Cry" and "You're My Sunshine". Both singles were successful in Japan, bringing her second and third consecutive number one singles, and both sold over one million units there. Amuro achieved huge success after the release of her first solo studio album, Sweet 19 Blues (1996). Released on July 22, it reached number one on the Oricon Albums Chart in Japan, and has sold over 3.6 million units. She released the album's final single, the title track, on August 21, 1996; it achieved success by peaking at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart, and shifted over 400,000 units in Japan. On November 27, 1996, she started work on her second solo studio album with Komuro, and released its lead single "A Walk in the Park". It gave Amuro her fourth number one single on the Oricon Singles Chart, and her fourth single to sell over one million units there. At the end of 1996, she was awarded the Grand Prix Award for her song "Don't Wanna Cry", the highest honor at the Japan Record Awards, making her the youngest artist to have won the award. On February 19, 1997, she released her single "Can You Celebrate?", which became her fifth number one single. The single became a huge success in Japan, eventually selling 2,750,000 units there, making it the best-selling single by a solo female artist in Japan. After releasing her sixth consecutive number one single "How to Be a Girl" on May 21, 1997, Amuro released her second album Concentration 20 in July of that year. It became her third number one album in Japan, and sold over 1.9 million units there. For additional promotion, she embarked her Concentration 20 Dome Tour in Japan, which achieved commercial success. By early August 1997, the total sales of Amuro's records reached 20 million units in Japan. During a press conference on October 22 of that year, Amuro confirmed her marriage to Japanese musician and TRF band member Masaharu "Sam" Maruyama. During the conference, she announced that she was three months pregnant with their first child. At the end of the year, she won the Grand Prix Award at the Japan Record Awards again for "Can You Celebrate?" and made her final appearance on the annual Japanese television music show 48th Kōhaku Uta Gassen before beginning her one-year hiatus from the music industry. She legally changed her name to Namie Maruyama, but continued to use her maiden name as her professional name.

Amuro's first compilation album, 181920, was released on January 28, 1998, and covers twelve singles which were released prior to her hiatus. The total sales of the album were around 2 million units in Japan. Four months later, on May 19, Amuro gave birth to her son, Haruto Maruyama at Maruyama Memorial General Hospital. She returned to the music industry by releasing the single "I Have Never Seen" on December 23, 1998. It became her eighth number one single on Oricon, and sold over 650,000 units in Japan. She made her first televised appearance on 49th Kōhaku Uta Gassen days later, performing a tearful rendition of her single "Can You Celebrate?".

1999–2001: Personal struggles, Genius 2000 and Break the Rules
Working on the album Genius 2000 with Komuro and American producer Dallas Austin, after releasing its first single "I Have Never Seen" in 1998, Amuro released its second single "Respect the Power of Love" on March 17, 1999. On the same day, news publication's in Amuro's hometown, Okinawa, reported that her mother, Emiko Taira, had been murdered. According to staff editors at The Japan Times, Emiko and her second husband, Tatsunobu Taira, were hit by an axe, owned by Kenji Taira, Emiko's ex-husband's brother. While her second husband survived with moderate injuries, Emiko was taken to hospital, and pronounced dead after noon on March 17. Kenji was then found dead in his car, after consuming insecticide. Upon hearing the news, Amuro postponed all promotional activities and flew back to Okinawa in order to identify her mother's body. A week later, the single debuted at the number two on the Oricon Singles Chart, beaten by the single "Dango 3 Kyodai". A third single, "Toi et Moi", was used for the Japanese animation movie Pokémon: The Movie 2000. Both singles proved successful, selling over 400,000 and 200,000 units in that region, respectively. Amuro made her first single debut with Austin on "Something 'Bout the Kiss", released on September 1, 1999. It became a success in Japan, reaching number three on the Oricon Singles Chart and sold over 390,000 units there. In January 2000, Amuro released her fourth studio album Genius 2000; it reached number one on the Oricon Albums Chart, and shifted over 800,000 units there. That same month, Amuro confirmed her separation from husband Masaharu. For the first half of 2000, Amuro embarked on her Genius 2000 Tour throughout Japan. She then released the single "Never End", in July, confirming work on her fifth studio album with Komuro and Austin. The single was used as part of the G8 Summit taking place in Okinawa, Japan that year. It was commissioned by late Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi, who asked Tetsuya Komuro to write a song conveying "a vision of harmony and interaction in the world in the 21st century". Obuchi later asked Amuro to perform the single at the summit.

Amuro's fifth studio album Break the Rules was released on December 20, 2000, and is her final full-length produced album with Komuro. It became her first studio album to miss the top spot, peaking at number two on the Oricon Albums Chart. Amuro's sales started to decline from this release, as the album only shifted 335,000 units in Japan. To promote the studio album, Amuro toured Japan in March 2001, and finished in May that same year. In August, she released the single "Say the Word"; it was her first single that she contributed to songwriting. This was her first single to be released after departing with Komuro, until years later, and was released in part of her upcoming greatest hits album. Since then, she started to produce her own activities. However, in December she worked with Komuro for the last time on "Lovin' It", a single released as part of Avex's Song+Nation charity project. The single featured Japanese rapper Verbal from the music group M-Flo.

2002–2004: Love Enhanced Single Collection, decline in sales and popularity, Suite Chic project and Style
Amuro released her second compilation album, Love Enhanced Single Collection, on March 13, 2002. The album reworked nearly every single released after her return from hiatus in 1998, with new vocals, mixes or rearrangements. The single "I Will" was released a month before the album and became Amuro's first single below 100,000 units in sales. Although the album was moderately successful, peaking at number three and shifting over 300,000 units, it only sold a fraction of its predecessor 181920 (1998). In July 2002, Amuro divorced Maruyama, and legally changed her name back to Namie Amuro, having cited irreconcilable differences. According to reports, her divorce was due to her personal issues with Maruyama's family. Retrospectively, The Times attributed her loss in popularity during this era to the attention surrounding her personal struggles, while The Japan Times cited the rise of newer artists Hikaru Utada and Ayumi Hamasaki, who achieved great success in the wake of her hiatus. In a 2005 interview, Amuro said: "Even my closest friend said I was finished, but I think I may be a little different from the others. My popularity plunged three years ago and I didn’t try to court publicity. It was a real challenge forcing myself to be consistent in not playing up to my fans." Amuro started work on her sixth studio and third collaboration album with Dallas Austin, releasing Diane Warren-written single "Wishing on the Same Star" on September 11, 2002. The single saw a large slip in Amuro's sales, only shifting 95,000 units by the end of the year. In December 2002, Amuro was part of the musical project Suite Chic, involving several Japanese artists like Verbal, Zeebra, Dabo and DJ Muro. The project released two singles, one studio album and one remix album before dissolution in 2003.

Amuro returned to solo activities in mid-2003, releasing the singles "Shine More", "Put 'Em Up", and the double A-side singles: "So Crazy" and "Come". The single's saw an exploration of westernised musical styles with American producers, including R&B producers Full Force and the work of Austin. "Come" was used for the Japanese anime InuYasha, and is a re-arranged song that was originally recorded by Australian recording artist and TV personality Sophie Monk. At the end of the year, she released her sixth studio album and first album in three years, Style. The album became her lowest chart album on the Oricon Albums Chart, peaking at number four. It is also her lowest selling studio album, shifting only 222,000 units in that region. To promote the studio album, Amuro conducted her So Crazy Tour Featuring Best Singles on November 29. The tour concluded in Japan on April 11, 2004. She extended the concert tour, marked as a promotional appearance, in Taiwan, and South Korea. Shortly after the tour, she released the single "All for You" on July 22, 2004, confirming work on her seventh studio album. This was followed by the double A-side single "Girl Talk" and "Girl Talk/The Speed Star", released on October 14, 2004. It was successful in Japan, peaking at number two, and sold over 107,000 units in that region; it became her first top three single in two years. Amuro decided not to appear on 55th Kōhaku Uta Gassen, although she had been invited to perform at the event. She had previously attended the event nine years in a row.

2005–2006: Queen of Hip-Pop and expansion into Asia
In April 2005, Amuro released the single "Want Me, Want Me". The song was a success in Japan, reaching number two on Oricon Singles Chart, and sold over 103,000 units in that region. In May, following a three-year split from Maruyama, Japanese publications reported that she would take back full custody of their child, Haruto. In August, she was granted full custody of Haruto with visitation rights by Maruyama. On May 29, Amuro performed at MTV Video Music Awards Japan for the fourth consecutive year in a row. She won two awards, "Best R&B Video" and "Most Impressive Performing Asian Artist", making her the first artist to win MTV VMAJ awards four years in a row (she won "Inspiration Award" in 2002, "Best Collaboration" in 2003 and "Best R&B Video" in 2004). Amuro released her seventh studio album Queen of Hip-Pop in July 2005. The album includes four singles: "Alarm", "All For You", "Girl Talk/The Speed Star" and "Want Me, Want Me". Queen of Hip-Pop was a success, reaching number two on the Oricon Albums Chart, and sold over 455,000 units in Japan. In collaboration with MGM Studios, Amuro was granted permission to use Pink Panther in the album. A female panther counterpart was created for the album as well. Both panther characters appeared in the music video of "WoWa". In September 2005, Amuro embarked on her Space of Hip-Hop concert tour in Japan. Shortly after the commencement of the tour, she announced that she would contribute to the Japanese theatrical release of the film Sin City (2005). After viewing the movie, Amuro made an offer to the Japanese distribution company to sing its theme song; the company, feeling that her image fit the movie, accepted her offer. The theme song, "Violet Sauce", was later released as part of a double A-side single, "White Light/Violet Sauce", in November 2005. It achieved moderate success in Japan, reaching number seven on the Oricon Singles Chart, and sold over 72,000 units there. The movie's director, Robert Rodriguez, was impressed by the song and asked to be a part of it; he can be heard saying "Welcome to Sin City" towards the end of the song. Shortly after the single, she released Filmography 2001–2005' (2006), a compilation of twelve of her music videos between the years 2001 to 2005. Amuro collaborated with Japanese recording artists Zeebra, Ai, and Mummy-D on Zeebra's album, The New Beginning, released in February 2006, in a song called "Do What U Gotta Do". In May, she released the double A-side single "Can't Sleep, Can't Eat, I'm Sick/Ningyo", which peaked at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart and shifted over 80,000 units in Japan. In August 2006, Amuro conducted her first annual tour Best Tour Live Style 2006, spanning between August and November 2006. Released in February 2007, the Live DVD of the tour was placed on the second position by Oricon. Its total sales exceeded 90,000 units in Japan.

