Emi Suzuki

Emi Suzuki 鈴木 えみ
Emi Suzuki in February 2009, with a hat, glasses, shirt made by her 6 year old fan.
Born	Zǐliáng Wú (吴子良) September 13, 1985 (1985-09-13) Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Height	5 ft 9 1⁄2 in (1.77 m)
Weight	93 lb (42 kg)

Emi Suzuki (鈴木 えみ, Suzuki Emi, born September 13, 1985) is a Japanese fashion model and retired occasional actress. Widely known by her nickname Emichee, she has often been described as a "charismatic model" and is particularly popular among gyaru teenagers.

Early life

Born in Shanghai, China, she was originally named Ziliang Wu (吴子良). She emigrated to Kyoto at the age of 12, becoming a naturalized Japanese citizen and changing her name to the Japanese "Emi Suzuki" (鈴木依美) shortly before she entered Fujinomori Middle School, a public junior high school in Kyoto. Suzuki became fluent in Japanese within a year. She began fashion modeling at the age of 13, and attended Kyoto Ryōyō High School for several months before dropping out.

Career

There are several conflicting theories about the way she debuted, but the most prominent (frequently appearing) theory is the one from her official profile; her career began when she auditioned for Seventeen at the suggestion of a classmate. Soon after beginning to appear in the magazine and ready-to-wear open collections for several of fashion houses (not designers), her popularity rose, and she became a prominent model. In 1999, Suzuki appeared in her first TV commercial for Dancemania Speed 2 alongside Franky Gee.

In 2002, she began appearing in designer-brands' private collections maintaining strict requirements regarding the body fat percentage (BFP) standard, and after appearing in the music video for Ketsumeishi's 2005 mega-hit song Sakura, she terminated her contract with Seventeen.

Suzuki had decided to retire from modeling and go back to Kyoto before turning 20 in 2005. Her agency and the publisher Shueisha started a new magazine, Pinky, with low financial support. In response, she terminated her contract with Seventeen in 2006 and began her contract with Pinky as a frequent model. To date, all of Suzuki's covers with the magazine have been with her solely, except for one notable exception in a 2007 issue. Suzuki was featured on the first issue of the magazine.

While working as a model for Pinky and in the non-commercial (professional) scene, she has also worked as a model for many other fashion magazines and has modeled for a variety of ads, such as Shiseido, Suntory, OPC (Calorie Mate). Aside from appearing magazines, ads, and countless private collections, she has appeared in many TV series, such as The Long Love Letter, The Queen of the Lunch, Water Boys 2, and the TV series Yukan Club in 2007. She even appeared in the Tokyo Girls Collection shows, which professional models in general desperately avoid to be involved in, and it was possibly due to personal requests from the likes of Eri Utsugi (former designer of Frapbois).

In November 2007, having earned an estimated total of $29 million in the past 10 months, several medias named her one of the top ten earning models in Japan in 2007.

In January 2010, she made a surprise appearance as an alumnus on Fuji Mezamashi TV's "Today's Countdown", a news program which she appeared on in her novice years (2001–2002). Despite having a busy work schedule, she referred to herself as a semi-retired model, and implied that she did not wish to pursue an acting career.

Although she has implied her total retirement from commercial modeling since 2009, Suzuki has appeared on the first issue of Used Mix Special Edition CLOSET, a magazine promoting "Otona Kawaii" or "Adult Cute" style, as one of its three best featured models along with Miho Tanaka and Rena Takeshita near the end of 2010, possibly due to Rena's personal request.^{[citation needed]}

Controversy

Weight

Suzuki has been named as a thin model in Japan; through her career, her official weight has been around 94 lb (43 kg).^{[citation needed]} Moreover, much like other successful models like 1990s model Asami Ishikawa, Suzuki has been noted for her metabolic ability, as it is supposed to be "too fast and powerful" and a vital key to her success.

She originally maintained normal BMI points (for a model's), for example her BMI as of 1998, at age 13, was 14.1 weighing 89 lb (40.1 kg) at 5' 6¼" (1.68 m), however, it decreased year by year due to increasing height and beginning high-paying private-collection work. On October 21, 2008, she appeared in the midnight television program "Chrono's Gear" in her local city Kyoto, and weighed herself there. On the day, at 5' 9½" (1.77 m), she weighed 90 lb (41 kg).

