Peopleコーナー これまでに登場したみなさん

Peopleコーナーには，これまでに次のみなさんに登場していただきました。

• より子さん　 2012年2月10日号 プロフィール
• Yorico was born in 1984 in Tochigi Prefecture. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when she was 2 years old. She recovered and went on to make her debut as a singer-songwriter at the age of 17. In 2006, she had an ovarian tumor but again she recovered. After returning to her music career, she has actively participated in charity activities to help childhood cancer patients.
  
• 我武者羅應援團　 2012年1月13日号 プロフィール
• Gamushara Oendan was formed in February 2007. It is a cheering squad with 10 members. They are trying to make the world a livelier place by cheering for people on various occasions such as sports events, wedding parties and school entrance ceremonies. They have appeared on several TV programs.
  
• 明珍宗理さん　 (名工) 2011年12月9日号 プロフィール
• Myochin Munemichi was born in 1942 in Hyogo Prefecture. He is the 52nd generation of a family of armor makers. The Myochin family dates back 850 years to the Heian Period.
  
• 伊藤みき選手　 (スキー選手) 2011年11月11日号 プロフィール
• Ito Miki was born in 1987 in Shiga Prefecture. She appeared in the women’s freestyle skiing moguls at the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006 and the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010. She won the silver medal in the women’s dual moguls at the world championships in 2009.
  
• 上野吉一さん　 (東山動植物園企画官) 2011年10月14日号 プロフィール
• Ueno Yoshikazu was born in 1960 in Iwate Prefecture. After studying agricultural chemistry and behavioral science at Hokkaido University, he received a doctorate of science from Kyoto University. Later he worked as a professor at two university animal research centers. In 2007, he became the joint coordinator for Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagoya. He is now working to develop a new type of zoo.
  
• 井上毅さん　 (明石市立天文科学館学芸員) 2011年9月9日号 プロフィール
• Inoue Takeshi was born in 1969 in Hyogo Prefecture. Since 1997, he has worked as a curator at the Akashi Municipal Planetarium in Hyogo Prefecture. Inoue’s devotion to popularizing astronomy has won the respect of fellow researchers and a minor planet discovered in 1997 was named after him.
  
• 田臥勇太選手　 (バスケットボール選手) 2011年6月10日号 プロフィール
• Tabuse Yuta was born in 1980 in Kanagawa Prefecture. He attended Akita prefectural Noshiro Technical High School and led his basketball team to nine straight national titles: for three consecutive years, the team won the interscholastic athletic meet, the national athletic meet, and the All-Japan High School Basketball Tournament.
  
• 楠木早紀さん　 (かるたクイーン) 2011年4月8日号 プロフィール
• Kusunoki Saki was born in 1989 in Oita Prefecture. At the age of 15, she won the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu karuta competition to become the youngest Karuta Queen ever. This January, she won the title for the seventh consecutive time. Kusunoki now belongs to the Ritsumeikan University karuta club.
  
• 紫舟さん　 (書道家) 2011年2月11日号 プロフィール
• Sisyu is a Japanese calligrapher whose works have been seen in the TV drama series "Ryoma-den," the Hollywood film "The Last Airbender," and a TV commercial for Suzuki Motor Corporation's Alto. She has given several calligraphy demonstrations abroad. She also makes three-dimensional works with iron.
  
• 玉田圭司選手　 (Jリーガー) 2011年1月14日号 プロフィール
• Tamada Keiji was born in 1980 in Chiba Prefecture. After graduating from Narashino High School, he joined Kashiwa Reysol in 1999. In 2006, he transferred to Nagoya Grampus Eight. He played forward on the national team at the World Cup in 2006 and 2010.
  
• SHIHOさん　 (ファッションモデル) 2010年12月10日号 プロフィール
• SHIHO was born in 1976 in Shiga Prefecture. She started modeling at 17. She has made the covers of various magazines and appeared in many TV commercials and TV programs. She is a popular fashion leader.
  
