Kunio Nakamura (中村 邦夫, Nakamura Kunio; 5 July 1939 – 28 November 2022) was a Japanese businessman. He served as the…
Kunio Nakamura (中村 邦夫, Nakamura Kunio; 5 July 1939 – 28 November 2022) was a Japanese businessman. He served as the president of Panasonic from 2000 to 2005 and assumed the position of chairman on 28 June 2006. Even though he is widely regarded as having reformed the company, he created a crisis in the mid-2000s for focusing on plasma display panels (PDPs) instead of medium liquid crystal TVs (LCDs). At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Panasonic introduced their 152" 2160p 3D plasma. In 2010 Panasonic shipped 19.1 million plasma TV panels. In 2010, shipments of plasma TVs reached 18.2 million units worldwide. Since then shipments have declined substantially; the decline has been attributed to competition from liquid crystal (LCD) televisions, whose prices have fallen more rapidly than those of the plasma TVs. In late 2013, Panasonic announced that they would stop producing plasma TVs in March 2014 onwards. In 2014, LG and Samsung discontinued plasma TV production as well, effectively killing the technology, probably because of falling demand. Nakamura died from pneumonia on 28 November 2022, at the age of 83.
Famous Alumni of the University of Osaka
University of Osaka: 82 people
Tadamitsu Kishimoto (岸本 忠三, Kishimoto Tadamitsu; born May 7, 1939 in Tondabayashi, Osaka) is a Japanese immunologist…
Tadamitsu Kishimoto (岸本 忠三, Kishimoto Tadamitsu; born May 7, 1939 in Tondabayashi, Osaka) is a Japanese immunologist known for research on IgM and cytokines, most famously, interleukin 6. Kishimoto did postdoctoral work under Kimishige Ishizaka, the discoverer of IgE at Johns Hopkins University. He is listed by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) as a highly cited biologist and he is also in the top ten of h-index of living biologists.
Mitsuko Tokoro (所 美都子, Tokoro Mitsuko; January 3, 1939 – January 27, 1968), also known by her pen name Mimie Tomano…
Mitsuko Tokoro (所 美都子, Tokoro Mitsuko; January 3, 1939 – January 27, 1968), also known by her pen name Mimie Tomano, was a Japanese biologist and New Left activist remembered as one of the leading theorists of the apolitical and radically anti-hierarchical Zenkyōtō movement that carried out the 1968-69 Japanese student uprisings at universities across Japan.
Torao Tokuda (Japanese: 徳田虎雄 Tokuda Torao; 17 February 1938 – 10 July 2024) was a Japanese politician. A member of the…
Torao Tokuda (Japanese: 徳田虎雄 Tokuda Torao; 17 February 1938 – 10 July 2024) was a Japanese politician. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party and later the Liberal League, he served in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 1996 and again from 2000 to 2005.
Chieko Nohno (南野 知恵子, Nōno Chieko; born November 14, 1935) is a Japanese politician. In some English-language Japanese…
Chieko Nohno (南野 知恵子, Nōno Chieko; born November 14, 1935) is a Japanese politician. In some English-language Japanese newspapers her family name is romanized as Noono. She was born in Qiqihar, Manchuria in 1935 and moved to Kagoshima Prefecture at the end of World War II. She graduated from Kagoshima Prefectural Konan High School in 1954 and attended the School of Midwifery attached to the Medical Department of Osaka University. Nohno worked as a nurse for more than thirty years before beginning her political career. She was first elected to the House of Councillors in 1992, and was reelected in 1998 and 2004. In 2001 she served as the Vice Minister for Labor for half a year. She was Minister for Combating Birth Decline and for Gender Equality. Prime Minister Koizumi appointed her Minister of Justice on 27 September 2004. Her selection was somewhat controversial. Her background is in medicine, with no formal legal training. She is only the second woman to serve in the position. The first was Tachiko Nagao, who served for ten months in 1996. Nohno has spoken in favor of immigration and assimilation of immigrants into Japanese society.
Teiichiro Fujita (藤田貞一郎, Fujita Teiichiro) (February 11, 1935 – June 13, 2015) was a Japanese economist and economic…
Teiichiro Fujita (藤田貞一郎, Fujita Teiichiro) (February 11, 1935 – June 13, 2015) was a Japanese economist and economic historian, emeritus professor at Doshisha University, author of books on Japanese economic history and the history of Japanese economic thought. He was born in Pyongyang, Korea, Empire of Japan to Fusasuke Fujita and Sei Fujita née Asaoka. He graduated from Osaka University and in 1967 received his PhD in economics from Osaka University for his research on "Early Modern Economic Thought: The Shogunate System and the Idea of National Interest". He was a lecturer at Matsuyama University, and later became professor at Doshisha University. He published several monographs and articles on the Japanese economic history and the history of Japanese economic thought from early modern (Edo period) until modern (Meiji and Taishō) eras. His research focused on the development of the notion of national economic interest (Kokueki in Japanese) that played a central role in creating the modern nation-state of Japan and the modern political economy of the country. He published also on the history of guilds (Dôgyou kumiai in Japanese) and the market history of fresh foods in modern Japan.