2007–2009: Resurgence of sales, revived popularity, Play, Best Fiction and Past<Future
Amuro released the third single from her upcoming eight studio album, "Baby Don't Cry" on January 24, 2007; it was used as the theme song for the Japanese television series Himitsu no Hanazono. It was successful in Japan, reaching number three on the Oricon Singles Chart, and sold over 144,000 units in that region, her highest selling single since "Say the Word". Based on ringtone sales, it became her first single to shift over one million units since "How to Be a Girl". Alongside this, she achieved the distinction in having a top ten single each year for 13 consecutive years, breaking the solo female artist's record in Japan by Kyōko Koizumi and Shizuka Kudō. At the end of 2007, it ranked at number seven on the RIAJ yearly ringtone sales charts. She then released the fourth and final single, "Funky Town", on April 4, 2007. It achieved moderate success on the Oricon Singles Chart, peaking at number seven, and shifted over 54,000 units. She was also featured on Japanese group, M-Flo's album, Cosmicolor, in a song titled "Luvotomy". Her eighth studio album, Play, was released on June 27, 2007. The album charted atop of the Oricon Albums Chart, becoming Amuro's first number-one album in more than 7 years. To promote the album, Amuro conducted her concert tour in Japan, titled Play Tour 2007, spanning between August 18, 2007, and February 27, 2008. Originally consisting of 53 performances, it increased by 12 performances to 65 performances, making this Amuro's longest spanning tour. On the day when Play Tour 2007 concluded, Amuro released the Live DVD of the tour. It was placed on the second position by Oricon.

In early 2008, Amuro confirmed that she would promote Japanese hair company Vidal Sassoon through their new marketing campaign Fashion x Music x VS, with a new single. The single, though marketed as an extended play, was titled 60s 70s 80s, and consisted of three songs: "New Look", "Rock Steady", and "What A Feeling". The songs feature samples from The Supremes's "Baby Love" (1964), Aretha Franklin's "Rock Steady" (1971) and Irene Cara's "What A Feeling" (1983), respectively. 60s 70s 80s became a huge success in Japan, reaching number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, and sold over 293,000 units in that region, becoming Amuro's first number-one single since "I Have Never Seen" and her highest selling single since "Baby Don't Cry". On March 25, 2008, Amuro was awarded "Best Female Video" for "Hide & Seek" (from the album Play) at Space Shower Music Video Awards. "Hide & Seek" also won the award for "Best R&B Video" at MTV Video Music Awards, which was held at the Saitama Super Arena on May 31. In the same month, Amuro recorded a collaboration with Japanese musician Double in a song called "Black Diamond". Despite lacklustre success on the Oricon Singles Chart, it sold over 500,000 ringtone units. On July 26, Amuro participated at the 2008 A-nation music concert; an estimated 25,000 people attended her performance. This was the first time she was invited to perform in seven years. On July 30, she released her third greatest hits album, Best Fiction. Featuring tracks between 2003 and 2008, Best Fiction sold 681,000 copies in the first week and debuted at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart. Within its third week, Best Fiction sold over one million units, making her the first artist to have one million certified album in three consecutive decades. Best Fiction eventually spent six consecutive weeks at the number-one position, becoming the first album to do so in more than 14 years since the Dreams Come True's 1993 album Magic. By the end of 2008, Best Fiction became the second best-selling album behind Exile's Exile Love. In addition, it became the second best selling digital-format album by a Japanese artist behind Hikaru Utada's Heart Station. Best Fiction was awarded the Album of the Year award at the 50th Japan Record Awards. To promote the album, Amuro conducted her Best Fiction Tour, spanning between October 25, 2008, and July 12, 2009. The Live DVD and Blu-ray of the tour were released on September 9, 2009. Amuro was invited again to the 59th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, but she declined.

On January 20, 2009, Amuro begun working on her ninth studio album, and featured a new track entitled "Dr." through a Vidal Sassoon commercial. She then released the album's lead double A-side singles, "Wild/Dr.," on March 18, 2009. The song was a success, peaking at number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, and sold over 119,000 units in that region. As a result, she also broke her own record of having all of her singles debut in the top 10 (on the Oricon Daily Singles Chart) for the last 15 years. Amuro collaborated with Japanese music group Ravex on a song for their album Trax (2008), entitled "Rock U". On October 1, Vidal Sassoon released new commercials featuring Amuro, and two tracks from her ninth studio album, "My Love" and "Copy That". On December 16, 2009, Amuro released her ninth studio album, Past<Future. The album was a success on the Oricon Albums Chart, reaching number one, and sold over 600,000 units in that region, slightly higher than the sales of Play.

2010–2012: Award at WMA 2010, Checkmate!, Uncontrolled and 20th anniversary commemoration
To promote Past<Future, Amuro travelled throughout 26 cities in Japan to conduct her Past<Future Tour 2010, which began on April 3, 2010, in Ichihara, Chiba and concluded on December 15, 2010, in Nagoya, Aichi. On the day when Past<Future Tour 2010 ended, Amuro released the Live DVD and Blu-ray of the tour, which reached the top spot on the Oricon DVD charts and shifted over 100,000 copies. On May 18, 2010, Amuro won the Best Asian Artist award at World Music Awards in Monte Carlo, Monaco. There, she performed her track "Hide & Seek" from her album Play. Two months later, she released her double A-side single "Break It/Get Myself Back", which performed well on several record charts in Japan. On December 15, 2010, together with the premiere of Live DVD and Blu-ray of Past<Future Tour 2010, the Blu-rays of Space of Hip-Pop, BEST Tour Live Style 2006 and PLAY Tour 2007 were also released.

On April 27, 2011, Amuro published her fifth compilation and second collaboration album Checkmate!, her first musical release of the year. The album featured nine collaborative tracks Amuro had participated in throughout her career and four new recordings: "Wonder Woman", "Make It Happen", "Unusual" and "#1". Checkmate! was a commercial success, reaching the top spot on Oricon and distributed over 500,000 units in Japan. On July 27, Amuro released her first triple A-side single, "Naked/Fight Together/Tempest". Although it reached number two on Oricon Singles Chart, "Fight Together" was used as the theme song of the anime series One Piece. "Naked/Fight Together/Tempest" achieved better sales through digital store and certified double platinum by RIAJ. At the end of July 2011, Amuro conducted her first arena tour Live Style 2011 to promote Checkmate! and some new materials taken from her then-upcoming studio record. "Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!/Love Story" was the next double A-side single from Amuro's upcoming studio album, released on December 7, 2011. While the physical release of the single exceeded 100,000 units in Japan, "Love Story" shifted over 3 million digital copies throughout Japan, becoming one of Amuro's highest-selling singles to date. The single also featured two unreleased tracks: "Higher" and "Arigatou". "Higher" made an appearance on her Live Style 2011, whereas "Arigatou" was made available as a free download on Amuro's official Facebook page. The Live DVD and Blu-ray of the tour were released on December 21, 2011.

The final single, "Go Round/Yeah-Oh!", was released on March 21, 2012, and continued the 100,000 sales streak in Japan. In April, the singer confirmed the release of her 10th studio and first bilingual album Uncontrolled, which premiered on June 27, 2012. The album proved to be commercially successful, reaching the top spot on the Oricon Albums Chart and shifted 500,000 units throughout Japan. Uncontrolled also gave her the highest first-week sales of the year, and her 10th overall number one in the region. On September 16, Amuro was scheduled to host a special concert tour in her hometown Okinawa, commemorating her 20th anniversary in the music business. However, due to typhoon warnings in the region, the tour was cancelled and never rescheduled. After debuting her first digital single "Damage" on October 31, Amuro finished the year by conducting her 5 Major Domes Tour 2012 in Japan, spanning between November 24 and December 21, 2012, attended by around 340,000 people. Released on February 27, 2013, the Live DVD and Blu-ray of the tour were placed on the first position by Oricon. Their total sales exceeded 300,000 units in Japan.

