Kumiko Hara

Japanese jazz singer and mountaineer. Born on December 24, 1954 in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo and died on October 17, 2005 in Shinagawa City, Tokyo. She become blind at an early age due to a congenital hypertrophy retinal pigment. In high school, she involved in rock and jazz bands, playing keyboards and singing. After graduation, she went to Tokyo College of Music and performed under a top pianist at live houses, etc. She was discovered by a record company and made her debut as a singer in 1977 at the age of 22. Her singles include "Koi wa Kisha no Yō" (恋は汽車のよう), "Hottoite" (ほっといて), and "Midnight Train" (ミッドナイト・トレイン), and her albums include "No Smoking", "Neppū" (熱風), and "Unhappy Birthday". Her hobby of hiking led her to fall in love with mountains to point she wrote a book about one of them. In 1994, she reached the summit of Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe (4807 meters). She passed away at the age of 50 due to brain tumor.