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Ringo Shiina (椎名林檎, しいなりんご, Shiina Ringo) - A Japanese singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist born on November 25, 1978.

Yumiko Shiina was born in Saitama Prefecture to Kōtarō Shiina, an employee of an oil company, and Akiko Shiina, a full-time housewife. She was born with an illness in which the esophagus narrows as it approaches the stomach, resulting in many surgeries. These surgeries left Shiina with large scars on her shoulder blades, said to give the impression that an angel's wings had been removed.

Her understanding of the arts began with her father's interest in jazz and classical music. Also, her mother majored in dance in college and practiced ballet. There was a large collection of music, a piano, and a guitar in her house. Shiina's father was also a devoted reader of music magazines. The young girl began practicing piano at age 5, as well as learning classical ballet.

There are some rumors about the origin of the pseudonym Ringo, meaning apple. It is thought to perhaps originate from the nickname which was applied to her by a friend when she often blushed as a child, or it could come from the name of the Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr, or it is because she gives herself a stage name which uses an English-sounding word. However, the only origin that she declared is that she followed the cartoonist, Sensya Yoshida. His first name is just a name of an object like Ringo ("Sensya" in this case meaning a "Battle Tank" in English). She seems to feel that the fact impacts those who hear it.

Information source: “Ringo Shiina.” wikipedia.org. Article date: 11 Feb. 2008. Retrieved: Wikipedia. 16 Feb. 2008 <Ringo Shiina>.


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