In November, 2008, a special editorial "The Starving Princess Part 8: Can't Stop, Won't Stop" in the Takarajima magazine, a monthly lifestyle magazine, named Suzuki as "The 6th thinnest female model in the 2000s". The editorial reported her body specifications, which was calculated by several specialists, as 5' 9½" (1.77 m), 93 lb (42 kg), and 13.4 (BMI).

Public reception

According to her former fellow models who worked with her for Seventeen, including Anna Tsuchiya and Naoko Tokuzawa, Suzuki "ate enough" everyday. Tsuchiya described Suzuki as a "dumb a*s monster" as Suzuki "ate enough everyday" and still was "far taller-and-lighter" than Tsuchiya; especially before appearing in television spots, Suzuki ate a "humongous amount of food" and was often slumped asleep to the floor with it like an overfed cat or a dead drunkard, while Tsuchiya chronically suffered from heavy starvation.

Another former fellow model, Ayano Seki, has also described Suzuki as a "monster", saying "[her] metabolism [is] insanely fast, like many tenters in the collection circuit maybe, that's like a monster". Seki gave the following examples of peculiarities with her metabolism: her hair grew too quickly; she liked to have a suntan in the summertime, but her skin would lose its tan and return to its original tone in an extraordinarily short time; in preparation for appearing in the music video of "Sakura," she had to eat large quantities of food to make her face chubbier; after the work, she lost all of the extra weight with "amazing speed.", resulting in being nicknamed "Monster".

During the mid - late 2000s, media often associated her with other athletes especially those in combat sports such as mixed martial arts and sumo. Her "Monster" nickname was connected with Fedor Emelianenko, a mixed martial artist who has often been described as a "monster". Plus it has been speculated that celebrity media expected Suzuki and Asasyoryu's romantic relationship reminiscent of Rie Miyazawa and Takanohana, however, according to paparazzi / reporter Masaru Nashimoto, it "failed". She has referred to Tokitenku, Kaio and Musashimaru as her favorites but never mentioned Asasyoryu, in addition, it had been already known to the public that Asasyoryu had been married. The next time, media attempted to make up her love affair story with Hakuho. Some tabloids even concocted false stories implying their romantic relationship when they actually didn't even know each other. It ended when Hakuho married a glamour model the same age as Suzuki.

She has been known for her quietness; she has rarely spoken in public and even many of her fans had never heard her raw voice until around 2007 when she started acting, and it has usually been received positively, as she does not fit the stereotypical image of a fashion model being violent, barely educated, drinking heavily, acting in a crude manner, and having a heavy regional accent. Her taciturnity about everything may have been a sufficient reason for her "trustworthiness", a reason for her success and, in stark contrast to some other models with similar backgrounds who are known for their garrulousness and big mouths, Wei Son for one.

Personal life

Very little is known about Suzuki's personal life. She is famous for being very vague. Nana Eikura, best friend since 2003, stated, "Emi rarely talks about herself to others, even me." She further revealed that the model lives alone in an expensive apartment and her room was organized and bare, save for "a refrigerator, a bureau, a sofa, a single-bed, a vase and some books".

Suzuki at the age of 9

Suzuki has been spectulated to enjoy watching MMA. Sayaka Ogata, a former model, has stated that she seemed familiar with many MMA individuals like Kevin Randleman, Wanderlei Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Kazuyuki Fujita, Alistair Overeem, Quinton Rampage Jackson. In addition to it, a writer who competed to edit an MMA magazine claimed that he witnessed Suzuki once at the Saitama Arena. On the day, the Pride FC held a tournament there, Pride Grand Prix 2006 Final, where the fighters included Wanderlei Silva, Nogueira and Overeem. Suzuki made an appearance as a VIP guest at the mixed martial arts event Dynamite!! 2009 on December 31, 2009 after an invitation from Nozomi Sasaki, the event's main announcer / former model who has referred to Suzuki as her spiritual sister.

Anna Tsuchiya spent private time with Suzuki when they both were 17. After being proposed by Suzuki, Tsuchiya canceled her modeling schedule and enjoyed leisure time with Suzuki. The two stayed for five days in an inn near Lake Biwa. According to Tsuchiya, Suzuki had already been famous in Kyoto at the time, so she was often surrounded by a crowd of younger girls who wanted to shake hands with her, and many of them ("brats") called her Emi-nee. During this time, Tsuchiya and Suzuki posed as wrestlers in miko clothes. "Emi-nee" became one of the most known nicknames for Suzuki along with "Emi-chee".

