Yasuo Higa (比嘉 康雄, Higa Yasuo; 1938-2000) was an Okinawan photographer, ethnologist and anthropologist. He served ten…
Yasuo Higa (比嘉 康雄, Higa Yasuo; 1938-2000) was an Okinawan photographer, ethnologist and anthropologist. He served ten years as a police officer near a US military base before becoming a photographer, with much of his early work centered on life in postwar Okinawa. Higa is most known for his research on ancient rituals and shamanesses from the Ryukyu Islands, mainland Japan, and Asia, conducted over the span of nearly 40 years. Through his photographs and extensive notes, Higa has preserved critical documentation on maternal rituals that have been effectively rendered extinct in areas such as Kudaka and Miyakojima. From the 1990s onwards, Higa was also active as an educator of folklore studies, having served as an affiliate lecturer at Meiji Gakuin University and the Research Institute of Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts, and as a panelist at numerous symposiums.
Famous People Born in the Year of the Tiger
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Shōichi Fujimori (Japanese: 藤森昭一) (26 December 1926 – 25 June 2016) was a Japanese bureaucrat who served as Grand…
Shōichi Fujimori (Japanese: 藤森昭一) (26 December 1926 – 25 June 2016) was a Japanese bureaucrat who served as Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency (1988–1996). He was born in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture.
Michiyoshi Doi (土居通芳) (December 9, 1926 – March 16, 1975) was a Japanese film director. He directed films from the…
Michiyoshi Doi (土居通芳) (December 9, 1926 – March 16, 1975) was a Japanese film director. He directed films from the 1950s to the 1970s. Doi is known for Chiheisen ga giragira (1961).
Keiji Sada (佐田 啓二, Sada Keiji; December 9, 1926 – August 17, 1964) is the stage name for a Japanese cinema actor active…
Keiji Sada (佐田 啓二, Sada Keiji; December 9, 1926 – August 17, 1964) is the stage name for a Japanese cinema actor active from the late-1940s to the early 1960s. His real name was Kanichi Nakai. He won the award for best actor at the 7th Blue Ribbon Awards for Anata Kaimasu (I Will Buy You) and Taifū Sōdōki. He was the father of the actor Kiichi Nakai and actress Kie Nakai.
Shunzō Miyawaki (宮脇 俊三, Miyawaki Shunzō; December 9, 1926 – February 26, 2003) was a Japanese travel writer and editor.…
Shunzō Miyawaki (宮脇 俊三, Miyawaki Shunzō; December 9, 1926 – February 26, 2003) was a Japanese travel writer and editor. He wrote over 40 books in his lifetime, mostly focused on rail transport in Japan and overseas. He was the recipient of the 47th Kikuchi Kan Prize in 1999 for "establishing railway travelogues as a genre of literature".
Yoshihide Ueda (born 6 December 1926) is a Japanese sport shooter who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics.
Shigeo Sugimoto (杉本 茂雄, Sugimoto Shigeo; December 4, 1926 – April 2, 2002) was a Japanese football player. He played…
Shigeo Sugimoto (杉本 茂雄, Sugimoto Shigeo; December 4, 1926 – April 2, 2002) was a Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team.
Chie Nakane (中根 千枝, Nakane Chie; November 30, 1926 – October 12, 2021) was a Japanese anthropologist and Professor…
Chie Nakane (中根 千枝, Nakane Chie; November 30, 1926 – October 12, 2021) was a Japanese anthropologist and Professor Emerita of Social Anthropology at the University of Tokyo.
Asao Hirano (平野朝雄, Hirano Asao; November 26, 1926 – July 25, 2019) was a Japanese physician, academic, medical…
Asao Hirano (平野朝雄, Hirano Asao; November 26, 1926 – July 25, 2019) was a Japanese physician, academic, medical researcher and neuropathologist. He is credited with having first observed Hirano bodies which are intracellular aggregates of actin and actin-associated proteins in the neurons (nerve cells).