Taku Mayumura (眉村 卓 Mayumura Taku, 20 October 1934 – 3 November 2019) was a Japanese novelist, science fiction writer…
Taku Mayumura (眉村 卓 Mayumura Taku, 20 October 1934 – 3 November 2019) was a Japanese novelist, science fiction writer and haiku poet. He won the Seiun Award for Novel twice. His novel Shiseikan (司政官, Administrator, one story of the "Shiseikan series"), written in 1974, was translated into English by Daniel Jackson in 2004. Mayumura was also a young adult fiction writer whose works have been adapted into TV drama, film, and anime. Mayumura was an honorary member of the SFWJ (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan).
Akira Hasegawa (Japanese: 長谷川 晃, Hepburn: Hasegawa Akira; 17 June 1934 – 22 June 2025) was a Japanese theoretical…
Akira Hasegawa (Japanese: 長谷川 晃, Hepburn: Hasegawa Akira; 17 June 1934 – 22 June 2025) was a Japanese theoretical physicist and engineer who worked in the U.S. and Japan. He is known for his work in the derivation of the Hasegawa–Mima equation, which describes fundamental plasma turbulence and the consequent generation of zonal flow that controls plasma diffusion. Hasegawa also made the discovery of optical solitons in glass fibers, a concept that is essential for high speed optical communications. Hasegawa was the first to suggest the existence of optical solitons in 1973. In 1974, he (together with Liu Chen) showed that plasmas could be heated with the kinetic Alfvén wave. Hasegawa and Chen introduced the concept of the kinetic Alfven wave to illustrate the microscopic process of the Alfven wave heating. In 1977, Hasegawa introduced the Hasegawa–Mima equation to describe turbulence in Tokamak plasmas and then further developed it in the 1980s (with Masahiro Wakatani) to obtain the Hasegawa–Wakatani equation. The equation predicted an inverse cascade in the turbulent energy spectrum (i.e., from small to large wavelengths) and zonal flows (in the azimuthal direction in the Tokamak) that can control radial turbulent diffusion. With Wakatani, he wrote a paper on self-organized turbulence in plasmas. Hasegawa's proposal to trap plasmas with a dipole magnet similar to Earth's magnetic field, where turbulence caused by solar wind stabilizes the trap, was implemented in the first dipole plasma experiment at University of Tokyo by Prof. Zensho Yoshida. In 2010, a plasma experiment with a floating dipole was also built at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Shuzen Tanigawa (谷川 秀善, Tanigawa Shūzen; born February 3, 1934) is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic…
Shuzen Tanigawa (谷川 秀善, Tanigawa Shūzen; born February 3, 1934) is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature).
Takamitsu Azuma (東 孝光, Azuma Takamitsu; September 20, 1933 – June 18, 2015) was a Japanese architect, and winner of the…
Takamitsu Azuma (東 孝光, Azuma Takamitsu; September 20, 1933 – June 18, 2015) was a Japanese architect, and winner of the 1995 the Prize of AIJ (Architectural Institute of Japan). He was a follower of Le Corbusier and was one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, combining traditional Japanese styles with modernism, and designed new types of houses symbolized living in the metropolis.
Tadanari Okamoto (岡本 忠成, Okamoto Tadanari; January 11, 1932 – February 16, 1990) was a Japanese independent animator.…
Tadanari Okamoto (岡本 忠成, Okamoto Tadanari; January 11, 1932 – February 16, 1990) was a Japanese independent animator. From 1965 until his death he completed at least 37 short subject films in a wide variety of mediums, many of them winning award-winning, his honorific nicknamed "Sheldon Cohen and Hans Fischerkoesen of Japan".
Kenkichi Sonogashira (薗頭 健吉, Sonogashira Kenkichi; born 25 October 1931) is a Japanese chemist and was a professor of…
Kenkichi Sonogashira (薗頭 健吉, Sonogashira Kenkichi; born 25 October 1931) is a Japanese chemist and was a professor of chemistry at Osaka University in Japan. He discovered the Sonogashira coupling in 1975. Sonogashira was later a professor at Osaka City University and retired in 2004.