2013–2015: Feel, Ballada and Genic
On March 6, 2013, Amuro released her double A-side single "Big Boys Cry/Beautiful". Although both tracks appeared in the commercials for the make-up brand Kosé, its commercial experience resulted in being the singer's worst-performing single to date, barely shifting 30,000 units in Japan. Amuro returned to sole-digital releases with her single "Contrail", which was used as the theme song for the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) series Flying Public Relations Office, and sold over 250,000 digital copies in Japan. Additionally, two more songs were released on the iTunes Store to promote her then-upcoming album: "Hands on Me" and "Heaven". On July 10, 2013, Amuro released her 11th studio and second bilingual album Feel. This was her first studio release through her own record label Dimension Point, which was operated under Avex Trax. Despite offering the track "Beautiful" as a single, it did not appeal on the final track list of the album. It was commercially successful on the Oricon Albums Chart, debuting at the top spot and was certified platinum by RIAJ. In support of the album, Amuro conducted her FEEL Tour 2013, spanning between August 16 and December 23, 2013. The Live DVD and Blu-ray of the tour were released on February 26, 2014. During the course of Amuro's digital releases, she was offered to feature in the remake of "Waterfalls", a song originally recorded by American girl-group TLC. Amuro—who knew the group during the singer's sessions with producer Dallas Austin, and whose fellow Okinawa Actors School alumni Speed had been huge fans of TLC—accepted the role, and re-recorded the rap segment as a homage to previous member Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes, who had died in a car accident in La Ceiba, Honduras in 2002. Despite being a Japan-only release, Amuro's version was heavily criticized and caused controversy over the announcement of Amuro's involvement prior to know acknowledgement of Lopes family. However, TLC defended Amuro's involvement due to the fact neither member had commercial rights to use Lopes vocals, and decided to "use creative ways to honor Lisa’s memory and celebrate this milestone with the fans".

In 2014, Amuro released her single "Tsuki", including the title track and two previous digital compositions – "Ballerina" and "Neonlight Lipstick". The physical single was successful in sales, while the title song achieved a platinum award by the RIAJ. On June 4, 2014, Amuro released Ballada, her first conceptual greatest hits compilation. 15 tracks were all selected via a fan poll on the singer's website, and a few selection were re-recorded with new vocals and arrangements by Amuro. Additionally, a bonus DVD package included new music videos for her 1990's singles "Sweet 19 Blues" and "Can You Celebrate?", and two newly established videos for "Himawari" and "Four Seasons". It was placed on the first position by Oricon, and shifted under 500,000 units in Japan. In support of the album, Amuro conducted her second nationwide tour Live Style 2014, spanning between August 22 and December 23, 2014. The Live DVD and Blu-ray of the tour were released on February 11, 2015, through her label Dimension Point. In November 2014, Amuro released her first stand-alone single titled "Brighter Day", which featured a total of three different tracks and instrumentals. It was moderately successful on the Oricon Singles Chart, whereas the titular track sold over 250,000 digital copies in Japan. That same month, Amuro collaborated with Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai on a song titled "I'm Not Yours", which was released as a track on Tsai's album Play (2014). The music video of the song was published on YouTube on February 2, 2015.

On June 10, 2015, Amuro released her 12th studio and third bilingual album Genic. It marked her first record with her own management company Stella88, which she founded after leaving Vision Factory. Despite there being five music videos from the record, the entire collection of tracks were newly recorded and featured no singles. However, it was a commercial success, peaking atop of Oricon Albums Chart and sold 250,000 copies in Japan alone. In collaboration with Google, the music video of "Anything", one of the songs from Genic, was produced as an extension of Google Chrome. To promote the album, Amuro conducted her Livegenic 2015–2016 tour, spanning between September 5, 2015, and February 10, 2016. During the course of her December concert dates, Amuro released her second independent maxi-single "Red Carpet" on December 2, 2015. The B-side track of the single, "Black Make Up", was used as the ending soundtrack of the anime series One Piece. Despite reaching number two on Oricon Singles Chart, the sales of "Red Carpet" slumped and only shifted 36,000 units in Japan, making it one of Amuro's lowest-selling singles to date. The Live DVD and Blu-ray of LIVEGENIC 2015–2016 were released on March 2, 2016.

2016–2018: Return of maxi-single releases, 25th anniversary commemoration, Finally and retirement
On May 18, 2016, Amuro released her third independent maxi-single "Mint", which was used as the theme song of Fuji TV series Bokuno Yabai Tsuma (2016). Despite reaching number four on the region's single chart, the digital sales skyrocketed with the music video of the song, and achieved platinum status months later. The same year in June, Amuro accepted an offer by NHK to record the theme song for the Japanese broadcast of 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. The single was titled "Hero" and saw a rise in its physical sales, achieving a gold certification by RIAJ. On October 26, 2016, Amuro released two songs "Dear Diary" and "Fighter" as a double A-side single "Dear Diary/Fighter". Both songs were used in Death Note: Light Up the New World, a 2016 movie adaption of the manga of the same name.

Amuro conducted her fourth annual tour Live Style 2016–2017, spanning between August 19, 2016, and May 3, 2017. The tour initially scheduled 88 dates, but due to a higher demand and further promotional activities with singles and the unreleased track "Christmas Wish", Amuro added 13 dates. The Live DVD and Blu-ray of the tour were released on May 3, 2017, and certified gold by RIAJ. On May 31, 2017, Amuro released her single "Just You and I", which sold over 100,000 digital units according to RIAJ. The following month, Amuro announced her 25th anniversary concert in her hometown Okinawa, which redeemed her cancelled 20th anniversary concert on September 16, 2012, due to typhoon warnings in the region. She opened the show on September 16 and 17, with 52,000 attenders totally (26,000 attenders each day), resulting in being one of the largest for a Japanese concert. Additionally, Amuro announced her third-time collaboration with One Piece. The anime's theme song, "Hope", premiered on October 1, 2017.

On September 20, 2017, Amuro's 40th birthday, she announced her plan to retire from the music industry on September 16, 2018. Her final compilation album, Finally, was released on November 8, 2017. The album includes new recordings and re-recordings of her selected singles from 1992 to 2017. Finally became a huge success in Japan – it was placed on the first position by Oricon and sold in 2,250,000 units by the end of 2017. In support of the album, Amuro conducted Final Tour 2018 ~Finally~ as her farewell tour, spanning between February 17 and June 3, 2018. The tour took place in Nagoya Dome, Fukuoka Dome, Sapporo Dome, Osaka Dome and Tokyo Dome. During this tour, Amuro conducted another tour, named Final Tour 2018 ~Finally~ In Asia, to perform in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Taking place in Shenzhen Bay Sports Center, Hong Kong Coliseum and Taipei Arena, Final Tour 2018 ~Finally~ In Asia began on March 17 and concluded on May 20, 2018.

On May 23, 2018, Amuro was awarded "Okinawa's National Honor Award" at Okinawa Prefecture Government Office in Naha. By August 21, the total number of pre-ordered Live DVD and Blu-ray of Final Tour 2018 (the concerts in Japan only) exceeded 1 million units in Japan. On August 25, One Piece featured the anime version of Amuro at the end of one of its episodes to bid a farewell to her. The Live DVD and Blu-ray of Final Tour 2018 (the concerts in Japan only) were released on August 29, 2018. On September 15, Amuro made her final appearance as an entertainer at the "We ♥ Namie Hanabi Show: I ♥ Okinawa / I ♥ Music" at the Okinawa Convention Center, a commemoration of Amuro's career and other cultural and musical aspects in Okinawa. She officially retired from the entertainment industry on September 16, 2018. On September 30, 2018, her official website, official fanclub, official Facebook page, and official online store officially terminated service. On June 16, 2019, Amuro released her entire music collection onto the iTunes store (most of which was previously restricted to Japan), through her label Dimension Point. Her records published by her own label were also released through Apple Music, Apple's streaming service, on the same day. In November 2023, 5 years after her continued silence after her retirement, Amuro's creative content including her full discography on streaming services, music videos, online stores, and her official YouTube channel were removed from official internet sites. As of June 2024, her official content is still absent from streaming services.

Artistry
Amuro has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. By 2000, the English language started to heavily mix in with her music, starting with Genius 2000. In several tracks, Amuro would record her vocals in Japanese (and additionally in English), whereas back-up vocalists would provide English translations and marry the two together. By Play, the singer would start to record tracks with less electronic synths and beats, particularly with the album track "Baby Don't Cry". According to Mills, he felt that the song focused more on her vocals than the production. Her final three studio albums, Uncontrolled, Feel and Genic, had multiple full-length English tracks and, although it received positive remarks for experimentation, she was frequently lambasted for her incomprehensible deliveries in most songs.

Throughout her career, Amuro has covered a wide range of musical styles and genres. Her music through the 1990s were influenced by eurobeat and the rise of J-pop music. Additionally, she identifies Madonna and Janet Jackson as her inspirations, despite constant comparisons with sound and imagery by critics and publications alike. Sweet 19 Blues stuck with J-pop elements, but she began to experiment with Western genres such as R&B, jungle, acid house, house and jazz. From Genius 2000, she worked with American producer Dallas Austin, resulting in a fully adapted hip hop record with elements of J-pop. She carried this sound on with Style (2003), another record produced by Austin, and eventually onto Queen of Hip-Pop (2005). Amuro's transition from J-pop to "more mature, transatlantic" R&B was noted by critics, and the aforementioned title "Queen of Hip-Pop" was used by the Japanese media to identify her (the term "Hip-Pop" is Amuro's combination of hip-hop and pop).

In 2007, Amuro released Play, which was highlighted as one of her key re-inventions of her entire career. Sonically, the record relied on R&B and hip hop elements, but started to involve contemporary dance-pop music. To an extent, Tills from AllMusic compared the effort to the works of Jennifer Lopez and En Vogue. Uncontrolled (2012) saw yet another transition with her sound, leaving R&B and focusing on electronic dance music. Additionally, this saw her first experimentation with full-length English language tracks. Unlike her previous records, Uncontrolled ventured into Western practitioners to helm the collection, including the likes of The Nervo Twins, Henrik Nordenback, Christian Fast and Peter Mansson. This trend also moved onto her follow-up album Feel, where she worked with artists such as Hook n Sling, Dsign Music and Zedd. Her final studio album, Genic (2015), was her first record not handled by Japanese producers, and her second record to include almost all tracks entirely in English (after her 2013 album Feel).

