One of the original Shenmue developers revealed last year that Izumi Takano, who can be found working at the Tomato Convenience Store in Wan Chai in Shenmue II, was once a candidate character model for the role of Nozomi Harasaki in the first game, but was rejected.
Article:
https://www.phantomriverstone.com/2020/05/izumi-takano-was-once-considered-for.html
Article:
https://www.phantomriverstone.com/2020/05/izumi-takano-was-once-considered-for.html