HATCHIKO

In 1924, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo, took in Hachikō, a golden brown Akita, as a pet. During his owner's life, Hachikō greeted him at the end of each day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno did not return. The professor had suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and died, never returning to the train station where Hachikō was waiting. Every day for the next nine years the dog waited at Shibuya station.
Hachikō attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachikō and Professor Ueno together each day. Initial reactions from the people, especially from those working at the station, were not necessarily friendly. However, after the first appearance of the article about him on October 4, 1932 in Asahi Shimbun, people started to bring Hachikō treats and food to nourish him during his wait. This continued for nine years with Hachikō appearing precisely when the train was due at the station

Super Junior (Korean: 슈퍼주니어; Syupeo Junieo) is a popular South Korean idol group. Formed in 2005 by producer Lee Soo-man ofSM Entertainment, the group comprised a total of thirteen members at its peak. Super Junior originally debuted with twelve members, consisting of leader Leeteuk, Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook andKibum. Kyuhyun joined the group in 2006.

Known as the "Kings of the Hallyu Wave", Super Junior launched into international recognition following the release of their best-selling single "Sorry, Sorry" in 2009, the title song of their most critically successful album Sorry, Sorry ^] and was the best-selling K-pop artist for three years in a row.

Over the years, they have been divided into smaller subgroups, simultaneously targeting different music industries and audiences. Largely due to Super Junior's success as entertainers, other Korean entertainment managements began to train their music groups in other areas of entertainment, such as acting and hosting. In addition to their commercial success, Super Junior has earned fourteen music awards from the Mnet Asian Music Awards, sixteen from the Golden Disk Awards, and is the second singing group to win Favorite Artist Korea at the 2008 MTV Asia Awards after JTL in 2003. In 2012 they were nominated for "Best Asian Act" in MTV Europe Music Awards showing one more time their popularity around world.

In December 2009, Hankyung departed from the group after filing a lawsuit against their agency SM Entertainment. Hankyung subsequently won the lawsuit in December 2010, though his departure from Super Junior was not made official until September 27, 2011, when S.M. Entertainment finally released a statement to that effect. Heechul enlisted for his mandatory military service on September 1, 2011. Kangin was absent from the group for their fourth and fifth album promotions, but completed his service in April 2012, and rejoined the group for their sixth album in mid 2012, however, the absent three members are considered as part of the group regardless. Leeteuk enlisted for his mandatory military service on October 30, 2012. As of 2012, Super Junior has nine active members:Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun.

Secret (Korean: 시크릿; Japanese: シークレット, often stylized as SECRET) is a South Korean K-pop girl group formed by TS Entertainment in 2009. Consisting of four members, Jeon Hyosung, Jung Hana, Song Jieun and Han Sunhwa, the group released their debut single, "I Want You Back" on October 13, 2009.^[1] In 2010, they released two mini albums entitled Secret Time and Madonna with lead singles "Magic" and "Madonna" respectively.^[2][3] In 2011, Secret released three other singles, namely "Shy Boy", "Starlight Moonlight" and "Love is Move". Jieun, the main vocalist, also released a solo single titled "Going Crazy" featuring B.A.P's leader, Bang Yong Guk. In August 2011, the group made their official debut in Japan. Secret was the third Korean girl group to debut in the top ten on the Oricon charts, with Kara and Girls' Generationbeing the first and second groups respectively.^[4] In October 2011, Secret released their first full-length studio album, Moving in Secret. Aside from their commercial accomplishments, Secret is well known for their transitions to cute and the girl-next-door image through songs like "Shy Boy" and "Starlight Moonlight" from the sexy and powerful image back in 2009 and 2010.^[4] In support of their 2nd Japanese single, "So Much For Goodbye", the group embarked a promotional tour in Japan named "Secret 1st Japan Tour" held on March 2012.^[5] In September 2012, Secret released their 3rd mini-album entitled Poison after almost a year of absence in the South Korean music industry due to Japanese promotions.