Legacy

Ever since her debut, Amuro has been classified as one of Japan's most prominent and successful singers. In an opined article published by The Japan Times, writer Ian Martin encompassed the singer alongside superlatives Yumi Matsutoya, Hikaru Utada, Seiko Matsuda and Hibari Misora as the leading female figures in Japanese music history. Although Martin identified Utada as one of the "only contemporaries" to break the Western society, he felt Amuro was her "most immediate predecessor," based solely on the fact that "[Amuro] represented a period when Japanese pop was learning to see itself as something that could stand alongside the Western music from which it took many cues." Additionally, Amuro's career has been constantly compared to the likes of Matsuda's, both whom grew up in the idol routine and having achieved commercial resilience ever since; music author Motti Regev regarded the musicians as part of the "golden age of J-Pop", before records declined due to the rise of the digital market in the mid-2000s. Because of her longevity and the numerous musical and imagery re-inventions, numerous publications have referred her as the "Queen of Japanese Pop" and the Japanese equivalent to American singers Janet Jackson and Madonna.

Throughout her years active as a singer, Amuro has sold more than 36 million records in Japan according to Oricon. According to a report by Entertainment Weekly announcing her retirement, she has sold more albums in Japan than Lady Gaga, Katy Perry or Kesha have in the United States combined. As of 2017, this makes her the fifth highest-selling female act, and fourth best-selling female solo act overall, just behind Yumi Matsutoya, Ayumi Hamasaki, Hikaru Utada, and Japanese all-girl idol group AKB48 (see total list here). Additionally, Amuro was ranked the 12th best-selling digital artist according to Japanese digital site Recochoku. The singer has achieved nine number-one studio albums with an additional five compilation/collaborative inclusions, and 10 number-one singles. She is one of the only female solo artists to achieve the most accumulations of million-certified physical singles, with a total of five ("Chase the Chance", "Don't Wanna Cry", "You're My Sunshine", "A Walk in the Park" and "Can You Celebrate?" – see her discography for more). "Can You Celebrate?" still remains the best-selling physical release by a female singer—with estimate sales of 2.750 million copies sold in Japan alone. For a brief period in 1996, her second studio album Sweet 19 Blues was the best-selling album in Japanese music history. Additionally, she held the record for the highest-opening sales for a female or solo artist until it was challenged by Hikaru Utada's 1999 studio album First Love, which to this day stands as the best-selling album in Japan.

With her sudden rise to stardom, Amuro was noted by journalists and commentators as a trendsetter to the Japan and across Asia. She eventually became the most prominent figure in fashion magazines and the general press for changing the typical Japanese idol image and styles of women in Japan, in favour of "dyeing their hair brown, plucking their eyebrows... thick-soled/long boots, a miniskirt, tanned-skin and tattoos". This made her a fashion icon, and created a phenomenon fan base known as Amuraa in the 1990s, with many young girls and women looked up to her fashion, hairstyle and makeup. Additionally, her style has been noted for paving the way for kogal fashion trends in Japan, as well as for the gyaru subculture. Anthropologist Hiroshi Aoyagi said in 2003 that Amuro changed the stereotypical idol culture. Writer Marwan Kraidy described Amuro in 2005 as part of "Japan's rising cultural power" towards the world. Nichi-Bei Josei Jānaru, writing for the U.S.-Japan Women's Journal, believed the success of Sweet 19 Blues was the reason many people emulated her as a role model between 1996 and 1997.

Discography

 * Dance Tracks Vol. 1 (1995)
 * Sweet 19 Blues (1996)
 * Concentration 20 (1997)
 * Genius 2000 (2000)
 * Break The Rules (2000)
 * Style (2003)
 * Queen of Hip-Pop (2005)
 * Play (2007)
 * Past<Future (2009)
 * Uncontrolled (2012)
 * Feel (2013)
 * Genic (2015)

Japan tours

 * A Walk in the Park Tour (1997)
 * Summer Stage Concentration 20 Live (1997)
 * Genius 2000 Tour (2000)
 * Break the Rules Tour (2001)
 * Tour "AMR" 01 (2001)
 * Fan Space 04 Tour (2004)
 * Space of Hip-Pop Tour (2005)
 * Namie Amuro Best Tour Live Style (2006)
 * Past<Future Tour (2010)
 * Namie Amuro Live Style (2011)
 * Feel Tour (2013)
 * Namie Amuro Live Style (2014)
 * Namie Amuro Live Style 88 (2016–2017)

Asia tours

 * So Crazy Tour (2003–2004)
 * Play Tour (2007)
 * Best Fiction Tour (2008–2009)
 * 5 Major Domes Tour 2012 ~20th Anniversary Best~ (2012)
 * Namie Amuro Asia Tour (2013)
 * Namie Amuro Livegenic (2015–2016)
 * Namie Amuro Final Tour 2018 ~Finally~ (2017–2018)

Video games

 * Digital Dance Mix Vol. 1 Amuro Namie (1997, Sega Saturn)

title: Namie Amuro


text:
User talk:Maroux/archive1

Welcome
Hello, welcome to Wikipedia.

You might find these links helpful in creating new pages or helping with the above tasks: How to edit a page, How to write a great article, Naming conventions, Manual of Style. You should read our policies at some point too.

If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian!

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Again, welcome! - UtherSRG 14:09, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User talk:Maroux/archive1


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User:Yohan~enwiki

More informations on the french wikipedia : Yohan

title: User:Yohan~enwiki


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Yuri Shiratori

Yuri Shiratori (白鳥 由里) is a Japanese voice actress and J-pop singer. She released various solo CD albums. She is employed by 81 Produce.

Anime

 * Iczer Reborn (1990 OVA ), Nagisa Kasumi
 * The Brave Fighter of Legend Da-Garn (1992 TV ), Hotaru Sakurakoji
 * Hime-chan's Ribbon (1992 TV ), Aiko Nonohara
 * YuYu Hakusho (1992 TV ), Yukina, Pu
 * Kouryu Densetsu Villgust (1992 OVA ), Remi
 * Please Save My Earth (1993 OVA ), Alice Sakaguchi
 * Mega Man: Upon a Star (1993 OVA ), Akane Kobayashi
 * Tonde Burin (1994 TV ), Karin Kokubu
 * Magic Knight Rayearth (1994 TV ), Mokona, Primera
 * Hyper Doll (1995 OVA ), Shoko
 * Iczer Girl Iczelion (1995 OVA ), Nagisa Kai
 * Megami Paradise (1995 OVA ), Lilith
 * Twin Signal (1996 OVA ), Elara
 * Rurouni Kenshin (January 10, 1996 TV ), Sanjō Tsubame
 * Saber Marionette J (1996 TV ), Cherry
 * Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997 TV ), Nanami Kiryu
 * Berserk (1997 TV ), Princess Charlotte
 * Pokémon (1997 TV ), Fūko, Tsutsuji, Izuna, Namiko, Azumi
 * Popolocrois (October 4, 1998 TV ), Narcia/Kai
 * Monster Rancher (1999 TV ), Mocchi
 * Candidate for Goddess (2000 TV ), Tune Youg
 * Boys Be (2000 TV ), Aki Mizutani
 * Love Hina (2000 TV ), Mei Narusegawa
 * Angelic Layer (2001 TV ), Hatoko Kobayashi
 * Princess Tutu (2002 TV ), Lilie
 * Inuyasha (2002 TV ), Koume
 * Sonic X (2003 TV ), Maria Robotnik
 * Negima!: Magister Negi Magi (2004 OVA ), Sayo Aisaka
 * Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime Gyu! (2005 TV ), Bibin
 * Karin (2005 TV ), Elda Marker
 * The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006 TV ), Emiri Kimidori
 * Negima!? (2006 TV ), Sayo Aisaka
 * Kirarin Revolution (2007 TV ), - Misaki Shirahama
 * Neo Angelique (2008 OVA ), Angelique
 * Kamisama Minarai: Himitsu no Cocotama (2016 TV ), Paline, Akane Saionji, Charlotte
 * UQ Holder! (2017 TV ), Sayo Aisaka

Video games

 * Variable Geo (1993 PC ), Kaori Yanase
 * Astal (1995, Sega Saturn) Leda
 * Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere (1999 PS ), Rena Hirose
 * Valkyrie Profile (1999 PS ), Shiho
 * PopoloCrois Story II (2000 PS/ ), Narcia/Kai
 * Sonic Adventure 2 (2001 Dreamcast), Maria Robotnik
 * Super Robot Wars MX (2004 PS2 ), Aqua Centolm
 * Shadow the Hedgehog (2005 GC, <abbr title="PlayStation 2">PS2 , Xbox), Maria Robotnik
 * Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale (2015 <abbr title="Nintendo 3DS">3DS ), Narcia
 * PopoloCrois Story Narcia's Tears and the Fairy's Flute (2018 <abbr title="Smartphone">Android/iOS/ ), Narcia

Films

 * Doki Doki Wildcat Engine (2000), Robin
 * Slayers Premium (2001), Ruma
 * Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea (2006), Manaphy

Voice over (dubbing)

 * The Raccoons (1985 animated TV ), Lisa Raccoon (Japanese dub) – also in French
 * Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000 film), Young Tasha (Laura Bower)
 * Hot Wheels World Race (2003 animated film), Gelorum
 * Hot Wheels AcceleRacers (2005 animated film), Gelorum

title: Yuri Shiratori


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New River Valley

Virginia's New River Valley region, colloquially named, is a four-county area along the New River in Southwest Virginia in the United States, including such major features as Claytor Lake, part of the Jefferson National Forest, the city of Radford, the town of Blacksburg, and the river itself, including the Pulaski terminus of the New River Trail State Park.