• 桂かい枝さん　 (落語家) 2010年11月12日号 プロフィール
• Katsura Kaishi was born in 1969 in Hyogo Prefecture. He started studying rakugo under Katsura Bunshi in 1994. In 1997, he gave his first English rakugo performance. In 2008, Kaishi spent six months traveling across the United States to give performances in 33 cities. He has performed over 300 times in 14 foreign countries. In Japan, Kaishi visits schools across the country, from elementary schools to universities, to talk about his activities.
  
• 朝原宣治さん　 (元陸上競技選手) 2010年10月8日号 プロフィール
• Asahara Nobuharu was born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1972. He started track and field in high school. He set the national record in the 100 meters four times. He took part in four Olympics in a row. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he anchored Japan's 4x100-meter relay team to a bronze medal. He retired from competitive running in September 2008. He is now coaching young athletes.
  
• 染谷隆夫教授　 (電子工学研究者) 2010年9月10日号 プロフィール
• Professor Someya Takao was born in 1968. He received a Ph.D. in electronic engineering from the University of Tokyo in 1997. In 2009, he was made a full professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo.
  
• 太田雄貴選手　 (フェンシングオリンピック銀メダリスト) 2010年5月14日号 プロフィール
• Ota Yuki was born in Shiga Prefecture in 1985. He started fencing when he was in third grade. In high school, he won the men’s individual foil title at the interscholastic athletic meet three years in a row. At the age of 17, he became the youngest winner ever at the all-Japan championships. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, he came in ninth, the highest place ever for a Japanese fencer. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he won the silver medal in the men’s individual foil. In May 2009, he was ranked No. 1 in the world.
  
• 田村英里子さん (女優) 2010年4月9日号 プロフィール
• Tamura Eriko was born in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1973. She started working as an actress and a singer in her teens. In 2000, she moved to Los Angeles by herself. In 2007, she was cast as the girlfriend of Hiro Nakamura, one of the main characters in the American TV drama series “Heroes.” She then appeared in “Dragonball Evolution,” a film released around the world.
  
• 加藤清史郎くん (子役俳優) 2010年3月5日号 プロフィール
• Kato Seishiro was born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 2001. When he was 2 months old, he joined the Himawari Theatre Group. Seishiro made his debut in show business at the age of 13 months. Last year, his performance in the NHK period drama “Tenchijin” received such a big response from the audience that some new scenes for him were added. Seishiro also attracted nationwide attention as kodomo tencho, a child store manager, in a series of Toyota TV commercials. The word kodomo tencho was ranked among the top ten keywords of the year for 2009. Seishiro also released his first CD and first book last year. He will appear in “Zatoichi: The Last,” a movie scheduled for release in May.
  
• 井村雅代さん (シンクロナイズドスイミングコーチ) 2010年2月12日号 プロフィール
• Imura Masayo, the head of the Imura Synchronized Swimming Club, was born in Osaka City in 1950. She started synchronized swimming in junior high school. She began to coach Japan’s national synchronized swimming team in 1978 and led the team to 11 medals at six consecutive Olympics. In December 2006, Imura became the head coach for China’s national synchronized swimming team. She helped the team win a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
  
• 井上怜奈さん (フィギュアスケート選手) 2010年1月15日号 プロフィール
• Inoue Rena was born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1976. She appeared in the figure skating pairs competition at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics and the women's singles competition at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics. In 1996, she moved to the United States for training. With her skating partner, John Baldwin, Inoue represented the U.S. in the pairs competition at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
  After their free skate program at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Baldwin dropped to his knees on the ice and proposed to Inoue. She accepted his proposal.
  
• 石原弘さん (菓子メーカーの工場長) 2009年12月11日号 プロフィール
• Ishihara Hiroshi was born in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1947. He joined Sanritsu Confectionery Company in 1965 and worked in the company's factories for 30 years. He then moved to the marketing department. In 1997, he became the manager of the Hyogo factory. He is now the manager of the Shiratori factory in Shizuoka Prefecture, the company's biggest factory.
  