T-ara (pron.: /tiˈɑːrə/; Korean: 티아라, Japanese: ティアラ, often stylized asT-ARA or T♔ARA) is a South Korean girl group that debuted in 2009 underCore Contents Media. Before their debut, there was a high level of interest in the group; they were called the "Super Rookies" and had been training for three years prior.^[1]

Originally a five-member group composed of Jiae, Jiwon, Eunjung, Hyomin, andJiyeon, they released their first song "Joheun Saram" (좋은 사람, "Good Person") for the soundtrack of the Korean drama Cinderella Man in April 2009. After Jiae and Jiwon withdrew from the group in June, T-ara debuted as a six-member group with the addition of Boram, Soyeon, and Qri in July 2009.^[2]

Their debut studio album Absolute First Album was released in December 2009 and spawned several hit singles including "Geojitmal", "TTL (Time to Love)", "TTL Listen 2", "Bo Peep Bo Peep", "Cheoeum Cheoreom" and "Neo Ttaemune Michyeo". The album was followed by the group's first extended play, Temptastic (2010), which included the top-five singles "Wae Ireoni" and "Yayaya". John Travolta Wannabe (2011) produced "Roly-Poly", the Gaonchart's number one single of the year, which earned the group several awards and nominations as well. In less than six months, the group released their third extended play Black Eyes (2011), which spawned three number one singles: "Cry Cry", "Uri Saranghaetjanha" and "Lovey-Dovey". The lead single, "Cry Cry", became the group's first number one on the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100.

In 2011, T-ara signed a $4.3 million contract with the company J-ROCK for their Japanese debut, the highest out of all the girl groups debuting in Japan.^[3]Their major record label is EMI Music Japan while their management and promotional marketing takes place under J-ROCK.^[4] The group's first single was a remake of their 2009 hit "Bo Peep Bo Peep". It ranked at number one on the Oricon weekly charts with 49,712 copies sold,^[5] the first time a debuting Korean girl group has done so in the charts' history.^[6] T-ara released their debut Japanese studio album Jewelry Box in 2012, which peaked at number two on the Oricon charts.

The group has added three members to their lineup since debut: Hwayoung in 2010, Areum in June 2012, and Dani was announced to be joining the group in December 2012 (although she has yet to join the group). Hwayoung later departed the group in July 2012. T-ara uses a rotating leader system in which a different member of the group is elected as leader each year, in order to give both the group and the individual members the opportunity to grow in a new direction.

Block B (Hangul: 블락비) is a South Korean boy group created by Cho PD under his label Brand New Stardom. On April 15, 2011, they made their debut on KBS Music Bank with their promotional single, "Freeze!" ("그대로 멈춰라!"). The group consists of seven members: Zico (Woo Jiho), Lee Taeil, B-Bomb (Lee Minhyuk), Ahn Jaehyo, U-Kwon (Kim Yukwon), Park Kyung, and P.O (Pyo Jihoon). The members of Block B have dancing, rapping, composing, and singing experience. Their debut single, titled "Do You Wanna B?" consists of three tracks. Block B is short for the term Blockbuster, with the group having high hopes of making it big in the music industry. The group has its roots in hip hop but has interest in branching out into different genres.

 

Girls' Generation in January 2012. From left to right: Taeyeon, Hyoyeon, Seohyun, Sooyoung, Yoona, Jessica, Tiffany, Sunny and Yuri..
Background information
Also known as	SNSD, SoShi, So Nyeo Shi Dae GG, Shoujo Jidai, Shàonǚ shídài
Origin	Seoul, South Korea
Genres	K-pop, pop, dance-pop[1] , teen pop, bubblegum pop, electropop
Years active	2007–present
Labels	S.M. Entertainment (South Korea) Nayutawave (Japan) Interscope (U.S.) Polydor (France) Universal Music (Taiwan)
Associated acts	SM Town, Girls' Generation-TTS
Website	Official Korean website Official Japanese website Official US website Official Facebook Official Twitter
Members
Taeyeon Jessica Sunny Tiffany Hyoyeon Yuri Sooyoung Yoona Seohyun