Local TV stations and tourism marketing promoters use the phrase to mean the counties of Giles, Pulaski, Montgomery and Floyd, the towns within them (e.g., Blacksburg), and the independent City of Radford, all located in the New River watershed. While Floyd County is not on the New River itself, it shares the Little River (New River tributary) with Montgomery and Pulaski.

Radford is nicknamed "The New River City," as it and the nearby Radford Arsenal are wrapped by bold loops in the river where it turns from flowing northeast to flowing northwest into West Virginia.

The "New River Valley" name is also used by other institutions in the region, including the New River Valley Community College and New River Valley Regional Jail, both in the Pulaski County town of Dublin, although they serve a wider region than the tourism-centered "NRV" promotions. With the exception of Floyd, the communities in the NRV promotion area comprise the statistical Blacksburg–Christiansburg metropolitan area.

Farther south in Virginia, outside the "Visit NRV" marketing campaign, the New River also flows through Wythe, Carroll, and Grayson Counties, and its physical watershed includes parts of Tazewell and Bland Counties, and small portions of Smyth and Craig Counties. Outside of Virginia, the New River continues upstream into North Carolina and downstream into West Virginia.

Geologically part of the Great Appalachian Valley, the New River Valley became a contested frontier area in colonial times, and continued during the westward expansion of the United States. The first European to explore the valley was Abraham Wood of Fort Henry in 1671 and settlements began to develop in the 18th century. A branch of the Great Wagon Road led through the valley. The area was the location of several small American Civil War battles.

While the U S. census does not count the "New River Valley" as a region, the government-recognized Blacksburg–Christiansburg metropolitan area includes the three larger counties and the city of Radford; adding Floyd County, population 15,000, puts the "NRV" region's population over 190,000. The New River Valley has several institutions of higher learning, including Virginia Tech, Radford University, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine and New River Community College.

title: New River Valley


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Public holidays in Rwanda

This is a list of public holidays in Rwanda. Rwanda observes fourteen regular public holidays.

Additionally, the week following Genocide Memorial Day on 7 April is designated an official week of mourning. The last Saturday of each month is umuganda, a national day of community service, during which most normal services remain closed until midday.

title: Public holidays in Rwanda


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Public holidays in Saudi Arabia

Public holidays in Saudi Arabia ( Arabic: العطل الرسمية في السعودية ) In Saudi Arabia there are few holidays, compared with other countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council, but they have long-term holidays from 10 to 12 days. Where the expense of public holidays in Saudi Arabia only as days of work, in addition to the daily Friday and Saturday weekend, amounting to vacations up to more than two weeks.

Government departments and institutions are suspended in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the festival holidays for holiday Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha to the public sector if there is a time and one day the reality of the weekend and the Eid holiday, this day is added to the Eid vacation.

Calendar
Saudi Arabia follows the Islamic calendar, which consists of 12 months but only 354 or 355 days.

Working time and official holidays
Working hours begin at 8:00 AM and end at 2:00 PM for government departments. Businesses operate Sunday - Thursday and some businesses operate on Saturday as well. The operation hours are in the morning from 10:00 AM–12:00 PM and in the afternoon from 4:00 PM–10:00 PM but close shortly during prayer time. School hours are from 7:30 AM – 1:00 PM.

title: Public holidays in Saudi Arabia


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Rika Komatsu

Rika Komatsu (小松 里歌) is a Japanese voice actress.

Anime

 * Animation Runner Kuromi (Announcer, Yuri)
 * Animation Runner Kuromi 2 (Yuri)
 * Battle B-Daman (Asado)
 * Boys Be... (Jyunna Morio)
 * Futari wa Pretty Cure (Butler Zakenna A)
 * Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart (Pyuan)
 * Hijikata Toshizou - Shiro no Kiseki (Hijikata Toshizou (child))
 * Kirby: Right Back at Ya! (Tuff)
 * Mamotte Shugogetten (Letter (ep.7), resident (ep.8))
 * Matantei Loki Ragnarok (Reiya Ooshima)
 * Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok (Reiya Ohshima)
 * Cyborg Kuro-chan (Kotaro)
 * Nessa no Haou Gandalla (Emma Branton)
 * Odenkun (Chikuwabu, Ginnan bouzu, Susie)
 * Ojarumaru (Kintarou Sakata (ep.181-270))
 * One Piece (Chabo, Marie)
 * Shin Hakkenden (Noburu)
 * SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors (Kan-pei Gundam)
 * Tokyo Mew Mew (Lucha, Pudding's mother (ep.20))
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! (Female student, Kaoruko Bodyguard (ep.19))

Miscellaneous

 * Deep Fear drama CD (Sharon State)
 * Tokyo Mew Mew (songs performance: My Sweet Heart (OP), Glider, My Days ~Ano Hi wo Wasurenai~, Hello Brand-New Love ~Koi wa Sugi Soko~)

Videogames

 * Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi series (Diaochan)
 * Dream Mix TV: World Fighters (Kiji)
 * Dream Mix TV: World Fighters (Minibonbi)
 * Dream Mix TV: World Fighters (Momotaro)
 * Riviera -Yakusoku no Chi-" (Rose)
 * Rune Factory Frontier (Lucia/Minerva)
 * Growlanser & Growlanser II: The Sense of Justice (Louise Fallsmeyer)

Dubbing

 * Dynasty Warriors (Diaochan (Gulnazar))

title: Rika Komatsu


text:
Public holidays in Nigeria

Nigeria has many public holidays.

Movable holidays
In addition, Nigeria officially celebrates a few moveable holidays, which occur on different dates every year:

title: Public holidays in Nigeria


text:
Kazusa Murai

Kazusa Murai (村井 かずさ) is a Japanese voice actress.

Anime

 * Kamichama Karin (Miyon Yi)
 * Angelic Layer (Maria Shibata)
 * Boys Be... (Chiharu Nitta)
 * Digimon Adventure 02 (Jun Motomiya)
 * Devil Lady (Kazumi Takiura)
 * Full Metal Panic! (Dana)
 * Ginban Kaleidoscope (Kyōko Shitō)
 * Haibane Renmei (Nemu)
 * Magical Play (MyuMyu)
 * Magic User's Club (Saki Sawanoguchi)
 * Mirmo! (Saburou, Yamane, Chai)
 * Phi Brain: Puzzle of God (Shizuka Daimon)
 * Pokémon (Marina)
 * Puni Puni Poemi (Shii Aasu)
 * Shugo Chara! (Midori Hinamori)
 * Shugo Chara!! Doki- (Hinamori Midori, Kiran)
 * Speed Racer X (Mai Kazami)
 * Tokkoto Hamutarō (Ribon-chan)
 * Zegapain (Isola)
 * Black Rock Shooter (Mato's Mother)
 * Transformers: Prime (Airachind)
 * Healin' Good PreCure (Yasuko Hanadera)

Video games

 * Tokimeki Memorial 2 (Kaori Yae)

Live-action

 * Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Debbie (Maggie Gyllenhaal))
 * From Vegas to Macau (Rainbow (Kimmy Tong))
 * The Legend of Zu (Dawn / Enigman (Cecilia Cheung))
 * Tom-Yum-Goong (Pla (Bongkoj Khongmalai))
 * Valentine (Shelley Fisher (Katherine Heigl))

Animation

 * Totally Spies! (Clover)

title: Kazusa Murai


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Chunichi Dragons

The Chunichi Dragons (中日ドラゴンズ) are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011) and the Japan Series twice (in 1954 and 2007). They were also champions in the 2007 Asia Series.

Franchise history
The Chunichi Dragons were formed in 1936 as the Nagoya Club. The franchise was acquired by the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper company in 1946. They became the "Dragons" in 1947, but experimented with a number of variations on their team name before settling on Chunichi Dragons in 1954.

The Dragons' most famous player, Michio Nishizawa, played for the team from 1936 to 1958. He entered the league as a 15-year-old pitcher. He developed into a 20-game winner by 1939. Nishizawa's most memorable pitching feats occurred in 1942. On May 24 of that year, Nishizawa pitched a remarkable twenty-eight complete innings, totalling 311 pitches in a 4–4 tie against the Taiyō Whales at Korakuen Stadium. Later that year, he tossed his first and only no-hitter, accomplishing the feat against the Hankyu team. Despite a career ERA of 2.22, the heavy workload combined with injuries sustained during two years of service in World War II forced him to switch positions to first base, and later the outfield. After early struggles with the bat, Nishizawa developed into a feared hitter. He swatted a then-league record 46 home runs in 1950. His best season came in 1952, when he led the league in both batting average and runs batted in. Altogether, Nishizawa appeared in five All Star Games and won the Best Nine Award three times.

Forkball-specialist Shigeru Sugishita dominated the Central League for the Dragons from 1950 to 1955, winning more than 30 games twice (winning at least 23 games each season), and garnering three Eiji Sawamura Awards.

Led by Sugishita and an aging Nishizawa, the Dragons won their first Japan Series championship in 1954, defeating the Nishitetsu Lions 4-games-to-3.

In 1962, the Dragons became one of the first NPB teams to sign established MLB players when they brought on former stars Larry Doby and Don Newcombe.

Michio Nishizawa went on to manage the team from 1964 to 1967. He was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977 and his number 15 jersey is one of only two retired by the team.