Rikuo Nemoto (根本 陸夫, Nemoto Rikuo; November 20, 1926 – April 30, 1999) was a Japanese professional baseball catcher and…
Rikuo Nemoto (根本 陸夫, Nemoto Rikuo; November 20, 1926 – April 30, 1999) was a Japanese professional baseball catcher and manager in the Nippon Professional Baseball. For his management skills in the front office, he was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.
Nobuo Tsukahara, better known as Nobuo Hara (November 19, 1926–June 21, 2021) was a Japanese jazz saxophonist and…
Nobuo Tsukahara, better known as Nobuo Hara (November 19, 1926–June 21, 2021) was a Japanese jazz saxophonist and bandleader. Hara was born in Toyama. He played in a military band during World War II and in a Tokyo officers' club after the war. He took leadership of the ensemble Sharps and Flats in 1952, which he would lead until the 1980s. This band recorded copiously and appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival. Sharps and Flats accompanied Chiemi Eri and included sidemen such as Masato Honda, Norio Maeda, Shotaro Moriyasu, and Akitoshi Igarashi. Hara died of pneumonia on June 21, 2021, in Tokyo.
Kabun Mutō (武藤 嘉文, Mutō Kabun; 18 November 1926 – 4 November 2009) was a Japanese politician who served as the Minister…
Kabun Mutō (武藤 嘉文, Mutō Kabun; 18 November 1926 – 4 November 2009) was a Japanese politician who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs for a brief period in 1993.
Isamu Ihara (井原 勇, Ihara Isamu; 17 November 1926 – 7 October 2007) was a Japanese politician. He was the last mayor of…
Isamu Ihara (井原 勇, Ihara Isamu; 17 November 1926 – 7 October 2007) was a Japanese politician. He was the last mayor of Yono, Saitama. After graduating from the University of Tokyo, Ihara joined Niigata Engineering in 1950. He was appointed as treasurer of Yono in April 1979. Ihara won in the mayoral election held in April 1983, succeeding Saburō Shiratori, who had governed Yono for 24 years. He served as mayor for 18 years until the city of Yono was dissolved to form the city of Saitama on 1 May 2001. He also served as acting mayor of Saitama until Sōichi Aikawa was elected as its first mayor on 27 May 2001. Ihara did not run in the mayoral election to maintain neutrality. Ihara died of pneumonia at age 80. A statue of him was built at the ward office of Chūō to honor him in 2008.
Atsushi Aramaki (荒巻 淳, Aramaki Atsushi; February 16, 1926 – May 12, 1971) was a Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher.
Osamu Suzuki (鈴木 治, Suzuki Osamu) (1926-2001) was a Japanese ceramicist and one of the co-founders of the artist group…
Osamu Suzuki (鈴木 治, Suzuki Osamu) (1926-2001) was a Japanese ceramicist and one of the co-founders of the artist group Sōdeisha (eng. "Crawling through Mud Association"), a Japanese avant-garde ceramics movement that arose following the end of the Second World War and served as a counter to the traditional forms and styles in modern Japanese ceramics, such as Mingei. Working in both iron-rich stoneware and porcelain, Suzuki developed his style considerably over the course of his career, beginning with functional vessels in his early work, and spanning to fully sculptural works (which he called "clay images") in the latter half of his career. Suzuki has been described by The Japan Times as "one of Japan's most important ceramic artists of the 20th century."
Tadahiro Sekimoto (関本忠弘, Sekimoto Tadahiro; November 14, 1926 – November 11, 2007) was a Japanese electronics engineer…
Tadahiro Sekimoto (関本忠弘, Sekimoto Tadahiro; November 14, 1926 – November 11, 2007) was a Japanese electronics engineer, a recipient of the IEEE Medal of Honor (2004), chairman of Japan's Institute for International Socio-Economic Studies (IISE), and former chairman of the Board of Councilors of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) who served as president and later chairman of Japan's NEC Corporation (NEC). Born in Hyōgo, Japan, Sekimoto earned his BS in physics in 1948 and his Doctor of Engineering degree in 1962 at the University of Tokyo. On 11 November 2007, he died after a series of strokes.
Taneko Suzuki (Japanese: 鈴木たね子, 12 November 1926 – 24 April 2020) was a Japanese biochemist and nutritionist who was an…
Taneko Suzuki (Japanese: 鈴木たね子, 12 November 1926 – 24 April 2020) was a Japanese biochemist and nutritionist who was an expert in protein chemistry and development of foods from fish proteins. Her work on transforming pollock into a hamburger-like substance received the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award in 1980. She was also honored with the Achievement in Processing and Technology Award of the Japanese Society of Fisheries Science in 1980, and the Director's Medal from the Japan Science and Technology Agency Commissioner in 1985.
Takao Suzuki (鈴木 孝夫, Suzuki Takao; Tokyo, 9 November 1926 – 10 February 2021) was a Japanese sociolinguist, He was the…
Takao Suzuki (鈴木 孝夫, Suzuki Takao; Tokyo, 9 November 1926 – 10 February 2021) was a Japanese sociolinguist, He was the author of ことばと文化, translated into English as Words in Context. Suzuki argued that: Sociolinguists do not pay enough attention to the subtle differences between word usage in different cultures. Japanese linguists have traditionally been too occupied with Western linguistic categories, which are less than effective in studying Japanese.
Takumi Shibano (柴野 拓美, Shibano Takumi; October 27, 1926 – January 16, 2010) was a Japanese science-fiction translator…
Takumi Shibano (柴野 拓美, Shibano Takumi; October 27, 1926 – January 16, 2010) was a Japanese science-fiction translator and author. He was a major figure in fandom in Japan and contributed to establishing the Japanese science fiction genre. A native of Kanazawa, Ishikawa, in 1957 Takumi started Japan's first successful science fiction fanzine Uchūjin initially published monthly; many contributors to the fanzine later became pro, including Shin'ichi Hoshi, Sakyo Komatsu, Ryu Mitsuse and Yasutaka Tsutsui, and formed the first generation of modern Japanese science fiction authors. Shibano was the chair of Japan's first science fiction convention in 1962, as well as the second (1963), fourth (1965) and sixth (1967). He worked on the formation of the Federation of SF Fan Groups of Japan, founded in 1965, and served as its chair from 1966 through 1970. After leaving his job as a high-school mathematics teacher in 1977, he became a full-time writer and translator. Under the pen-name Rei Kozumi (小隅 黎, Kozumi Rei), a play on "cosmic ray," he translated as many as sixty science fiction novels from English into Japanese, including E. E. Smith's Lensman series and Larry Niven's Known Space series. Also as Rei Kozumi, he wrote three children's books, Superhuman ‘Plus X’ (1969), Operation Moonjet (1969), and Revolt in North Pole City (1977), and was also principal author of The World of Popular Literature (1978). In 1968 a fan fund paid for him to attend Worldcon for the first time, and after 1979 he attended most of the Worldcons and served as the presenter of the Seiun Award. He received the E. E. Evans Big Heart Award in 1986 and a Worldcon Special Award at the 51st World Science Fiction Convention in 1993. He was the Fan Guest of Honor of the 54th World Science Fiction Convention in 1996 and the 65th World Science Fiction Convention in 2007. Nihon SF Taisho Award Special Prize, Seiun Award Special Prize, Tokyo Anime Award Award of Merit were awarded posthumously for his lifetime achievement.
Kenjiro Ezaki (Japanese: 江崎健次郎, Hepburn: Ezaki Kenjiro; born 27 October 1926) is a Japanese composer of contemporary…
Kenjiro Ezaki (Japanese: 江崎健次郎, Hepburn: Ezaki Kenjiro; born 27 October 1926) is a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music, especially famous for his electronic music and computer music.
Nagayoshi Iwahori (岩堀 長慶, Iwahori Nagayoshi; 1926 to 29 May 2011) was a Japanese mathematician who worked on algebraic…
Nagayoshi Iwahori (岩堀 長慶, Iwahori Nagayoshi; 1926 to 29 May 2011) was a Japanese mathematician who worked on algebraic groups over local fields who introduced Iwahori–Hecke algebras and Iwahori subgroups.