Shōsuke Nakawa (奈河彰輔, Nakawa Shōsuke; October 6, 1931 – October 13, 2014) was a Japanese playwright and theater…
Shōsuke Nakawa (奈河彰輔, Nakawa Shōsuke; October 6, 1931 – October 13, 2014) was a Japanese playwright and theater director. Under the name Yoshizō Nakagawa (中川芳三, Nakagawa Yoshizō), he serves as an advisor to the Shōchiku Corporation which produces kabuki, and is heavily involved in reviving Kamigata kabuki traditions. He is also head of the Kamigata Kabuki-juku (school) and actively works with actor Ichikawa Ennosuke III on reviving old kabuki plays Nakawa has been described as a walking dictionary of Kamigata kabuki information.
Yasuo Tanaka (田中 靖郎, Tanaka Yasuo; 18 March 1931 – 18 January 2018) was a Japanese astrophysicist and a member of the…
Yasuo Tanaka (田中 靖郎, Tanaka Yasuo; 18 March 1931 – 18 January 2018) was a Japanese astrophysicist and a member of the Japan Academy. He was professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) (part of JAXA) in Kanagawa, Japan and guest scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. He was a pioneer in X-ray astronomy, leading the development and operation of the Ginga, Tenma, and ASCA satellites. He died on 18 January 2018.
Tadashi Ushijima (Japanese: 牛嶋正 Ushijima Tadashi; 25 February 1931 – 5 October 2024) was a Japanese economist and…
Tadashi Ushijima (Japanese: 牛嶋正 Ushijima Tadashi; 25 February 1931 – 5 October 2024) was a Japanese economist and politician. A member of Komeito and the New Frontier Party, he served in the House of Councillors from 1992 to 1998. Ushijima died in Ōbu on 5 October 2024, at the age of 93.
Hidesaburo Hanafusa (花房 秀三郎, Hanafusa Hidesaburō; December 1, 1929 – March 15, 2009) was a Japanese virologist. He…
Hidesaburo Hanafusa (花房 秀三郎, Hanafusa Hidesaburō; December 1, 1929 – March 15, 2009) was a Japanese virologist. He shared the 1982 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research with Harold E. Varmus and J. Michael Bishop for demonstrating how RNA tumor viruses cause cancer, and elucidating their role in combining, rescuing and maintaining oncogenes in the viral genome.
Michiaki Takahashi (高橋 理明, Takahashi Michiaki; February 17, 1928 – December 16, 2013) was a Japanese virologist, best…
Michiaki Takahashi (高橋 理明, Takahashi Michiaki; February 17, 1928 – December 16, 2013) was a Japanese virologist, best known for inventing the first chickenpox vaccine. He developed the "Oka" vaccine by producing v-Oka, a live-attenuated virus strain of varicella zoster virus.
Seiichiro Tarui (垂井 清一郎, Tarui Seiichirō; born 1927) is a Japanese physician and metabolic disorder researcher. He…
Seiichiro Tarui (垂井 清一郎, Tarui Seiichirō; born 1927) is a Japanese physician and metabolic disorder researcher. He received the Uehara Award in 1990 while working as a professor at the University of Osaka. He also received the Takeda Medical Science Prize in 1995.
Masatoşi Gündüz İkeda (25 February 1926 – 9 February 2003), was a Japanese-born Turkish mathematician known for his…
Masatoşi Gündüz İkeda (25 February 1926 – 9 February 2003), was a Japanese-born Turkish mathematician known for his contributions to the field of algebraic number theory.
Jinkichji Tsukui (筑井 甚吉, Tsukui Jinkichi; January 31, 1926 – March 5, 2010) was a Japanese economist who was Professor…
Jinkichji Tsukui (筑井 甚吉, Tsukui Jinkichi; January 31, 1926 – March 5, 2010) was a Japanese economist who was Professor of Economics at Osaka University from 1972 to 1989.
Katsumi Nomizu (野水 克己, Nomizu Katsumi; December 1, 1924 – November 5, 2008) was a Japanese-American mathematician known…
Katsumi Nomizu (野水 克己, Nomizu Katsumi; December 1, 1924 – November 5, 2008) was a Japanese-American mathematician known for his work in differential geometry.
Yoshiaki Arata (荒田 吉明, Arata Yoshiaki; 22 May 1924 – 5 June 2018) was a Japanese physicist. Arata was one of the…
Yoshiaki Arata (荒田 吉明, Arata Yoshiaki; 22 May 1924 – 5 June 2018) was a Japanese physicist. Arata was one of the pioneering researchers into nuclear fusion in Japan and a former professor at Osaka University. He was reported to be a strong nationalist, speaking only Japanese in public. He received the Order of Culture in 2006. Arata started researching and publishing in the field of cold fusion around 1998, together with his colleague Yue Chang Zhang.
Kazuo Nakamoto (Japanese: 中本 一男, 1 March 1922 - 7 June 2011) was a Japan-born American chemist and Professor Emeritus…
Kazuo Nakamoto (Japanese: 中本 一男, 1 March 1922 - 7 June 2011) was a Japan-born American chemist and Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Marquette University. He specialized in infrared and Raman spectroscopy.