The Dragons were the first Japanese team to hire a foreigner as manager, Wally Yonamine, who led the team from 1972 to 1977. (Yonamine spoke fluent Japanese, and was later elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.)

In 1974, the team won the Central League title for the first time in 20 years, and this victory stopped the Yomiuri Giants from winning the league for the tenth consecutive year. Another league title came in 1999, and in that year, Dragons set a record by winning 11 consecutive games at the opening of the season.

In the 2004 season the team reached the Japan Series, but lost to the Seibu Lions, the Pacific League Champions, and in 2006 they lost the Japan Series to the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. At that point the team had won the Central League pennant seven times since 1950, but their last Japan Series victory was in 1954, the longest such drought in Nippon Professional Baseball.

2007 Japan Series title
In early 2007, the NPB playoff rules were changed: The top team in the league would advance automatically, while the second and third teams in the league would play a best-of-three series. The winner would face the first-place team in a best-of-five series to see who would advance to the Japan Series finals.

The Dragons took advantage of the new playoff system, and after finishing second in the season standings, swept the Hanshin Tigers in a best-of-three series, then, in a huge upset, swept the heavily favoured Yomiuri Giants in a best-of-five series to advance to the Japan Series against the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. In an exact reversal of the 2006 Japan Series, Hokkaido won game 1 of the series, but the Dragons won the next four straight games, including a combined perfect game from Daisuke Yamai and star closer Hitoki Iwase in the deciding Game 5, to become the 2007 Japan Series Champions, ending 53 years of frustration and the longest Japan Series drought in NPB history. The Japan Series victory allowed the Dragons to advance to the 2007 Asia Series, in which they went 2–1 in the round robin, then defeated the SK Wyverns, 6–5.

Since the 2007 Japan Series title
Three years later, they faced the Chiba Lotte Marines in the 2010 Japan Series, but lost to the Marines in seven games, including a 2–2 tie in the longest Japan Series game ever, which lasted 15 innings. A year later, the Dragons were back in the 2011 Japan Series, but fell to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in seven games. In 2012, they made the Central League Climax Series, by first defeating the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in 3 games in the first stage, but lost to the eventual Japan Series champion Yomiuri Giants in 6 games in the final stage, while the Giants also had a 1-game advantage. As of 2022, this was the last time the Dragons made the playoffs; they have had only one winning season since, which came in the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 season.

Uniform
The Dragons uniforms were based on the Brooklyn (now Los Angeles) Dodgers. The team's colors (blue and white) are the same colors worn by the Dodgers (both in Brooklyn and Los Angeles). From the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, the stylized lettering on the Dragons' jerseys and caps was virtually identical to the Dodgers' uniforms during that same period.

Baseball Hall of Famers
The following Hall of Famers played, coached and/or managed for the Dragons, and are listed with the years they were with the club. {|
 * valign=top|

Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame

 * 🇯🇵 Yutaka Ikeda (池田 豊) (1936)
 * 🇯🇵 Daisuke Miyake (三宅 大輔) (1944)
 * 🇯🇵 Shunichi Amachi (天知 俊一) (1949–1958)
 * 🇯🇵 Tokuro Konishi (小西 得郎) (1939–1941)
 * 🇯🇵 Shuichi Ishimoto (石本 秀一) (1961–1962)
 * 🇯🇵 Hideo Fujimoto (藤本 英雄) (1947)
 * 🇯🇵 Shigeru Mizuhara (水原 茂) (1969–1971)
 * 🇯🇵 Michio Nishizawa (西澤 道夫) (1947–1950, 1954–1958, 1963–1968)
 * 🇯🇵 Makoto Kozuru (小鶴 誠) (1942–1943, 1946–1947)
 * 🇯🇵 Shigeru Sugishita (杉下 茂) (1949–1958, 1959–1960, 1968)
 * 🇯🇵 Minoru Yamashita (山下 実) (1942)
 * 🇯🇵 Shigeru Makino (牧野 茂 ) (1952–1959)
 * 🇯🇵 Michinori Tsubouchi (坪内 道則) (1949–1951, 1950, 1954, 1957–1958, 1952–1953)
 * 🇯🇵 Kazuhisa Inao (稲尾 和久) (1978–1980)
 * 🇺🇸 Wally Yonamine (与那嶺 要) (1961–1962, 1963–1966, 1970–1977)
 * 🇯🇵 Sadao Kondo (近藤 貞雄) (1948–1954, 1953, 1955–1962, 1964–1968, 1972–1976, 1981–1983)
 * 🇯🇵 Ryohei Hasegawa (長谷川 良平) (1968–1970)
 * 🇯🇵 Kazuhiro Yamauchi (山内 一弘) (1984–1986)
 * 🇯🇵 Kenjiro Tamiya (田宮 謙次郎) (1968–1969)
 * 🇯🇵 Morimichi Takagi (髙木 守道) (1960–1986, 1992–1995, 2012–2013)
 * 🇯🇵 Hisashi Yamada (山田 久志) (1999–2003)
 * 🇯🇵 Takao Kajimoto (梶本 隆夫) (1998–1999)
 * 🇯🇵 Shinichi Eto (江藤 愼一) (1959–1974)
 * 🇯🇵 Hiromitsu Ochiai (落合 博満) (1987–1993, 2004–2011, 2013–2016)
 * 🇯🇵 Senichi Hoshino (星野 仙一) (1969–1982, 1987–1991, 1996–2001)
 * 🇯🇵 Kazuyoshi Tatsunami (立浪 和義) (1988–2009)
 * 🇯🇵 Hiroshi Gondoh (権藤 博) (1961–1968, 1973–1980, 2012)
 * valign=top|

American Baseball Hall of Fame

 * 🇺🇸 Larry Doby (1962)
 * }

Retired numbers

 * 10 🇯🇵 Tsuguhiro Hattori (服部 受弘)
 * 15 🇯🇵 Michio Nishizawa (西澤 道夫)

MLB players
Active: Retired:
 * Alex Dickerson (2024–Present)
 * Yariel Rodríguez (2020–2022)
 * Willie Davis (1977)
 * Larry Doby (1962)
 * Don Newcombe (1962)
 * Bob Nieman (1963)
 * Vance Law (1990)
 * Alonzo Powell (1992–1997)
 * Matt Stairs (1993)
 * Darnell Coles (1996)
 * Samson Lee (2000)
 * Akinori Otsuka (2003–2007)
 * Kenshin Kawakami (2009–2010)
 * Kosuke Fukudome (2008–2012)
 * Matt Clark (2013)
 * Joely Rodriguez (2018–19)
 * Chen Wei-Yin (2004–2011, 2020–2021)

In popular culture

 * The Dragons became known to audiences in the U.S. through the 1992 movie Mr. Baseball, starring Tom Selleck and Ken Takakura. The film is based around a difficult season in the career of aging New York Yankees first baseman Jack Elliot (Selleck), who is traded to the Chunichi Dragons during spring training, and is forced to deal with high expectations and cultural differences during the Dragons' pennant run.
 * In Haruki Murakami's 2002 novel Kafka on the Shore, one of the characters, Hoshino, is a devoted fan of the Chunichi Dragons, wearing the team's cap everywhere he goes.
 * In 2009 a Wii game aimed at children, Doala de Wii, was released. The game is based on the team mascot "Doala".
 * The 2012 video game Yakuza 5 features a team called the "Nagoya Wyverns", which is a reference to the Dragons. One of the main characters briefly played for the team, and it features heavily in the game's plot.

Mascots
The team has 3 mascots, Doala, Shaolon, and Paolon. Doala is the main mascot of the team, and he was introduced in 1994, replacing their former mascot, Gaburi. Doala is a koala because Nagoya was home to Japan's first koala due to its sister city status with Sydney. Doala is quite known for his stunts. Shaolon is the team's second mascot and was introduced in 1997. He is a blue dragon and he has appeared on the logo for a long while now. Paolon is the team's third mascot and she was introduced in 2000. She is a pink dragon.

title: Chunichi Dragons


text:
Public holidays in Chile

This is a list of public holidays (national or otherwise) in Chile; about half of them are Christian holidays.

History
On January 28, 1915, President Ramón Barros Luco promulgated Law 2,977, which organized all available information regarding holidays celebrated in Chile. It established or retained the following holidays:

 * 1) Sundays year-round.
 * 2) January 1 (Feast of the Circumcision of Christ at the time; New Year in the late 20th and 21st centuries), June 29 (Feast of Saints Peter and Paul), August 15 (Assumption of Mary), December 8 (Immaculate Conception), December 25 (Christmas Day), and the movable holidays of the Ascension of Jesus Christ and Corpus Christi.
 * 3) Fridays and Saturdays during Holy Week.
 * 4) September 18, Establishment of the First Government Junta in 1810.
 * 5) September 19 and May 21, in celebration of the achievements of the Army and the Navy.
 * 6) The day of election of electors of the President of the Republic.

The same law abolished, by omission, four religious holidays: Epiphany (Adoración de los Santos Reyes, January 6), Carnival (Carnaval, movable), Annunciation (Anunciación del Señor, March 25), and Nativity of the Virgin Mary (Natividad de la Virgen, September 8). It also shortened the national independence holiday to two days (until 1914, they occupied September 18, 19, and 20).

On November 14, 1921, President Arturo Alessandri Palma promulgated Law 3,810, designating October 12 (Columbus Day) as a holiday. On April 30, 1931, President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo promulgated the Decree Enforceable as Law (Decreto con Fuerza de Ley) 130, marking May 1 (May Day) as a holiday.

