After reading this question, I began to wonder about the history of quantum $(2N-1)$-spheres. Basically I have two questions:
(1) Who first introduced the $(2N-1)$-spheres, and who first introduced them as invariant subalgebras of quantum $SU_N$? I know that Podles is often credited with introducing quantum spheres, but as far as I can see (his paper is difficult to find on the web) he only introduced a family of deformations of $2$-spheres, which are not of course of the form $S^{2N-1}_q$. I know also that something appeared in the early FRT-papers, but these are also difficult to find, and are in Russian.
(2) The proof in Klimyk and Schmudgen of the generators and relations result is based on a 1993 paper by Noumi, Yamada, and Mimachi. (This is also difficult to find.) Was this the first generators and relations description for the for $S^{2N-1}_q$? Did it generalise an earlier result, ie for $S^5_q$?
P.S. I would also be very interested in hearing about the history of quantum projective spaces. Who first introduced them? Who first introduced them as invariant subalgebras of quantum $SU_N$? Who first introduced them as invariant subalgebras of the quantum spheres?