Teiji Takahashi (高橋 貞二, Takahashi Teiji; 20 October 1926 – 3 November 1959) was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in…
Teiji Takahashi (高橋 貞二, Takahashi Teiji; 20 October 1926 – 3 November 1959) was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than twenty films from 1950 to 1959. Takahashi died in a traffic accident.
Nobutoshi Kihara (木原 信敏 Kihara Nobutoshi, 14 October 1926 – 13 February 2011) was an engineer at Sony, best known for…
Nobutoshi Kihara (木原 信敏 Kihara Nobutoshi, 14 October 1926 – 13 February 2011) was an engineer at Sony, best known for his work on the original Walkman cassette-tape player in the 1970s and was commonly called Mr. Walkman (Nobutoshi Kihara) in the press. Born in Tokyo, Kihara attended Waseda University, then joined Sony's predecessor, Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation in 1947 as a new university graduate. He retired from Sony in 2006. While at Sony, he worked on Japan's first magnetic tape recorders, portable tape recorders, music stereo systems, Betamax video, digital cameras, a compact cassette magazine-type recorder and Japan's first transistor radio. In 1964, a team led by Kihara developed the CV-2000, the world's first VTR intended for home usage. He also was instrumental in creating cassette versions of the VTR (Video Tape Recorder), established the basis for the U-matic system. In 1981, was involved in the development of the Mavica digital still camera, which used floppy disks to record images and developed the Mavigraph color video printer in 1982. In 1988, Mr. Kihara jointly established the Sony-Kihara Research Center with Sony, becoming the center's president. His tutoring methods were dubbed the "Kihara School", and turned out many of Sony's future engineers. Masaru Ibuka, a Sony co-founder, referred to Mr. Kihara as "a godlike person", because he would create a prototype of a concept he and Mr. Ibuka had discussed, often within a day. Nobutoshi Kihara died at 5:20 am on 13 February 2011, due to heart failure. He was 84.
Tadanobu Tsunoda (角田忠信, Tsunoda Tadanobu; 8 October 1926) is a physician and a Japanese author, most known for his…
Tadanobu Tsunoda (角田忠信, Tsunoda Tadanobu; 8 October 1926) is a physician and a Japanese author, most known for his ideas regarding the "Japanese brain".
Soko Shimabuku (Japanese: 島袋 宗康 Shimabuku Sōkō; 5 October 1926 – 9 December 2022) was a Japanese politician. A member…
Soko Shimabuku (Japanese: 島袋 宗康 Shimabuku Sōkō; 5 October 1926 – 9 December 2022) was a Japanese politician. A member of the Okinawa Social Mass Party, he served in the House of Councillors from 1992 to 2004. Shimabuku died on 9 December 2022, at the age of 96.
Kazuhiko Nishijima (西島 和彦, Nishijima Kazuhiko) (4 October 1926 – 15 February 2009) was a Japanese physicist who made…
Kazuhiko Nishijima (西島 和彦, Nishijima Kazuhiko) (4 October 1926 – 15 February 2009) was a Japanese physicist who made significant contributions to particle physics. He was professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University until his death in 2009. He was born in Tsuchiura, Japan. He is most well known for his work on the Gell-Mann–Nishijima formula, and the concept of strangeness, which he called the "eta-charge" or "η-charge", after the eta meson (η). He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1960, 1961, 1964, 1966~1970.
Michio Suzuki (鈴木 通夫, Suzuki Michio; October 2, 1926 – May 31, 1998) was a Japanese mathematician who studied group…
Michio Suzuki (鈴木 通夫, Suzuki Michio; October 2, 1926 – May 31, 1998) was a Japanese mathematician who studied group theory.