In 1932, Provisional President Bartolomé Blanche reinstated the September 20 holiday, which remained in effect until 1944. In 1968, the holidays of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Ascension of Jesus Christ, and Corpus Christi were eliminated by Article 144 of Law 16,840. The Catholic Church agreed to celebrate them on the nearest Sunday. September 11 (the day of the military coup in 1973) was established as a holiday (Día de la Liberación Nacional, "Day of National Liberation") by the military regime in 1981. In 1998, it was replaced by the Día de la Unidad Nacional ("Day of National Unity"), observed on the first Monday in September. In March 2002, the latter was abolished. The holiday on June 29 (Feast of Saints Peter and Paul) was reinstated in September 1985. In 1987, during a visit by Pope John Paul II, Corpus Christi was reinstated (although the Church continued to observe the holiday on the nearest Sunday ).

On March 10, 2000, Law 19,668 moved the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Columbus Day, and Corpus Christi holidays to the preceding Monday if they fell on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, or to the following Monday if they fell on a Friday. Additionally, the designation of Columbus Day was changed from Aniversario del Descubrimiento de América to Día del Descubrimiento de Dos Mundos ("Discovery of Two Worlds' Day"), which was an obvious adaptation of the then-recent ubiquitous Encuentro de dos mundos ("The Meeting of Two Worlds") slogan.

On January 6, 2007, Law 20,148 replaced Corpus Christi with Our Lady of Mount Carmel, to be observed on July 16, starting that year. On September 14, 2007, Law 20,215. declared holidays for all September 17s falling on a Monday and all September 20s falling on a Friday. On October 11, 2008, Law 20,299 established Reformation Day on October 31 as a national holiday, starting that year. This holiday is moved to the preceding Friday if it falls on a Tuesday or to the following Friday if it falls on a Wednesday. On April 30, 2013, Law 20,663 established the regional Battle of Arica holiday, to be observed only in the Arica and Parinacota region. On December 30, 2016, Law 20,983 declared as holidays those days that are Monday, January 2, or Friday, September 17. On June 19, 2021, Law 21,357 declared the Winter Solstice as a holiday, honoring Chile's aboriginal peoples (pueblos originarios).

In addition to yearly holidays, presidential elections have been declared holidays since 1901, as mandated by successive versions of the General Elections law (Law 18,700, being the current one; see laws 1,464, 1,752, 2,977, decree-law 542, 6,250, 6,834, 9,334, and 12,891). Since the late 20th century, parliamentary and municipal elections are also public holidays (see Law 18,700 ). Censuses, held every ten years, have been declared holidays since 1982; that year's census and 1992's were so due to ad-hoc laws; censuses taken from 1992 onwards are declared holidays due to a reform in the Census law. (This did not occur in 2012, where the census was carried out over two months, using a different methodology.)

Meaning of the January 1 holiday
Shortly after Chile's independence, an 1824 (government-approved) Church decree reduced the number of religious holidays, enumerating the surviving holidays, including the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, observed on January 1. Law 2,977 (passed in 1915, still in effect) lists this holiday by date only, without using any name, but it does treat it as a religious one. However, as of 2009, it is widely celebrated as the (civic) New Year holiday. In fact, there are no known regulations later than 1915 that use the name "Circumcision of Christ," while "New Year" is used in numerous regulations of all types (laws (19.925 ), decree-laws (decretos ley) (1.299, 1.613 and 2,408 ), decrees enforceable as law (decretos con fuerza de ley) (D.F.L. 338 of 1960 ), ministerial decrees and resolutions (decree 6234 of 1929 of the Public Education Ministry (the oldest such regulation), decree 83 of 1985 of the Labor Ministry, decree 48 of 2007 of the Labor Ministry, and so on) and municipal decrees and ordinances (decree 1316 of 2004 of the Las Condes Municipality, decree 23 of 2006 of the Padre Las Casas Municipality, decree 23 of 2009 of the San Carlos Municipality, and so forth).

title: Public holidays in Chile


text:
Public holidays in South Korea

Public holidays in South Korea each belong to one or more of three categories: Each category has a different legal basis. All national days are also flag-raising days.
 * National day
 * National flag raising day
 * Public holiday

National celebration days
These days celebrate events considered joyous to Korea. In the beginning, Independence Declaration Day (March 1) was first stipulated in 1946. After the establishment of the Government of the Republic of Korea in 1948, four major National Celebration Days (Independence Declaration Day, Constitution Day, Liberation Day, National Foundation Day) were provided by "The Law Concerning the National Celebration Days" (국경일에관한법률) in 1949. In 2005, Hangul Day became the 5th National Celebration day.

National flag raising days
All the National Celebration Days, Memorial Day (half staff), Armed Forces Day are provided by Article 8 of the "National Flag Law" (대한민국국기법 제8조). On these days, the raising of the taegukgi at every house and along every roadside is promoted.

Public days off
They are provided by the "Regulations on Holidays of Public Agencies" (관공서의 공휴일에 관한 규정) This Regulation originally applied only to government and public offices, but most individual business offices also follow it.

title: Public holidays in South Korea


text:
Public holidays in Poland

Holidays in Poland are regulated by the Non-working Days Act of 18 January 1951 (Ustawa z dnia 18 stycznia 1951 o dniach wolnych od pracy; Journal of Laws 1951 No. 4, Item 28). The Act, as amended in 2010, currently defines thirteen public holidays.

Public holidays
Note: The table below lists only public holidays i.e. holidays which are legally considered to be non-working days.

May holidays
Under communist rule, 1 May was celebrated as Labour Day with government-endorsed parades, concerts and similar events. The holiday carried over to present day Poland as State Holiday, albeit without any formal connection to International Workers' Day. In addition, 3 May was reinstated as 3 May Constitution Day. The May holidays (1, 2 and 3 May) are called "majówka" in Polish (roughly translated as May-day picnic ).

National and state holidays
The following are national and state holidays in Poland, although they are normally working days unless declared a public holiday.
 * 19 February - Polish Science Day (Dzień Nauki Polskiej), established in 2020
 * 1 March - National Cursed Soldiers Remembrance Day (Narodowy Dzień Pamięci „Żołnierzy Wyklętych”), established in 2011
 * 24 March - National Day for the Remembrance of Poles Rescuing Jews under German Occupation (Narodowy Dzień Pamięci Polaków ratujących Żydów pod okupacją niemiecką), established in 2018
 * 14 April - Baptism of Poland Day (Święto Chrztu Polski), established in 2019
 * 1 May - state holiday (święto państwowe), public holiday, established in 1950
 * 3 May  - 3 May Constitution Day (Święto Narodowe Trzeciego Maja), public holiday; first observed in 1919, disestablished in 1946, then reinstated in 1990
 * 8 May - National Victory Day (Narodowy Dzień Zwycięstwa), established in 2015
 * 12 July- Day of Struggle and Martyrdom of the Polish Villages (Dzień Walki i Męczeństwa Wsi Polskiej), established in 2017
 * 1 August - National Warsaw Uprising Remembrance Day (Narodowy Dzień Pamięci Powstania Warszawskiego), established in 2009
 * 31 August - Day of Solidarity and Freedom (Dzień Solidarności i Wolności) set on the anniversary of August Agreement from 1980, established in 2005
 * 19 October - National Day of Remembrance for Steadfast Clergy (Narodowy Dzień Pamięci Duchownych Niezłomnych), established in 2018
 * 11 November - National Independence Day (Narodowe Święto Niepodległości), public holiday; first observed in 1937, disestablished in 1945, then reinstated in 1989
 * 27 December - Greater Poland Uprising Remebrence Day (Narodowy Dzień Pamięci Zwycięskiego Powstania Wielkopolskiego) established in 2021

Former national and state holidays
In the past, there were public holidays newly established by the communist authorities after the Second World War. These were intended to replace discontinued original national holidays such as the National Independence Day and the 3 May Constitution Day and to serve propaganda purposes. All were canceled after the fall of communism in Poland.
 * 9 May - National Victory and Freedom Day (Narodowe Święto Zwycięstwa i Wolności), established in 1945, disestablished in 2015 (celebrated for the last time in 1989)
 * 22 July - National Day of the Rebirth of Poland (Narodowe Święto Odrodzenia Polski), set on the anniversary of the PKWN Manifesto's signing, established in 1945, disestablished in 1990 (celebrated for the last time in 1989)
 * 7 November - Great October Socialist Revolution Day (Wielka Październikowa Rewolucja Socjalistyczna), established in 1945, disestablished in 1990 (celebrated for the last time in 1989)

Holidays declared by statute
The following are holidays declared by statute in Poland. These holidays are declared in statute and as such they form a part of law in Poland. However, these holidays are not granted the distinction of national or state holidays. These are normally working days, unless coinciding with a public holiday.