• 山田俊行さん (自然学校のインタープリター) 2009年11月13日号 プロフィール
• Yamada Toshiyuki was born in Kagoshima Prefecture in 1971. He studied educational psychology in college. After graduation, Yamada joined Shinrin Takumi Juku to learn woodworking and study environmental education. In 2002, he joined a team to establish the Toyota Shirakawa-Go Eco-Institute. Now he is the Institute's chief "interpreter" (nature guide).
  
• 宮治勇輔さん (養豚家) 2009年8月14日号 プロフィール
• Miyaji Yusuke was born in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 1978. After he graduated from Keio University, he started working for a staffing company in Tokyo. At age 27, he returned home to work with his father, a pig farmer.
  
• 琴欧洲関 (大関) 2009年5月8日号 プロフィール
• Kotooshu Katsunori was born Kaloyan Stefanov Mahlyanov in Bulgaria in 1983. In 2002, he first came to Japan and entered Sadogatake stable in Chiba Prefecture. At that time, he was given the name Kotooshu. He quickly climbed the ranks to become an ozeki in 2005. In 2008, he won the May tournament and became the first European sumo wrestler to win the Emperor's Cup. He is 203 centimeters tall and weighs 155 kilograms.
  
• 谷本歩実選手 (柔道選手) 2009年4月10日号 プロフィール
• Tanimoto Ayumi was born in Aichi Prefecture in 1981. She started judo when she was 9 years old. She has won two Olympic gold medals in women's judo: one at Athens in 2004 and the other at Beijing in 2008. There are other judo wrestlers who have won gold medals at consecutive Olympic Games, but Tanimoto is the only one to have won all of her Olympic matches by ippon. She is a member of Komatsu's women's judo team.
  
• 川上千尋さん (手ぬぐい絵師) 2009年2月27日号 プロフィール
• Kawakami Chihiro was born in Asakusa, Tokyo, in 1949. His father Keiji was a tenugui designer and Chihiro followed in his footsteps. Chihiro not only makes new designs for tenugui but also produces tenugui with Edo-Period designs. He runs a tenugui shop in Asakusa called "Fujiya."
  
• SOHLA (まいど1号を打ち上げた団体) 2009年2月13日号 プロフィール
• In 2002, several small and medium-sized companies in and around Higashiosaka City established a cooperative association, Astro Technology SOHLA. The group is working to develop microsatellites. SOHLA's first satellite, Maido-1, was launched on Jan. 23. Its mission is to observe thunder clouds.
  
• 辻口博啓さん (パティシエ) 2009年1月16日号 プロフィール
• Tsujiguchi Hironobu was born in Ishikawa Prefecture in 1967. When he was 18, he started learning to make cakes at a cake shop in Tokyo. Later he went to France for more training. He has taken part in many contests and has been a world champion three times. In 1998, he opened his first patisserie, "Mont St. Clair," in Tokyo. Tsujiguchi expanded his business and now owns 11 stores including three Japanese sweets shops and a bread shop. He is also active in other areas such as appearing on TV and writing books.
  
• 加藤大基さん (がん治療医) 2008年12月12日号 プロフィール
• Dr. Kato Daiki was born in Aichi Prefecture in 1971. In 1999, he graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tokyo and became a radiologist. He specializes in cancer radiation therapy. In 2006, when he was 34 years old, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent surgery.
  
• 大棟耕介さん (ホスピタルクラウン) 2008年11月14日号 プロフィール
• Omune Kosuke was born in Aichi Prefecture in 1969. He attended a clown training program while he was working for a railroad company. Later, he founded a troupe of clowns named Pleasure B with other people who went through the same program. Omune left the railroad company in 1998 and set up Pleasure Kikaku, a management company for clowns. As the president of the company, he plans various events and organizes clown training programs. Omune himself gives performances as Clown K. In 2004, he started a full-scale hospital clown operation. The following year, he set up the Hospital Clown Team and became its chairperson.
  
• 山口絵理子さん (株式会社マザーハウスCEO兼デザイナー) 2008年10月10日号 プロフィール
• Yamaguchi Eriko first visited Bangladesh when she was a student at Keio University. Later she studied at a graduate school in Bangladesh. At the age of 24, Yamaguchi founded Motherhouse Company in order to produce bags in Bangladesh and sell them in Japan.
  
