Template:Infobox musical artist 2 Hitomi Takahashi (高橋 瞳 Takahashi Hitomi, born April 8, 1989) is a J-Pop singer who's from Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. Hitomi debuted in 2005, and made a successful debut with her single Bokutachi no Yukue, which entered the weekly charts at #1.
Profile
- Real Name: Hitomi Takahashi (高橋 瞳, Takahashi Hitomi)
- Birthdate: April 8, 1989
- Birthplace: Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
- Height：1,47cm
- Favorite Artists：Shiina Ringo, Shaka Labbits, Maroon 5, Avril Lavigne, and Ellegarden
Biography
Hitomi Takahashi was born on April 8, 1989. Because of her abnormally large eyes, her parents named her "Hitomi", which means "pupil/eye" in Japanese. By the influence of her father, she grew up listening to his favorite music, which was classic rock like Eric Clapton and the Beatles.
In 2002, she entered junior-high/middle school. Once entering middle school, Hitomi joined the school softball team and expressed an interest in becoming an artist's backup dancer. So, every morning she would practice dancing before she went to Kendo practice; she obtained the first level degree in Kendo. Every night after school Hitomi and her friends would gather together and street dance.
In the year of 2003, while she was at dance practice, Hitomi was encouraged to try to sing at a local popularity event. Hitomi disliked singing karaoke in front of such a large crowd, but her friends greatly encouraged her to sing, and from that time on the desire to become a singer awoke in her.
During her second year in junior-high school, in the middle of the summer of 2003, Hitomi applied for the Sony Music Auditions. For the auditions, she recorded the rock song "Ukifune" by the band GO!GO!7188, but because the deadline was drawing near, she sent in the tape without listening to it. Also, because a change of interest, Hitomi moved from singing dance music to singing rock music.
In 2004, Hitomi was selected as the finalist for the Sony Music SD audition (Vo-che3), from around 20,000 others. She was worried that because of her height (147 cm), she would be overlooked, but her powerful voice attracted the attention of people as she sang live.
At the end of 2004, she was chosen to sing the theme song for "Gundam SEED DESTINY", and recording for her song "Bokutachi no Yukue" began at the end of the year.
In 2005, she was in the middle of high school entrance exams as the title for her 1st single "Bokutachi no Yukue" was announced. The single was released on April 2005, and debuted at #1 on the Oricon charts. Hitomi became the second female singer to have a debut single in the #1 spot, and the third solo artist to have a debut single reach #1. The single ended up selling well over 100,000 copies.
Hitomi soon entered senior high school, and started her first radio personality on Date fm (FM Sendai) called "Takahashi Hitomi ~Sound D・N・A~".
The second single from Hitomi, "evergreen", was released on August 12, 2005. The song was used as the theme song for the Japanese TV drama "New Kids War". The single sales were discouraging, the single only debuting at #22 on the Japanese Oricon Charts, and selling the poor amount of a little less than 30,000 copies.
Hitomi's third single, "Aozora no NAMIDA", was used as the 1st opening theme song for the anime BLOOD+, and was released on October 12, 2005. Its first week on the charts reached the #8 place on the Oricon charts with 44,629 copies sold. This was a huge leap from her past single "evergreen".
The first studio album from the singer, "sympathy", was released on March 1, 2006. The album came in two formats, CD only and CD+DVD (limited edition), and contained 12 tracks total, 7 of them being previously unreleased songs. At the release of the album, Hitomi held her first live concert on April 1, 2006. During her concert, Hitomi sung a new song. At first, this song was untitled, but thanks to the Japanese TBS website, the song's name was revealed as "Little Star"![1] As of now, it is unknown if this song will be a single or not.
On February 22, Hitomi's site updated revealing Hitomi's Official Fan Club, which was titled "H147." On another note, Hitomi won an award for New Artist of the Year, and sung live at the event. Also, for reasons unknown, Hitomi held two more concerts for her "sympathy" album. Both were performed at SHIBUYA BOXX on May 14, 2006 & June 18, 2006.[2]
In May 2006, online shopping websites reported that Hitomi would be releasing her 4th single on July 12, 2006. This went as a rumor, until her official website finally confirmed it in June, with the single officially given the title Communication.
Discography
Singles
| # | Cover | Information | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st / Debut Single |
 |
Bokutachi no Yukue 僕たちの行方 |
135,898 copies sold |
| 2nd |  |
evergreen | 29,116 copies sold |
| 3rd |  |
Aozora no NAMIDA 青空のナミダ
|
79,630 copies sold |
| 4th |  |
Communication コミュニケイション |
TBR |
Albums
| # | Cover | Information | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st / Debut Album |
 |
sympathy | 31,333 copies sold |
Featured/Collaborative Releases
- MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SEED DESTINY COMPLETE BEST (November 2, 2005)
- ("Bokutachi no Yukue")
- HIT STYLE (January 25, 2006)
- ("Bokutachi no Yukue")
- MATCHY TRIBUTE (January 25, 2006)
- ("MIDDONAITO SHAFFURU")
Concerts
- Hitomi Takahashi Live "Sympathy" ~BOXX Series~