Girls' Generation (Korean: 소녀시대; So Nyeo Shi Dae) is a South Korean girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2007.^[2] They are also referred to as SoShi (소시) or SNSD, both abbreviated forms of the group's Korean name. The nine member group consists of Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun.
The group gained attention at the beginning of their career with songs such as "Into the New World" and "Kissing You" but it was not until 2009 when they gained significant popularity with their hit single "Gee", which would be named as South Korea's "Song of the Decade".^[3] The group solidified their place in the Korean music industry with follow-up singles "Tell Me Your Wish", "Run Devil Run", and "Oh!" from late 2009 to early 2010. In 2011, after a series of activities in Japan, the group returned to the Korean music scene with "The Boys", which was released in three languages: Korean, Japanese, and for the first time, English. By 2012 the group has sold over 100,000 copies for each of their six Korean studio album releases, totaling over 4.4 million albums and 30 million digital singles along with their EPs, singles and releases in other languages.^[4] In 2010 alone, the group sold more than 11,730,000 albums and singles collectively.^[5] The group's immense popularity in their native South Korea has earned them titles "The Nation's Singers" and "The Nation's Girl Group".^[6] The Sisa Journal named the group as the most influential entertainers for the years 2011 and 2012, making them the first female idol group in history to make the list.^[7] They have also been listed as #1 on the Top Female Singer's list for 4 consecutive years in a row (sans 2nd half of 2011 at #2) on the Leespiar Popularity Survey in Korea.^{[8] [9]} Asia Today placed the group at forty-four on the 50 Korean Power Leaders list in 2011.^[10] Forbes also revealed the group were most powerful entertainers in South Korea for the year of 2011.^[5]
The group began a foray into the Japanese music scene in late 2010 under Nayutawave Records, with Japanese remakes of their 2009 Korean hits "Genie" and "Gee". The group's debut Japanese album, Girls' Generation, released in June 2011, is currently the highest selling album in Japan by a Korean group in Oricon history. It was certified "Million" by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, which made them the second Korean artist to earn such an achievement in Japan since label mate BoA's "Best of Soul" in 2005.^[11] The group returned to the Japanese music scene in June 2012 with single "Paparazzi", followed by two other single albums, "Oh! / All My Love Is For You" and "Flower Power", concluded by their second full length Japanese album, Girls' Generation II ~Girls & Peace~.
They have expanded their reach in the Korean industry through their first sub-unit, Girls' Generation-TTS (known simply as "TaeTiSeo"), composed of members Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun. The subgroup's debut EP, Twinkle, peaked at #126 on the Billboard 200, becoming the highest charting K-Pop album on the chart thus far.

Beast (pron.: /ˈbiːst/; Korean: 비스트; stylized as BEAST or B2ST) is a six-member boy band from South Korea, formed in 2009 by Cube Entertainment. The band's members are Yoon Doo-joon, Jang Hyun-seung, Yong Jun-hyung, Yang Yo-seob, Lee Gi-kwang, and Son Dong-woon.
Beast has released one Korean full-length album, six Korean mini-albums, one Japanese full-length and various singles. The group's debut release was in October, 2009, when their first mini-album, Beast Is the B2ST, was made available. They then released their first full-length album, Fiction and Fact, in 2011,^[1] receiving their first triple crown on M.net's M! Countdown for their lead single Fiction. In the same year, Beast made their Japanese debut with the release of the single, Shock (Japanese Version).
The group gained attention for the lack of industry success previously experienced by its members, with media outlets referring to them as "a group of recycled material".^[2] However, the group has achieved significant commercial and critical accolades with time, winning the Bonsang award at the Seoul Music Awards in both 2011 and 2012. Beast won the Artist of the Year (Daesang) award at the Melon Music Awards and Album of the Year for Fiction and Fact at the Gaon Chart Awards for the second quarter of the year in 2011. "Fiction" also won a Daesang for "Song of the Year" at the 2011 KBS Music Festival.