• 崎田高文さん (海外マーケティング担当者) 2008年9月12日号 プロフィール
• Sakita Takafumi was born in Mie Prefecture in 1981. In 2006, he graduated from the faculty of Russian and East European Studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. After graduation, he started working for Brother Industries, a manufacturer of electronic products like printers and fax machines.
  
• まつもと　ゆきひろさん (世界で知られるプログラミング言語の開発者) 2008年8月8日号 プロフィール
• Matsumoto Yukihiro was born in Osaka in 1965. He graduated from the University of Tsukuba in 1990. He has developed a new computer programming language called "Ruby." Ruby makes writing programs fun and easy, and is widely used in the world. It can also be used to make Web sites. Matsumoto now serves as a research fellow at two companies: the Network Applied Communication Laboratory and Rakuten.
  
• ブラッド・トウルさん (日本の田舎町を世界にPRするカナダ人) 2008年7月11日号 プロフィール
• Brad Towle was born in Canada in 1975. He worked as an assistant language teacher (ALT) in Hongu Town (now part of Tanabe City), Wakayama Prefecture, for three years starting in 1999. After going back to Canada, he worked as a mountain guide. In 2006, he returned to Japan and became a staff member of the Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau (http://www.tb-kumano.jp/en/). He is now trying hard to promote Tanabe's attractions to the world.
  
• スワーダ・アル・ムダファーラさん (オマーンにある私立学校の校長・創設者) 2008年6月13日号 プロフィール
• Suad Al-Mudhaffar was born Morita Mihoko in Tokyo. In 1979, she made her first visit to Oman on the Arabian Peninsula as a member of a cultural mission. She moved to Oman permanently in 1983. Suad started Azzan Bin Qais Private School in 1990 with five kindergarten children. The school now provides education from kindergarten through the 12th grade and is ranked among the top three private schools in Oman. Suad is now the principal of Azzan Bin Qais.
  
• 荒川静香さん (プロフィギュアスケーター) 2008年4月11日号 プロフィール
• Arakawa Shizuka was born in 1981. She started skating when she was 5. She was the first figure skater to win three consecutive Japanese national junior championship titles. She made her Olympic debut in Nagano at 16. She won the 2004 world championships in Germany. At the 2006 Turin Olympic Winter Games, she became the first Asian figure skater to win an Olympic gold medal. She turned pro in May 2006. She is now active in ice shows, charity events and broadcasting.
  
• パイロットコーポレーションの消せるボールペン「フリクションボール」の開発者 2008年3月14日号 プロフィール
• Frixion Ball is Pilot Corporation's ballpoint pen with erasable ink. It was first released in Japan in March of last year and has sold well since then. Frixion Ball's special ink allows you to erase your writing with the plastic end of the pen. The friction heat created by rubbing the plastic on paper makes the ink transparent.
  This article is about the development of Frixion Ball and its erasable ink. Koja Masafumi, a product planner at Pilot Corporation, and Senga Kuniyuki, a product developer at Pilot Ink Co., Ltd., talked to "Catch a Wave" about their companies' development efforts.
  
• 上松博士さん (銀行員) 2008年2月8日号 プロフィール
• Uematsu Hiroshi was born in Aichi Prefecture in 1974. He lived in the United States with his family from the fourth grade of elementary school to the first grade of junior high school. He graduated from Keio University's Faculty of Law. He joined Mizuho Bank in 1997 and has worked at the International Business Division since January 2007.
  
• 伊調千春選手・馨選手 (レスリング選手) 2008年1月11日号 プロフィール
• Icho Chiharu was born in Aomori Prefecture in 1981. She and her sister Kaori are two of the top-ranked women wrestlers in the world. Chiharu won the silver medal in the 48-kilogram division at the 2004 Athens Olympics. She also won the 51-kilogram division at the 2003 World Wrestling Championships and the 48-kilogram division at the world championships in 2006 and 2007.
  