Yozo Matsushima (松島 与三, Matsushima Yozō; February 11, 1921 – April 9, 1983) was a Japanese mathematician, who made…
Yozo Matsushima (松島 与三, Matsushima Yozō; February 11, 1921 – April 9, 1983) was a Japanese mathematician, who made important contributions to Differential Geometry and the theory of Lie Groups.
Osamu Hayaishi MJA (早石 修, Hayaishi Osamu; January 8, 1920 – December 17, 2015), was a Japanese biochemist…
Osamu Hayaishi MJA (早石 修, Hayaishi Osamu; January 8, 1920 – December 17, 2015), was a Japanese biochemist, physiologist, and military physician. He discovered Oxygenases at the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, National Institutes of Health in 1955. Citing his "outstanding and pioneering contributions to biomedical sciences and enzymology," the Wolf Foundation awarded Hayaishi the 1986 Wolf Prize in Medicine "for his discovery of the oxygenase enzymes and elucidation of their structure and biological importance". Hayaishi was President of International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from 1973 to 1976.
Keizō Saji (佐治敬三, Saji Keizō) (November 1, 1919 – November 3, 1999) was a Japanese businessman and art patron. Saji…
Keizō Saji (佐治敬三, Saji Keizō) (November 1, 1919 – November 3, 1999) was a Japanese businessman and art patron. Saji founded the Suntory Museum of Art and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He was Suntory’s second president (after his father, Shinjirō Torii, the company’s founder) and later served as chairman. He also supported basic scientific research through initiatives associated with the Suntory Foundation for Life Sciences. He held the court rank of Senior Third Rank (正三位). He was ranked by Forbes in 1987 as the tenth richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$4.0 billion.
Tadashi Nakayama (中山 正, Nakayama Tadashi; July 26, 1912, Tokyo Prefecture – June 5, 1964, Nagoya) was a mathematician…
Tadashi Nakayama (中山 正, Nakayama Tadashi; July 26, 1912, Tokyo Prefecture – June 5, 1964, Nagoya) was a mathematician who made important contributions to representation theory.
Koh Yasuda (保田 耕, Yasuda Kō; 1907 - September 7, 1943) or Kō Yasuda was a Japanese ophthalmologist who became the first…
Koh Yasuda (保田 耕, Yasuda Kō; 1907 - September 7, 1943) or Kō Yasuda was a Japanese ophthalmologist who became the first director of Amami Wakoen Sanatorium, a leprosy sanatorium in Amami Ōshima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. He was drafted into military service and died in China in 1943.
Mitio (Michio) Nagumo (Japanese: 南雲 道夫; May 7, 1905 – February 6, 1995) was a Japanese mathematician, who specialized…
Mitio (Michio) Nagumo (Japanese: 南雲 道夫; May 7, 1905 – February 6, 1995) was a Japanese mathematician, who specialized in the theory of differential equations. He gave the first necessary and sufficient condition for positive invariance of closed sets under the flow induced by ordinary differential equations (Nagumo/Bony-Brezis theorem).
Kaoru Shima (島薫, Shima Kaoru; 2 July 1897 – 16 May 1977) was a Japanese physician. He was the first director of the…
Kaoru Shima (島薫, Shima Kaoru; 2 July 1897 – 16 May 1977) was a Japanese physician. He was the first director of the rebuilt Shima Hospital, located at the hypocenter of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. He is known as the "father of the Hiroshima Surgical Society".
Akiko Ōishi (Japanese: 大石 晃子, Hepburn: Ōishi Akiko; born 27 May 1977) is a Japanese politician. A former member of…
Akiko Ōishi (Japanese: 大石 晃子, Hepburn: Ōishi Akiko; born 27 May 1977) is a Japanese politician. A former member of Reiwa Shinsengumi, she served as a member of the House of Representatives for the Kinki proportional representation block from 2021 to 2026. She was a co-representative and policy council chairperson of Reiwa Shinsengumi until her resignation on 9 July 2026.
Atsuhito Nakata (中田 厚仁, Nakata Atsuhito; January 10, 1968 – April 8, 1993) was a Japanese UN Volunteer working as a…
Atsuhito Nakata (中田 厚仁, Nakata Atsuhito; January 10, 1968 – April 8, 1993) was a Japanese UN Volunteer working as a District Electoral Supervisor with the United Nations who was gunned down in Kampong Thom, Cambodia along with his friend and interpreter Lek Sopheip. As a United Nations Volunteer, Nakata traveled to Cambodia to help organize the first national elections at the community level in Cambodia after the reign of the Khmer Rouge. Nakata was one of 465 UNV District Election Volunteer Election Supervisors deployed with the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia.