Yama Wayama (和山やま, Wayama Yama; born January 25, 1995) is a pseudonymous Japanese manga artist. Born and raised in…Yama Wayama (和山やま, Wayama Yama; born January 25, 1995) is a pseudonymous Japanese manga artist. Born and raised in Okinawa, Wayama made her debut as a manga artist in 2015 while a student in the manga program at Tokyo Polytechnic University. After unsuccessful attempts to launch a serial manga series she began to produce doujinshi (self-published manga) to critical acclaim. Her doujinshi Captivated, by You became a critical and commercial success after being acquired and published by the publishing house Enterbrain, winning the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in the Short Work category and the New Face Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival Awards. Her other series include Let's Go Karaoke! and Onna no Sono no Hoshi.
Yuna Shishido (宍戸佑名, Shishido Yūna; born June 23, 1985), known as a solo artist by the stage name Kavka Shishido…Yuna Shishido (宍戸佑名, Shishido Yūna; born June 23, 1985), known as a solo artist by the stage name Kavka Shishido (シシド・カフカ, Shishido Kafuka; stylized in Japan as SHISHIDO KAVKA) is a Mexican-born Japanese drummer and vocalist. Originally a member of the rock band The News, she debuted as a solo musician in 2012 and released her debut album Kavkanize in 2013. She prominently plays the drums in all of her promotions. Shishido was given the name "Kavka" for her stage name by copy editor Junpei Watanabe. Shishido always wore black, reminiscent of a crow. The Czech word kavka refers to the daurian jackdaw.
Lieko Shiga (志賀理江子; born 1980) is a Japanese photographer. She is best known for her "Rasen Kaigan" (spiral coast)…Lieko Shiga (志賀理江子; born 1980) is a Japanese photographer. She is best known for her "Rasen Kaigan" (spiral coast) series.
Shozin Fukui (福居ショウジン, Fukui Shōjin; 29 July 1961 – 2 April 2026) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He was…Shozin Fukui (福居ショウジン, Fukui Shōjin; 29 July 1961 – 2 April 2026) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He was best known for his contributions to the cyberpunk genre.
Hisayasu Satō (佐藤 寿保, Satō Hisayasu; born 15 August 1959 in Shizuoka City, Japan) is a Japanese exploitation film…Hisayasu Satō (佐藤 寿保, Satō Hisayasu; born 15 August 1959 in Shizuoka City, Japan) is a Japanese exploitation film director. He has worked prolifically in the genre of pinku eiga films, which refers to Japanese films that prominently feature nudity or sexual content. His best-known works are the 1992 pink film The Bedroom and the 1996 V-Cinema splatter film Splatter: Naked Blood. He is known for his "sledgehammer" filmmaking style, and using his exploitation career to tackle serious subjects like obsession, alienation, perversion and voyeurism. He has been likened to Canadian director David Cronenberg due to his penchant for body horror as well as dark eroticism. Along with fellow directors Kazuhiro Sano, Toshiki Satō and Takahisa Zeze, he is known as one of the "Four Heavenly Kings of Pink" (ピンク四天王, pinku shitenno).
Daidō Moriyama (Japanese: 森山 大道, Hepburn: Moriyama Daidō; born October 10, 1938) is a Japanese photographer best known…Daidō Moriyama (Japanese: 森山 大道, Hepburn: Moriyama Daidō; born October 10, 1938) is a Japanese photographer best known for his black-and-white street photography and association with the avant-garde photography magazine Provoke. Moriyama began his career as an assistant to photographer Eikoh Hosoe, a co-founder of the avant-garde photo cooperative Vivo, and made his mark with his first photobook Japan: A Photo Theater, published in 1968. His formative work in the 1960s boldly captured the darker qualities of urban life in postwar Japan in rough, unfettered fashion, filtering the rawness of human experience through sharply tilted angles, grained textures, harsh contrast, and blurred movements through the photographer's wandering gaze. Many of his well-known works from the 1960s and 1970s are read through the lenses of post-war reconstruction and post-Occupation cultural upheaval. Moriyama continued to experiment with the representative possibilities offered by the camera in his 1969 Accident series, which was serialized over one year in the photo magazine Asahi Camera, in which he deployed his camera as a copying machine to reproduce existing media images. His 1972 photobook Farewell Photography, which was accompanied by an interview with his fellow Provoke photographer Takuma Nakahira, presents his radical effort to dismantle the medium. Although the photobook is a favored format of presentation among Japanese photographers, Moriyama was particularly prolific: he has produced more than 150 photobooks since 1968. His creative career has been honored by a number of solo exhibitions by major institutions, along with his two-person exhibition with William Klein at Tate Modern in 2012–13. He has received numerous accolades throughout his career, including the Hasselblad Award in 2019 and the International Center of Photography Infinity Award in 2012.