• 髙橋浩之さん (ニューヨークの日本料理店オーナー) 2007年11月9日号 プロフィール
• Takahashi Hiroyuki was born in Chiba Prefecture in 1957. He moved to New York in 1983 and opened a Japanese restaurant called "Takahachi" in 1990. He now owns two restaurants in Manhattan.
  
• 高野智さん (日本モンキーセンターの主任学芸員) 2007年10月12日号・26日号 プロフィール
• Takano Tomo was born in 1974. He graduated from the Laboratory of Physical Anthropology in the Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University. He has conducted research at the Japan Monkey Center in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, since 2003.
  
• 上野由岐子選手 (ソフトボール女子日本代表選手) 2007年9月14日号 プロフィール
• Ueno Yukiko was born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1982. She started playing softball when she was in third grade. In 2001, she joined Renesas Takasaki women's softball club.
  She played for the national team at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The team won the bronze medal. In Athens, she pitched the first perfect game in Olympic softball history, against the Chinese team.
  Her fastball is said to be the fastest of any woman in the world at 119 kilometers per hour.
  
• 滝田明日香さん (ケニア在住の獣医) 2007年5月11日号・5月25日号 プロフィール
• Dr. Takita Asuka was born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1975. She left Japan at the age of 6 and lived in Singapore, the Philippines, the United States and Kenya. She majored in zoology in the United States and later studied veterinary medicine at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. She is now involved in the Masai Mara Mobile Veterinary Project in Kenya.
  
• 浅越しのぶ選手 (元テニス選手) 2007年4月13日号・4月27日号 プロフィール
• Asagoe Shinobu was born in 1976. In 2000, she made her first Grand Slam appearance at Wimbledon. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, she finished fourth in women's doubles with Sugiyama Ai. In the same year, Asagoe reached the quarterfinals in women's singles at the U.S. Open. In October 2006, Asagoe announced her retirement from professional tennis. She was once ranked as high as 21st in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) singles rankings.
  
• フォンディ・純子さん (国連本部ガイド) 2007年2月9日号 プロフィール
• Junko Fondi was born in Tokyo. She majored in media studies at Tokyo Woman's Christian University. After working for a leasing company in Tokyo for about two years, she joined a one-year training program at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, the United States. She continued working there for six more years. She moved to New York City with her husband and started working as a tour guide at the United Nations Headquarters.
  
• 吉田沙保里選手 (女子レスリング) 2007年1月12日号 プロフィール
• Yoshida Saori was born in Mie Prefecture in 1982. She won a gold medal in women's wrestling in the 55-kilogram division at the 2004 Athens Olympics. She also won a fourth consecutive gold medal at last year's World Wrestling Championships. Yoshida is currently on a 100-match winning streak. In international competitions, she has won 104 matches in a row.
  
• 三浦大輔選手 (プロ野球選手) 2006年12月8日号 プロフィール
• Miura Daisuke, the Yokohama BayStars pitching ace, was born in Nara Prefecture in 1973. He played baseball at Takada Commercial Academy before he joined the Taiyo Whales, today's BayStars, in 1992. He won a bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics as a member of Japan's national baseball team. In 2005, he had the lowest earned run average and the most strikeouts in the Central League. He won his 100th career victory in May. He is nicknamed "Hama no Bancho" because his pompadour hair looks like a gang leader's. But Miura is a big Elvis Presley fan and his hairstyle is actually based on Elvis's.
  
• 桑原弘忠さん (カーデザイナー) 2006年10月13日号 プロフィール
• Kuwahara Hirotada was born in 1971. He is from Niigata Prefecture. He joined Nissan Motor Company in 1993. He has designed the exteriors for Presage Highway Star and the Cube series.
  
• 小林深雪さん (バイアスロン　視覚障害　選手) 2006年6月9日号 プロフィール
• Kobayashi Miyuki was born in 1973. At the 1998 Paralympic Winter Games in Nagano, she won the gold medal in the women's 7.5-kilometer biathlon in the visually impaired category. At this year's Turin Paralympics, she won the gold medal in the 12.5-kilometer biathlon and the silver medal in the 7.5-kilometer biathlon.
  