Teruko "Terry" Ishizaka (石坂 照子, Ishizaka Teruko; 28 September 1926 – 4 June 2019) was a Japanese scientist and…
Teruko "Terry" Ishizaka (石坂 照子, Ishizaka Teruko; 28 September 1926 – 4 June 2019) was a Japanese scientist and immunologist who along with her husband Kimishige Ishizaka discovered the antibody class Immunoglobulin E (IgE) in 1966. Their work was regarded as a major breakthrough in the understanding of allergy, and for this work she received the 1972 Passano Award and the 1973 Gairdner Foundation International Award. She was known in the science world for her generosity and collaborative spirit.
Kozo Kawashima (川島弘三, Kawashima Kōzō) (born 26 September 1926) is a Japanese former ski jumper who competed in the…
Kozo Kawashima (川島弘三, Kawashima Kōzō) (born 26 September 1926) is a Japanese former ski jumper who competed in the early 1950s. He finished 42nd in the individual large hill event at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo. He was born in Otaru.
Shohachi Ishii (石井 庄八, Ishii Shōhachi; September 20, 1926 – January 4, 1980) was a Japanese freestyle wrestler who won…
Shohachi Ishii (石井 庄八, Ishii Shōhachi; September 20, 1926 – January 4, 1980) was a Japanese freestyle wrestler who won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He was the first Japanese gold medalist after World War II, the only Japanese gold medalist at the 1952 Olympics, and one of two Japanese medalists in wrestling at the 1952 Olympics, the other being flyweight Yushu Kitano, who won silver in freestyle. Ishii took up wrestling because there was no judo club around. He died of kidney cancer, aged 53.
Masatoshi Koshiba (小柴 昌俊, Koshiba Masatoshi; 19 September 1926 – 12 November 2020) was a Japanese physicist and one of…
Masatoshi Koshiba (小柴 昌俊, Koshiba Masatoshi; 19 September 1926 – 12 November 2020) was a Japanese physicist and one of the founders of neutrino astronomy. His work with the neutrino detectors Kamiokande and Super-Kamiokande was instrumental in detecting solar neutrinos, providing experimental evidence for the solar neutrino problem. Koshiba won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2002, jointly with Raymond Davis Jr., "for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos". Koshiba was the first Japanese Nobel laureate to hold two doctoral degrees. In addition, he was the second Japanese recipient of both the Nobel Prize and the Wolf Prize. His mentor, Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, and his student, Takaaki Kajita, were also Nobel Prize winners in Physics. He was a senior counselor at the International Center for Elementary Particle Physics (ICEPP) and professor at the University of Tokyo.
Shōhei Imamura (今村昌平, Imamura Shōhei; 15 September 1926 – 30 May 2006) was a Japanese film director. His main interest…
Shōhei Imamura (今村昌平, Imamura Shōhei; 15 September 1926 – 30 May 2006) was a Japanese film director. His main interest as a filmmaker lay in the depiction of the lower strata of Japanese society. A key figure in the Japanese New Wave, who continued working into the 21st century, Imamura is the only director from Japan to win two Palme d'Or awards, doing so with The Ballad of Narayama (1983) and The Eel (1997).
Takamaro Shigaraki (信楽 峻麿, 1926 – 26 September 2014) was a Japanese Buddhist philosopher and priest within the…
Takamaro Shigaraki (信楽 峻麿, 1926 – 26 September 2014) was a Japanese Buddhist philosopher and priest within the Honganji-ha branch of Jōdo Shinshū. Shigaraki is widely regarded as one of the most influential Buddhologists of the Jōdo Shinshū in the 20th century. Shigaraki was born in Hiroshima in 1926. The former president of Ryukoku University spent his career studying Pure Land Buddhism. He was on the faculty of Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan, since 1958, where he received his PhD in literary studies. He also served as Charmain of the Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai. He tried to clarify a contemporary meaning of Buddhism through looking into Shinran’s thought from a perspective of existentialism. Shigaraki has been influenced by Paul Tillich. He died of chronic respiratory failure, on 26 September 2014.
Shin’ichi Hoshi (星 新一 Hoshi Shin'ichi, September 6, 1926 – December 30, 1997) was a Japanese novelist and science…
Shin’ichi Hoshi (星 新一 Hoshi Shin'ichi, September 6, 1926 – December 30, 1997) was a Japanese novelist and science fiction writer best known for his "short-short" science fiction stories, often no more than three or four pages in length, of which he wrote over 1000. He also wrote mysteries and won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Mōsō Ginkō (Delusion Bank) in 1968. One of his short stories, "Bokko-chan" ("Miss Bokko"), was translated into English and published in Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in June 1963. His books translated into English include There Was a Knock, a collection of 15 stories, and The Spiteful Planet and Other Stories. His friend Osamu Tezuka used his name for a character in Amazing 3, a manga and anime series which Tezuka produced in 1967. His father, Ichi Hoshi (星一 Hoshi Ichi), is the founder of the Hoshi Pharmaceutical University and the Hoshi Pharmaceutical company. His grandmother on his mother's side, Kimiko Koganei, was the sister of Mori Ōgai. Shin'ichi's name is an abbreviated version of his father's motto, "kindness first" (親切第一 shinsetsu daiichi). After his father's death, he briefly served as the president of Hoshi Pharmaceutical. At the time of serving, Hoshi Pharmaceutical was listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Toshio Udō (右遠 俊郎, Udō Toshio; September 1, 1926 - October 11, 2013) was a Japanese writer and literary critic. Born in…
Toshio Udō (右遠 俊郎, Udō Toshio; September 1, 1926 - October 11, 2013) was a Japanese writer and literary critic. Born in Okayama Prefecture, he spent his youth in Dalian. After the Second World War he studied at Tokyo University, graduating from the Japanese Language and Literature Department. He published novels and literary reviews in magazines such as Shin Nihon Bungaku. In 1959 he was one of the nominees for the Akutagawa Prize with 無傷の論理 ("Mukizu no ronri"). No prize was awarded that year. Later he joined what is now called the Japanese Democratic Writers' Association (called Bunkadōmei, the "Literary Alliance" at the time). In 1989 he was awarded the Yuriko Takiji Award for Shōsetsu Asahi Shigeru ("Asahi Shigeru, the Novel"). He died on October 11, 2013, in Tokyo from pneumonia.
Fumitake Kishida (Japanese: 岸田 文武, Hepburn: Kishida Fumitake; 19 August 1926 – 4 August 1992) was a Japanese…
Fumitake Kishida (Japanese: 岸田 文武, Hepburn: Kishida Fumitake; 19 August 1926 – 4 August 1992) was a Japanese politician. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he served as member of the House of Representatives (5 terms). He was also a recipient of the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. His father was Masaki Kishida, a former member of the House of Representatives of the Liberal Democratic Party and Director-General of the Securities Bureau of the Ministry of Finance. His younger brother was Shunsuke Kishida, Chairman and Advisor of Hiroshima Bank. His wife, Sumiko Iguchi, was the second daughter of Ryoji Iguchi, former president of Nitto Flour Mills. His eldest son was Fumio Kishida, a member of the House of Representatives, the 27th President of the Liberal Democratic Party, and the 100th and 101st Prime Minister of Japan. He belonged to the Kōchikai faction.
Chiyonosuke Azuma (東 千代之介, Azuma Chiyonosuke; 19 August 1926 – 9 November 2000) was a Japanese actor and Nihon-buyō…
Chiyonosuke Azuma (東 千代之介, Azuma Chiyonosuke; 19 August 1926 – 9 November 2000) was a Japanese actor and Nihon-buyō dancer. He appeared in more than 40 films from 1954 to 1993.
Ryoichi Jinnai (神内 良一, Jinnai Ryōichi; August 15, 1926 – June 27, 2017) was the founder of Promise, Japan's…
Ryoichi Jinnai (神内 良一, Jinnai Ryōichi; August 15, 1926 – June 27, 2017) was the founder of Promise, Japan's third-largest consumer finance company, of which he is honorary chairman. He funded the Ryoichi Jinnai Conference Center in Fiji. Jinnai died of heart failure on June 27, 2017.