Eikoh Hosoe (細江 英公, Hosoe Eikō; 18 March 1933 – 16 September 2024) was a Japanese photographer and filmmaker who…Eikoh Hosoe (細江 英公, Hosoe Eikō; 18 March 1933 – 16 September 2024) was a Japanese photographer and filmmaker who emerged in the experimental arts movement of post-World War II Japan. Hosoe is best known for his dark, high contrast, black and white photographs of human bodies. His images are often psychologically charged, exploring subjects such as death, erotic obsession, and irrationality. Some of his photographs reference religion, philosophy and mythology, while others are nearly abstract, such as Man and Woman # 24, from 1960. He was professionally and personally affiliated with the writer Yukio Mishima and experimental artists of the 1960s such as the dancer Tatsumi Hijikata, though his work extends to a diversity of subjects. His photography is not only notable for its artistic influence but for its wider contribution to the reputations of his subjects.
Takeyoshi Tanuma (田沼 武能, Tanuma Takeyoshi; February 18, 1929 – June 1, 2022) was a Japanese photographer. In 2019, the…Takeyoshi Tanuma (田沼 武能, Tanuma Takeyoshi; February 18, 1929 – June 1, 2022) was a Japanese photographer. In 2019, the Japanese government honoured him with the Order of Culture, making him the first photographer to receive the order.
Kiyoji Ōtsuji (大辻 清司, Ōtsuji Kiyoji; 1923–2001) was a Japanese photographer, photography theorist, and educator. He was…Kiyoji Ōtsuji (大辻 清司, Ōtsuji Kiyoji; 1923–2001) was a Japanese photographer, photography theorist, and educator. He was active in the avant-garde art world in Japan after World War II, both creating his own experimental photographs, and taking widely circulated documentary photographs of other artists and art projects. He became an authority in Japanese photography, extensively publishing commentaries and educating future generations of photographers.
Takeo Kimura (木村 威夫, Kimura Takeo; April 1, 1918 – March 21, 2010) was a Japanese art director, writer and film…Takeo Kimura (木村 威夫, Kimura Takeo; April 1, 1918 – March 21, 2010) was a Japanese art director, writer and film director. Beginning his career in 1945 he art-directed well over 200 films. He was one of Japan's best known art directors, most famously for his collaborations with cult director Seijun Suzuki through the 1960s at the Nikkatsu Company, exemplified by Tokyo Drifter (1966). Other directors with whom he frequently worked include Toshio Masuda, Kazuo Kuroki, Kei Kumai and Kaizo Hayashi. At age 90 he made his feature film directorial debut with Dreaming Awake (2008). He had also worked as a critic, writer, painter, photographer and teacher.
Mutsuo Sugimura (杉浦 睦夫, Sugiura Mutsuo; March 13, 1918 – August 26, 1986) was a Japanese engineer famous for being the…Mutsuo Sugimura (杉浦 睦夫, Sugiura Mutsuo; March 13, 1918 – August 26, 1986) was a Japanese engineer famous for being the first to develop a Gastro-camera (a present-day Esophagogastroduodenoscope). His story was illustrated in the NHK TV documentary feature, "Project X: Challengers: The Development of a Gastro-camera Wholly Made in Japan". Sugiura graduated from Tokyo Polytechnic University in 1938 and then joined Olympus Corporation. While working at this company, he first developed an Esophagogastroduodenoscope in 1950. He died in 1986 at the age of 68.
Shigeo Hayashi (林 重男, Hayashi Shigeo; 1918–2002) was a Japanese photographer. After three years of Army service he…Shigeo Hayashi (林 重男, Hayashi Shigeo; 1918–2002) was a Japanese photographer. After three years of Army service he began his career as a photographer with the Japanese propaganda magazine FRONT, in 1943. In September 1945 he was one of two photographers assigned by the Special Committee for the Investigation of A-bomb Damage to document the aftermath of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In subsequent decades he worked as a commercial photographer. He died in 2002 at the age of 84.
Yūko Sanpei (三瓶 由布子, Sanpei Yūko; born February 28, 1986) is a Japanese actress and voice actress from Tokyo, Japan.…Yūko Sanpei (三瓶 由布子, Sanpei Yūko; born February 28, 1986) is a Japanese actress and voice actress from Tokyo, Japan. She voiced Nozomi Yumehara/Cure Dream in Yes! PreCure 5 and its sequel GoGo!. She currently voices the eponymous character in Boruto.