• 久保田五十一さん (プロバットマイスター) 2006年5月12日号 プロフィール
• Kubota Isokazu, a baseball bat meister for Mizuno Technics Corporation, was born in Gifu Prefecture in 1943. He has handcrafted baseball bats for over 45 years for many professional baseball players including Ochiai Hiromitsu, Mike Piazza, Ichiro, and Matsui Hideki. Kubota was named as a "Contemporary Master Craftsman" in 2003 and awarded the Medal with Yellow Ribbon in 2005.
  
• 緒川集人さん (マジシャン) 2006年3月10日号 プロフィール
• Shoot Ogawa was born in Tokyo in 1975. When he was 14 years old, he moved to the United States to start his training to become a magician. At 27, he was named the youngest ever "Magician of the Year." Now he performs in Las Vegas and all over the world.
  
• 北田康広さん (全盲のピアニスト・バリトン歌手) 2006年2月24日号 プロフィール
• Kitada Yasuhiro was born in Tokushima Prefecture in 1965. He lost his eyesight due to disease and a medical error at the age of 5. After he graduated from the Music Special Training Course of the School for the Visually Impaired, University of Tsukuba, he studied piano at Musashino Academia Musicae. He is now giving performances across the country. His popular concerts include his piano playing, singing, and talking to the audience.
  
• 村主章枝さん (フィギュアスケート選手) 2006年2月10日号 プロフィール
• Suguri Fumie was born in 1980. She lived in Alaska between the ages of 3 and 5. There she enjoyed skating on a frozen marsh. She went on to become the bronze medalist at the World Figure Skating Championships in both 2002 and 2003. Turin will be her second consecutive appearance at the Winter Olympics.
  
• 神田真吾さん (料理マイスター) 2006年1月13日号・27日号 プロフィール
• Kanda Shingo is the first non-European to become an Austrian national master cook. He was born in Tokyo in 1975. After working at a hotel in Tokyo, he moved to Austria at the age of 22. He has worked at some prestigious hotels in Austria.
  
• ワンガリ・マータイさん (ノーベル平和賞受賞者) 2005年12月9日号 プロフィール
• In 2004, Wangari Maathai, the assistant minister for environment and natural resources of Kenya, became the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. During her recent visit to Japan, she was deeply impressed by the Japanese word mottainai. Why was she interested in this word?
  
• 井上康生選手 (柔道選手) 2005年9月9日号 プロフィール
• The judoka Inoue Kosei was born in Miyazaki Prefecture in 1978. He won three consecutive world championships in the 100-kilogram class startig in 1999. At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, he won a gold medal.
  
• 桂かい枝さん (落語家) 2005年6月10日号 プロフィール
• The rakugo storyteller Katsura Kaishi was born in 1969. He was impresd by Katsura Bunshi's performances and began studying rakugo under him in 1994. He started to perform rakugo in English in 1997 in order to introduce a traditional form of Japanese entertainment to foreign counries. He is now highly regarded in many countries.
  
• 上原ひろみさん (ピアニスト) 2005年5月27日号 プロフィール
• The jazz pianist and composer Uehara Hiromi was born in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1979. She began her piano lessons at the age of 6. She graduated at the top of her class from Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2003. While in school, she released her debut album "Another Mind." Now she tours in the United States and Europe with her band.
  
• 宮内梅治さん (足袋職人) 2005年5月13日号 プロフィール
• Miyauchi Umeji was born in 1929. More than 50 years ago, he started learning to make Japanese socks, tabi, as an apprentice at Kikuya, a tabi shop in Ryogoku, Tokyo. He is now the 11th owner of Kikuya.
  
• 末続慎吾選手 (陸上選手) 2005年4月8日号 プロフィール
• Suetsugu Shingo was born in Kumamoto Prefecture in 1980. In 2003, he set a new Asian record for the 200 meters at the athletics national championships, and he also won the bronze medal in the 200 meters at the World Championships in Athletics. He holds the third best time for the 100 meters in Japan. He took part in the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and the Athens Olympics in 2004.
  