Hiroshi Koizumi (小泉博, Koizumi Hiroshi; birth name written as 小泉 汪) (12 August 1926 – 31 May 2015) was a Japanese actor…
Hiroshi Koizumi (小泉博, Koizumi Hiroshi; birth name written as 小泉 汪) (12 August 1926 – 31 May 2015) was a Japanese actor, best known for his starring role in the 1955 film Godzilla Raids Again as well as other Toho Studios monster movies. He was born in Japan. He is a graduate of Keio University in Tokyo. In a 1999 interview with Steve Ryfle, Koizumi laments that while he stated he has easy parts to play, he felt he could have done more in his performances. Despite his roles where he usually plays a scientist, he plays a powerful role in Late Chrysanthemums, playing a young man that married an older wealthy woman to escape from the slums. On 31 May 2015, Koizumi died at a hospital in Tokyo from pneumonia at the age of 88.
Yoshio Okada (岡田 吉夫, Okada Yoshio; August 11, 1926 – June 22, 2002) was a Japanese football player. He played for Japan…
Yoshio Okada (岡田 吉夫, Okada Yoshio; August 11, 1926 – June 22, 2002) was a Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team.
Takehiko Furuta (August 8, 1926 – October 14, 2015) was a Japanese history of ideas scholar, ancient history…
Takehiko Furuta (August 8, 1926 – October 14, 2015) was a Japanese history of ideas scholar, ancient history fabricator, conspiracy theorist, and former professor at Showa Pharmaceutical University. He specialized in Shinran and other medieval Japanese philosophical history and conspiracy theory. He proposed the highly controversial Kyushu dynasty theory, to little academic acclaim.
Shun-ichi Iwasaki (岩崎 俊一, Iwasaki Shun’ichi; 3 August 1926 – 25 July 2025) was a Japanese engineer. He was professor at…
Shun-ichi Iwasaki (岩崎 俊一, Iwasaki Shun’ichi; 3 August 1926 – 25 July 2025) was a Japanese engineer. He was professor at Tohoku University and then became president and of Tohoku Institute of Technology. He was also a professor at Lanzhou University (China). Iwasaki's pioneering work on perpendicular magnetic recording has been integral to the development of modern hard disk drives.
Akira Tamura (田村明, 1926–2010) was a city planner in postwar Japan. He is notable for two phases of his career: one as…
Akira Tamura (田村明, 1926–2010) was a city planner in postwar Japan. He is notable for two phases of his career: one as the chief city planner of the Yokohama city government and the other as an evangelist of machi-zukuri (town-making) among local movements. Under Japan's then-highly centralized government system, Tamura advocated for the importance of local awareness and initiatives; this led to the strengthening of local government as an institution to achieve a quality environment for all residents. Although he stayed in Yokohama for a relatively brief period, from 1968 to 1981, he achieved some of the most innovative results in Japan's postwar town planning history. His influence on Yokohama's city planning, as well as on local residents throughout Japan, remains visible and notable to this day. Tamura initially proposed major projects, called the "Six Spine Projects", to transform the structure of Yokohama in 1964, at the request of the newly elected socialist mayor Ichio Asukata. After becoming Yokohama's chief planner at the invitation of Asukata in 1968, Tamura introduced two additional planning measures: building and land control measures and urban design. As a new mechanism to reform the old administrative system, Tamura created the Bureau of Planning and Coordination, which linked the separate bureaus and forged a united entity of city government with a wider mandate. In 2000, the Architectural Institute of Japan (AIJ), the country's supreme academic institution concerned with architecture and town planning, awarded Tamura its Grand Prize for "the establishment of a theory or technique and its implementation in city planning" (AIJ, 2000), for his work in Yokohama. Tamura remains the only practical planner in the field of city planning to have won the AIJ's Grand Prize; other recipients have all been academics or architects. Tamura consistently endeavored to educate young planners by assigning them important works. Though he worked in Yokohama for only a short time, those young planners became his followers and passed on his concepts and style of work. This contributed to the success and continuation of projects, land control measures, and urban design. It is said that Tamura was initially not a master planner but gradually learned by listening to the opinions of others. His motto was "amorphous fluidity": he never remained in one place long and was always moving, searching for solutions.