 * 27 January – Public Employment Services Worker's Day, Dzień Pracownika Publicznych Służb Zatrudnienia, established in 2010
 * 8 February – Prison Service Day, Święto Służby Więziennej, established in 2010
 * 22 February – Crime Victims Day, Dzień Ofiar Przestępstw, coinciding with European Victims Day, established in 2003
 * 2 May – Flag Day, Dzień Flagi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, established in 2004
 * 2 May – Polish Diaspora Day, Dzień Polonii i Polaków za Granicą, established in 2002
 * 4 May – Firefighters Day, Dzień Strażaka, coinciding with International Firefighters' Day, established in 2002
 * 16 May – Border Guard's Day, Święto Straży Granicznej, established in 1991 (this may coincide with Pentecost)
 * 29 May – Veterans of Overseas Military Activities Day, Dzień Weterana Działań poza Granicami Państwa, coinciding with International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, established in 2011 (this may coincide with Pentecost or Corpus Christi)
 * 12 June – State Protection Service's Day, Święto SOP, established in 2018 (this may coincide with Pentecost or Corpus Christi)
 * 13 June – Military Gendarmerie Day, Święto Żandarmerii Wojskowej, established in 2001 (this may coincide with Pentecost or Corpus Christi)
 * 24 July – Police Day, Święto Policji, established in 1995
 * 31 July – Treasury Day, Dzień Skarbowości, celebrated since 2008, established in 2010
 * 15 August – Armed Forces Day, Święto Wojska Polskiego, this holiday coincides with a public holiday (Assumption of Mary), established in 1992
 * 29 August – Municipal Police Day, Dzień Straży Gminnej, established in 1997
 * 1 September – Veterans Day, Dzień Weterana, established in 1997
 * 21 September – Customs Service Day, Dzień Służby Celnej, established in 1999
 * 13 October – Paramedics' Day, Dzień Ratownictwa Medycznego, established in 2006
 * 14 October – Teachers' Day, Dzień Edukacji Narodowej, established in 1972
 * 16 October – Saint Pope John Paul II Day, Dzień Papieża Jana Pawła II, established in 2005
 * 21 November – Social Workers' Day, Dzień Pracownika Socjalnego, established in 1990

Holidays declared by parliamentary resolution
The following are holidays declared by parliamentary resolution in Poland. These holidays are declared by a resolution of Sejm. These holidays do not form a part of law in Poland, and consequently are not granted the distinction of national or state holidays. These are normally working days.

 * 3 March – Polish-Romanian Solidarity Day, Dzień Solidarności Polsko-Rumuńskiej, established in 2023
 * 23 March – Polish-Hungarian Friendship Day, Dzień Przyjaźni Polsko-Węgierskiej, established in 2007 (this may coincide with Easter or Easter Monday)
 * 24 March – National Life Day, Narodowy Dzień Życia, established in 2004 (this may coincide with Easter or Easter Monday)
 * 13 April – Katyn Memorial Day, Dzień Pamięci Ofiar Zbrodni Katyńskiej, set on the anniversary of the discovery of mass graves in Katyn, established in 2007 (this may coincide with Easter or Easter Monday)
 * 18 April – Coma Patients' Day, Dzień Pacjenta w Śpiączce, established in 2012 (this may coincide with Easter or Easter Monday)
 * 28 April – Day for Safety and Health at Work, Dzień Bezpieczeństwa i Ochrony Zdrowia w Pracy, coincides with Workers' Memorial Day, established in 2003
 * 27 May – Local Government's Day, Dzień Samorządu Terytorialnego, set on the anniversary of the first local government elections in Poland, established in 2000 (this may coincide with Pentecost or Corpus Christi)
 * 30 May – Foster Care Day, Dzień Rodzicielstwa Zastępczego, established in 2006 (this may coincide with Pentecost or Corpus Christi)
 * 1 June – Day Without Alcohol, Dzień bez Alkoholu, established in 2006 (this may coincide with Pentecost or Corpus Christi)
 * 4 June – Day of Freedom and Citizens' Rights, Dzień Wolności i Praw Obywatelskich, set on the anniversary of 4th of June 1989 Polish elections, established in 2013 (this may coincide with Pentecost or Corpus Christi)
 * 14 June – National Day of Remembrance of Nazi Concentration Camps Victims, Narodowy Dzień Pamięci Ofiar Nazistowskich Obozów Koncentracyjnych, set on the anniversary of the arrival of the first mass transport of political prisoners to Auschwitz concentration camp, established in 2006 (this may coincide with Corpus Christi)
 * 28 June – National Day of Remembrance of Poznań 1956 protests, Narodowy Dzień Pamięci Poznańskiego Czerwca 1956, set on the anniversary of the outbreak of Poznań 1956 protests, established in 2006
 * 11 July - National Day of Remembrance of the victims of the Genocide of the Citizens of the Polish Republic committed by Ukrainian Nationalists, Narodowy Dzień Pamięci Ofiar Ludobójstwa dokonanego przez ukraińskich nacjonalistów na obywatelach II Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, set on the anniversary of the "bloody sunday" in Volhynia, the culmination of the massacres of Poles in Volhynia, established in 2016
 * 2 August – Genocide Remembrance Day of the Roma and Sinti, Dzień Pamięci o Zagładzie Romów i Sinti, set on the anniversary of the Roma and Sinti extermination at Auschwitz concentration camp, established in 2011
 * 17 September – Sybirak's Day, Dzień Sybiraka, set on the anniversary of Soviet invasion of Poland, established in 1998
 * 27 September – Polish Underground State's Day, Dzień Podziemnego Państwa Polskiego, set on the anniversary of the formation of Service for Poland's Victory, established in 2013
 * 4 October – Animals' Day, Dzień Zwierząt, coincides with World Animal Day, established in 2006
 * 13 December – Martial Law Victims Remembrance Day, Dzień Pamięci Ofiar Stanu Wojennego, set on the anniversary of declaration of Martial law in Poland, established in 2002

Other observances

 * Grandmother's Day on 21 January
 * Grandfather's Day on 22 January,
 * Traders' Day on 2 February
 * Valentine's Day on 14 February
 * Cat's Day on 17 February
 * Tłusty Czwartek on the last Thursday before Lent
 * Ostatki on the last day of Carnival,
 * Ash Wednesday on the first day of Lent,
 * Women's Day on 8 March
 * Day of Polish Statistics on 9 March,
 * Men's Day on 10 March
 * World Consumer Rights Day on 15 March
 * Earth Day on March equinox day
 * Truant's Day on 21 March
 * ABW Day on 6 April, Polish counter-intelligence agency's (ABW) holiday, celebrated since 2004
 * Maundy Thursday on the Thursday immediately preceding Easter Sunday
 * Good Friday on the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday
 * Holy Saturday on the Saturday immediately preceding Easter Sunday - Święconka is performed on this day
 * Śmigus Dyngus on Easter Monday (the day following Easter Sunday) is when traditionally the young (and young of heart) have water fights, in continuation of a pagan spring fertility ritual observed in many other cultures
 * Warsaw Ghetto Uprising remembered on 19 April
 * International Mother Earth Day on 22 April
 * Majówka is a spring festival celebrated throughout Europe
 * Europe Day on 9 May
 * Mother's Day on 26 May,
 * World No Tobacco Day on 31 May,
 * Children's Day on 1 June
 * Father's Day on 23 June
 * Kupala Night (Noc Kupały) on the night from 21 to 22 June
 * Saint John's Eve "Noc Świętojańska" on the night from 23 to 24 June
 * Dog's Day on 1 July
 * Power Engineer's Day on 14 August
 * Dożynki in late August or early September
 * Anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War in Poland on 1 September
 * Anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September
 * Car-Free Day on 22 September
 * Boy's Day (Dzień Chłopaka) on 30 September - on this day girls give presents to boys
 * Polish Post Day (Postman's Day) on 18 October
 * Mongrel's Day on 25 October
 * Halloween on 31 October
 * Wszystkich Swietych on 1 November
 * Civil Service Day on November 11, customary Polish holiday, celebrated since 2000, in conjunction with National Independence Day celebrations
 * Andrzejki on the night from 29 to 30 November - on this day people (mainly children and teens) are making prophecy by pouring candle wax by key hole to water and guessing what the wax shape means
 * Miners' Day on 4 December - Barbórka
 * Mikołajki on 6 December - on this day Santa Claus gives sweets to children
 * Christmas Eve (Wigilia Bożego Narodzenia) on 24 December
 * Sylwester on 31 December

title: Public holidays in Poland


text:
Yuka Imai

Yuka Imai (今井 由香) is a Japanese former voice actress who was previously represented by Gekidan Moonlight and by Atomic Monkey at the time of her retirement. She was born in Atami, Shizuoka. On August 30, 2018, she announced her retirement from voice acting, which she attributed to personal reasons.

Video games

 * 1997: Kurumi Miracle as Kurumi
 * 1997: Tales of Destiny as Rutee Katrea
 * 1999: Galerians as Rita
 * 2002: Mega Man Zero as Fairy Leviathan
 * 2004: Shadow Hearts: Covenant as Princess Anastasia Romanov
 * 2004: Growlanser II: The Sense of Justice as Wein Cruz
 * 2005: Namco × Capcom as Rutee Katrea, Lilith Aensland
 * 2006: Final Fantasy XII as Larsa Ferrinas Solidor
 * 2006: Mega Man ZX as Model L
 * 2009: Kazoku Keikaku as Jun Ogawara, Kei Hisami (credited as Junko Sugisawa)

Other

 * Final Fantasy Tactics Advance radio edition (Marche Radiuju)

title: Yuka Imai


text:
Public holidays in Vietnam

Public holidays
Public holidays in Vietnam are days when workers get the day off work. Prior to 2007, Vietnamese workers observed 8 days of public holiday a year, among the lowest in the region. On 28 March 2007 the government added the traditional holiday commemorating the mythical Hùng kings to its list of public holidays, increasing the number of days to 10. From 2019, Vietnamese workers have 11 public holidays a year. As in most other nations, if a holiday falls during the weekend, it is observed on the following Monday.

Other holidays and festivals
There are also many other holidays and festivals that are held in Vietnam either nationally or locally. These holidays and festivals do not involve days off but are widely observed and celebrated across the country.

title: Public holidays in Vietnam


text:
Public holidays in Nauru

This is a list of holidays in Nauru, an island nation in Micronesia.

title: Public holidays in Nauru