• 岡本依子選手 (テコンドー選手) 2005年3月11日号 プロフィール
• Okamoto Yoriko was born in Osaka in 1971. She started doing karate at the age of 12. When she was a junior at Waseda University, she went to the United States to study at the University of Oregon. There, she started taekwondo. Okamoto won a bronze medal in taekwondo at the 2000 Sidney Olympics.
  
• アシックス (イチロー選手のスパイクを作ったスタッフ) 2005年2月11日号 プロフィール
• The baseball spikes of Seattle Mariners outfielder Suzuki Ichiro are created by workers at Asics Corporation. These shoes helped Ichiro set a new major league record last season.
  
• 山本博選手 (アーチェリー選手) 2005年1月14日号 プロフィール
• Yamamoto Hiroshi was born in 1962. He took up archery when he was a junior high school student. He won a bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games while he was a university student. At the Athens Olympics, he won a silver medal. He has participated in the Olympics five times. Since 1989, Yamamoto has been a teacher at Omiyakaisei High School in Saitama Prefecture.
  
• 大口伸彦さん (AIBO開発者) 2004年12月10日号・24日号 プロフィール
• Oguchi Nobuhiko joined Sony Corporation in 1992. In 2000, Oguchi transfered to AIBO's development division according to his request. He designed the hardware for the AIBO ERS-300 Series and ERS-7.
  
• 田畑真紀選手 (スケート選手) 2004年11月26日号 プロフィール
• Tabata Maki was born in Hokkaido in 1974. She started speedskating in her first year of elementary school. Tabata participated in the 1994 Lillehammer Olympic Winter Games and the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. At the Salt Lake City Olympics, she placed sixth in the 3,000-meter race. Tabata won six consecutive overall titles at the national championships. She is the national record holder for the 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000-meter events.
  
• イーグル京和選手 (ボクサー) 2004年11月12日号 プロフィール
• Eagle Kyowa was born in Pichit, Thailand, in 1978. His real name is Den Junlaphan. He started boxing at the age of 16. After he got married to Takako, a Japanese kickboxer, he moved to Japan. He became the WBC minimumweight champion in January 2004.
  
• 土田和歌子さん (車いすマラソン選手) 2004年9月10日号 プロフィール
• Tsuchida Wakako was born in 1974. She uses a wheelchair because she in jured her spinal cord in a traffic accident at the age of 17. Tsuchida won the gold medal in the 1,000-meter and 1,500-meter ice sledge speed races at the Nagano Paralympic Winter Games. At the Sydney Olympics, she won the silver medal in the 800-meter exhibition event. She also won the bronze medal in the marathon at the Sydney Paralympics. She set a world record at the 2001 Oita International Wheelchair Marathon. At the Athens Paralympics, Tsuchida will compete in the 5,000-meter race and the marathon.
  
• 上原彩子さん (ピアニスト) 2004年7月9日号 プロフィール
• Uehara Ayako was born in Kagawa Prefecture in 1980. She began taking piano lessons at Yamaha Music School at age 3. In 2002, she became the first Japanese pianist to win first prize in the International Tchaikovsky Competition. She released her first CD in December 2003. She is now giving concerts all over the world.
  
• 辻谷政久さん (世界一の砲丸職人) 2004年6月11日号 プロフィール
• Tsujitani Masahisa is 71 years old. He makes shots, the metal balls used by shot-putters, at his family-run factory in Fujimi, Saitama Prefecture. His shots have been used in the Olympic Games. The gold, silver and bronze medalists in the men's shot put at both the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics used Tsujitani's shots.
  
• 浜島裕英さん (ブリヂストン:F1レース用タイヤの開発) 2004年4月9日号 プロフィール
• Hamashima Hirohide studied polymer physics at university. He joined Bridgestone Corporation in 1977. He did research on fuel-efficient tires and designed tires for passenger cars. Later, in 1981, he joined the company's motorsport tire development team. Until then, Hamashima did not have any interest in motorsports and did not know much about them. But now he is responsible for the development of tires for various racing cars, from Formula One (F1) cars to racing carts.
  