Machine (rock duo of Hakuei of Penicillin and Kiyoshi of hide with Spread Beaver) heavily featured her as a rising model on their radio show^{[citation needed]} and featured her in their single "010 Zero-One-Zero" booklet's "Special Thanks" section; Sex Machineguns' bassist Noisy featured her in his album Dustar first limited edition's booklet, saying "Best wishes to you, our goddess Emi-chan".

In 2008, Suzuki gave Nana Eikura a car, a very expensive car, as a birthday present when Eikura got a driver license at the age of 20. Many professional wrestlers have received various gifts from Suzuki. Those wrestlers include Ryuji Ito, Jun Kasai, Abdullah Kobayashi, who received about 400 Dom Pérignon bottles and a few beers via a special delivery service from her, and may include Masada, Cima, Wifebeater, Go Shiozaki, many Puerto-Rican wrestlers and some other hardcore wrestlers who have wrestled with Suzuki's long term favorite wrestler Jun Kasai.

Also, though successful models usually avoid appearing on TV shows, she has made numerous guest-appearances on several variety shows in Kyoto, including the KBS quiz show Dance Shuffle. In one notable example, she showed that she did not know the country of Canada existed, and another FM-Kyoto variety program Sunnyside Balcony, where she responded to the question about what the name of the founder of Christianity was, seriously saying "Afghanistan". Proceeded to be shown a photo of former US President George W Bush and asked what his name was, seriously responded, "Necro Butcher, Hollywood aka CM Punk". She has made many "revealing [frank] talks" in Sunnyside Balcony and several other Kyoto-Otsu-based programs. In one example she has explained that her reticence is simply because she cannot speak standard Japanese very well. It has been said by some that these appearances have directly destroyed her own public image of being cool, and some tabloid papers have reported with mocking headlines, such as "Emichee has already metabolized her brain", but her "frank talks", such as those in Sunnyside Balcony, have been positively received by many audiences; especially teens in the Kyoto-Otsu-Kobe area. Suzuki has also made mention of some of her former workmates, notably Nozomi Sasaki. She has stated that she was hoping that many people would look favorably at Sasaki. It was the same statement she made when Sasaki's first photobook, Nozomi, was released.

Unlike many models, it has been revealed that Suzuki is not a heavy drinker of alcoholic beverages, and is now known as a non-drinker. She has explained that there is no particular reason for her apparent abstinence (e.g. on the Pinky 2009 March "Life Time!" editorial), but according to Rena Takeshita's tweet http://twitter.com/RenaTakeshita ?max_id=18655811924393984&page=41, there was in fact a strong reason for it. Takeshita reccounts one night in August 2008, when Suzuki consumed too much alcohol at a hotel after party succeeding a photo session in Sapporo. At the time she was with Nozomi (Sasaki), then already known as her protégé, and the next morning, Rena witnessed Emi wearing a serious expression, along with Nozomi hovering about Emi, with a slightly flushed face. About two months later, Rena confronted Emi about the details of what had happened that day, to which, Emi then confessed that she had woken up beside Nozomi naked with love bites, and that she had since quit drinking. Emi has left her long-term condominium and moved outside of Tokyo 'for recreation', but according to Rena and another model Sachi, Emi did it to escape from Nozomi after she found out Nozomi made a spare key to Emi's room without her permission. Suzuki now lives in Yokosuka.
Nozomi-Emi-Chu_OFFSHOT8000107110769829368..jpg

Near the end of March 2011, a Kobe-based tabloid (Recipe, SRC Publishing & Co.) snapped a picture of her walking alongside another woman in Gion, Kyoto and reported it with the theatrical Kyoto-language headline of "Yoh kaette kiharimashita, Emi-han" ("Welcome back, Emi-san"). The picture had the description of "The east is now in a mess, take a rest here with your lovely sister!", and the lovely sister mentioned in the description was, according to the paper's perception, Nozomi Sasaki.

Sendai-based Hip hop band LGY's Honesty Feeling, a song included in the album "Jointed 2 Homies" and entirely written by female R&B singer Shion, a former long-term fan of Emi, is about these two, more specifically their "special relationship" that Shion already noticed in late 2006.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Gyaru
• Yankee#In other parts of the world
• Redneck
• Nigga
• Chav rich
• List of orphans and foundlings
• Human trafficking in Japan
• List of human trafficking victims
• List of international adoption scandals
• Snake Head

External links

• Stardust official site
• emisuzuki.com, an unofficial website which has been named as a source referring Suzuki's BWH by IMDb