Ken Yasuda (安田 顕, Yasuda Ken; born 8 December 1973) is a Japanese actor, television personality and seiyu. Born in…Ken Yasuda (安田 顕, Yasuda Ken; born 8 December 1973) is a Japanese actor, television personality and seiyu. Born in Muroran, Hokkaido, he is a member of Team Nacs. He is a graduate of Hokkaido Muroran Sakae High School and Hokkai Gakuen University. Fumio Yasuda is his older brother.
Aya Goda (Goda Aya in Japanese family name-given name order) is a Japanese writer, and an artist. She has lived in…Aya Goda (Goda Aya in Japanese family name-given name order) is a Japanese writer, and an artist. She has lived in Japan since 1998. Aya's first book Tao: On the Road and on the Run in Outlaw China was awarded the Noma Prize for Non-Fiction from Kodansha in 1995. The English version of the novel was selected as one of the 50 books touted as the "most worth talking about" World Book Day 2009. Aya was born in Hokkaido, northern Japan. She traveled in West China, then she was a student of Musashino Art University, Tokyo in August 1988, and met Chinese artist Cao Yong in Kashi, Xinjiang. Cao Yong held his first one-man show in Beijing in February 1989. The exhibit was an instant success, and the event was covered by major international news agencies. However, this art show alarmed the Chinese authorities. But Cao Yong and Aya managed to escape. They set off on a perilous eight-month journey as fugitives. Finally, the couple married and got an espousal visa, escaped to Japan in October 1989. "TAO" recounts this eight-month journey in China in 1989. In Japan, Cao Yong and Aya had worked and lived as one until Cao Yong left for the US in 1994. Aya also left for the US after publishing "TAO" as Cao Yong's farewell gift to Japan in 1995. She did her best and went back to Japan in March, 1998.
Yoshinori Yagi (八木 義徳, Yagi Yoshinori; October 21, 1911 – November 9, 1999) was a noted Japanese author. Yagi was born…Yoshinori Yagi (八木 義徳, Yagi Yoshinori; October 21, 1911 – November 9, 1999) was a noted Japanese author. Yagi was born in Muroran, Hokkaidō, and graduated from Waseda University in 1938 with a degree in French literature. In 1944 he became employed in the chemical industry in Manchuria. As a writer, he was a devotee of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Takeo Arishima, and received the 1944 Akutagawa Prize for 劉廣福 Ryūkanbu and the 1976 Yomiuri Prize for Kazamatsuri. Some of his materials are now exhibited in Muroran's Literature Museum. His Dharma name was Keiunin Zuishin Gitoku Koji (景雲院随心義徳居士).
Mashiho Chiri (Japanese: 知里 真志保; February 24, 1909 – June 9, 1961) was an Ainu linguist and anthropologist. He was best…Mashiho Chiri (Japanese: 知里 真志保; February 24, 1909 – June 9, 1961) was an Ainu linguist and anthropologist. He was best known for creating Ainu-Japanese dictionaries.
Morio Yukawa (湯川 盛夫, Yukawa Morio; February 23, 1908 – March 16, 1988) was a Japanese economist and diplomat. Yukawa…Morio Yukawa (湯川 盛夫, Yukawa Morio; February 23, 1908 – March 16, 1988) was a Japanese economist and diplomat. Yukawa served in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs during World War II and took part in the Japanese official delegation that met US General Douglas MacArthur in Manila on August 19, 1945, in order to make arrangements for the Japanese surrender. During the 1950s, he served as head of Economic Affairs Bureau in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in that capacity tried to negotiate his country's accession to GATT. He represented Japan at the UNESCO General Session in 1953. Later, he served as Ambassador to the Philippines, and in that capacity concluded the Treaty of Amity of December 9, 1960. Afterwards he served as Head of Mission to the EEC in 1964–1968 and Ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1968-1972. In 1972–1979, Yukawa served as Grand Master of Ceremonies of the Imperial Household Agency.