• 藤ジニーさん (女将) 2004年3月12日号 プロフィール
• Fuji Jeanie is from the United States. She came to Japan about 15 years ago. While she was teaching English at Japanese schools, she met her husband. She now lives in a hot-spring town in Yamagata Prefecture. Her town is called Ginzan Onsen. She works as an okami in a traditional Japanese inn. At first, everything was very difficult for her. But now she is used to her work and enjoys it very much.
• 板垣良彦さん (オリンピック日本代表チームの水着を開発) 2004年2月27日号 プロフィール
• Itagaki Yoshihiko joined Descente, a sports apparel maker, in 1974. He has developed swimsuits, jump suits for skiing, racing wear for skating and other products. When Kitajima Kosuke won two gold medals and set two new world records at the FINA World Swimming Championships last year, he was wearing a swimsuit developed by Itagaki.
• 松永貴志さん (ジャズピアニスト) 2004年2月13日号 プロフィール
• Matsunaga Takashi, the youngest professional jazz pianist in Japan, is in the third year of high school. He started to play the piano on his own when he was 5 years old. In May 2003, he released his first CD album in Japan. He made his album debut in the United States and Britain this month.
• 村主章枝さん (フィギュアスケート選手) 2004年1月16日号 プロフィール
• Suguri Fumie was born in 1980. She lived in Alaska between the ages of 3 and 5. There she enjoyed skating on a frozen marsh. She started figure skating when she was 6. Now she is the bronze medalist at the World Figure Skating Championships in both 2002 and 2003.
• 本田武史さん (フィギュアスケート選手) 2003年11月14日号 プロフィール
• Honda Takeshi is one of the top figure skaters in the world. He was the bronze medalist at the World Figure Skating Championships in 2002 and 2003. He was born in 1981. He started figure skating at the age of 9.
• 池谷幸雄さん (元体操選手) 2003年10月24日号 プロフィール
• Iketani Yukio was born in 1970. He took up gymnastics at the age of 4. At the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, he won two bronze medals in artistic gymnastics: one for the team event and the other for the individual floor exercise. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, he won a bronze medal in the team event and a silver medal in the individual floor exercise. After his retirement in the fall of 1992, he has worked as a TV personality and has also coached young people in gymnastics.
• 室伏広治さん (ハンマー投げ選手) 2003年8月22日号 プロフィール
• Murofushi Koji was the silver medalist in the hammer throw at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. He also holds the Japanese record in the hammer throw. He was born in 1974. His father was also a hammer thrower who once held the Japanese record. Murofushi works for Mizuno Corporation.
• 高橋尚子さん (マラソン選手) 2003年7月11日号 プロフィール
• The marathon runner Takahashi Naoko was born in 1972 in Gifu Prefecture. She won the gold medal in the women's marathon at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. In the Berlin Marathon 2001, she set a world record. Now she is training in the United States with her longtime coach, Koide Yoshio.
• パンツェッタ・ジローラモさん (エッセイスト) 2003年6月13日号 プロフィール
• Panzetta Girolamo is from Naples, Italy. He was born in 1962. While he was a student at the Naples College of Architecture, he joined projects to renovate historic buildings. He came to Japan in 1988, and graduated from the faculty of economics at Meikai University in 1992. He has appeared on TV programs such as "Itaria-go Kaiwa" on NHK and in many magazines. He has introduced his Italian homeland to us.
• 東儀秀樹さん (雅楽師) 2003年5月9日号 プロフィール
• Togi Hideki is a composer and gagakushi, court musician. He performed in court ceremonies and overseas as a member of the Imperial Music Division from 1986 to 1996. Now he takes an active part in composing and playing new types of music with gagaku instruments. He writes theme music for TV programs and commercials.
• 舞の海さん (元関取) 2003年4月11日号 プロフィール
• Mainoumi was born in Aomori in 1968. He almost became a high school teacher after he graduated from university. But he joined the Dewanoumi stable in 1990 to follow his dream. He won the Technique Prize five times before he retired in 1999. Now he is a popular TV personality.