Takeo Okuno (奥野 健男, Okuno Takeo; July 25, 1926–November 26, 1997), was a Japanese chemist and a leading literary critic…
Takeo Okuno (奥野 健男, Okuno Takeo; July 25, 1926–November 26, 1997), was a Japanese chemist and a leading literary critic of the postwar era. A close friend of philosopher Takaaki Yoshimoto and writer Yukio Mishima, he helped draw attention to a new generation of postwar Japanese authors and push the Japanese literary world to break free from hegemonic ideologies and pursue more individualistic forms of expression.
Syo Kurokawa (黒川 逍, Kurokawa Shō; July 15, 1926–September 16, 2010) was a renowned Japanese lichenologist and 1994…
Syo Kurokawa (黒川 逍, Kurokawa Shō; July 15, 1926–September 16, 2010) was a renowned Japanese lichenologist and 1994 recipient of the Acharius Medal. He studied under Mason Hale and Yasuhiko Asahina.
Jōsaku Maeda (前田常作, Maeda Jōsaku, 14 July 1926 – 13 October 2007) was a Japanese painter and printmaker known for…
Jōsaku Maeda (前田常作, Maeda Jōsaku, 14 July 1926 – 13 October 2007) was a Japanese painter and printmaker known for abstract paintings based on Buddhist mandala structures.
Yoshihisa Okumura (Japanese: 奥村善久; 2 July 1926 – 18 February 2023) was a Japanese engineer, known for development of…
Yoshihisa Okumura (Japanese: 奥村善久; 2 July 1926 – 18 February 2023) was a Japanese engineer, known for development of cellular telephone networks. His radio survey of signal strength as a function of distance as measured in drive tests in automobiles was critical to the system planning of mobile radio telephone systems.
Yoshihiro Hamaguchi (浜口 喜博, Hamaguchi Yoshihiro; June 23, 1926 – August 9, 2011) was a Japanese freestyle swimmer. He…
Yoshihiro Hamaguchi (浜口 喜博, Hamaguchi Yoshihiro; June 23, 1926 – August 9, 2011) was a Japanese freestyle swimmer. He represented Japan at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. There, he won a silver medal as a member of the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay team, alongside Toru Goto, Hiroshi Suzuki and Teijiro Tanikawa. Also competed in the 100m freestyle advancing to the semifinals, missing the finals by a narrow margin. After retiring he debuted as an actor in the 1955 film Buruuba as a Japanese version of Tarzan. He also appeared in the TV Show Shōnen Jet, a detective adventure show made by Kadokawa Pictures.
Tadahiro Aizawa (相沢 忠洋, Aizawa Tadahiro; June 21, 1926 – May 22, 1989) was a Japanese archaeologist. Aizawa, an amateur…
Tadahiro Aizawa (相沢 忠洋, Aizawa Tadahiro; June 21, 1926 – May 22, 1989) was a Japanese archaeologist. Aizawa, an amateur stone tool collector who had been peddling nattō, discovered a microlith in Iwajuku, Gunma in 1946, which was recognized in 1949 as a Paleolithic site that had previously been thought not to exist in Japan.
Ōuchiyama Heikichi (大内山 平吉; 19 June 1926 – 1 November 1985; born Heikichi Ōuchi) was a sumo wrestler from Hitachinaka…
Ōuchiyama Heikichi (大内山 平吉; 19 June 1926 – 1 November 1985; born Heikichi Ōuchi) was a sumo wrestler from Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, Japan. He made his professional debut in 1944, and reached the top makuuchi division in 1949. He reached the second highest rank of ōzeki in 1955, and was a runner-up in two tournaments. He was well known for his extraordinary size – at 2.02 m (6 ft 7+1⁄2 in) tall he was the tallest modern era ōzeki until Akebono in 1992. After his retirement in 1959 he worked as a coach at Tokitsukaze stable and Tatsutagawa stable until his death in 1985.