Yasunobu Nakamura (中村 泰信 Nakamura Yasunobu) is a Japanese physicist. He is a professor at the University of Tokyo's…Yasunobu Nakamura (中村 泰信 Nakamura Yasunobu) is a Japanese physicist. He is a professor at the University of Tokyo's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) and the Principal Investigator of the Superconducting Quantum Electronics Research Group (SQERG) at the Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) within RIKEN. He has contributed primarily to the area of quantum information science, particularly in superconducting quantum computing and hybrid quantum systems.
Eiji Oguma (小熊 英二, Oguma Eiji) (born September 6, 1962) is a Japanese historical sociologist, a professor at Keio…Eiji Oguma (小熊 英二, Oguma Eiji) (born September 6, 1962) is a Japanese historical sociologist, a professor at Keio University, a documentary filmmaker, and a guitarist. Born in Akishima in Tokyo Metropolis in 1962, Oguma received his PhD from Tokyo University in 1998. Since 1997, he has been on the faculty at Keio University, where he was named a full professor in 2007. Oguma has written extensively on postwar social and political history, and issues of Japanese nationalism. Recently, he has turned to documentary filmmaking, directing a documentary on Japanese protests against nuclear power in the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, entitled "Tell the Prime Minister" (2015).
Yōko Tawada (多和田葉子 Tawada Yōko, born March 23, 1960) is a Japanese writer currently living in Berlin, Germany. She…Yōko Tawada (多和田葉子 Tawada Yōko, born March 23, 1960) is a Japanese writer currently living in Berlin, Germany. She writes in both Japanese and German. She is a former writer-in-residence at MIT and Stanford University. Tawada has won numerous literary awards, including the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, the Noma Literary Prize, the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature, the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the Goethe Medal, the Kleist Prize, and a National Book Award.
Lin Tainan (Japanese: Lin Tainan/はやしやすお Hayashi Yasuo; December 15, 1957 – July 26, 2018) was a Japanese convicted…Lin Tainan (Japanese: Lin Tainan/はやしやすお Hayashi Yasuo; December 15, 1957 – July 26, 2018) was a Japanese convicted murderer, terrorist and former member of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo. He is of Korean descent, and changed his name to Koike Yasuo after taking his wife's surname. He was a former senior cadre of Aum Shinrikyo (Master Zhengwu, deputy minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology).
Anzu Furukawa(古川あんず, February 28 , 1952 – October 23 , 2001) was a butoh dancer and performance artist. Since 1973 she…Anzu Furukawa(古川あんず, February 28 , 1952 – October 23 , 2001) was a butoh dancer and performance artist. Since 1973 she has worked as a choreographer, performer and dancer in various groups in Japan including Dairakudakan and Europe.
Haruhiko Arai (荒井 晴彦, Arai Haruhiko; born 1947) is a Japanese screenwriter and film director. He is also a publisher…Haruhiko Arai (荒井 晴彦, Arai Haruhiko; born 1947) is a Japanese screenwriter and film director. He is also a publisher and an editor of the Eiga Geijutsu magazine and a professor of the Japan Institute of the Moving Image.
Takashi Inoue (井之上 喬, Inoue Takashi; born 20 November 1944) is a public relations practitioner, scholar, and theorist.…Takashi Inoue (井之上 喬, Inoue Takashi; born 20 November 1944) is a public relations practitioner, scholar, and theorist. His theories include the "three forces of hyper-globalization", the "Self-Correction Model of Public Relations", and the "Japan model". He was the first to teach public relations courses at a major university in post-war Japan and is the Chairman and CEO of Inoue Public Relations, which he founded in 1970. He is a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University and at Kobe Institute of Computing. He was quoted in foreign press reports on the East Japan Earthquake and the 2018 arrest in Japan of Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn. He has written about modern Japan's lack of PR skills and has described the resulting "Deficiency of Japanese diplomacy", and in 2010 he wrote that corporate Japan's scandals have created "A culture of apologies: Communicating crises in Japan"
Hiroshi Nakai (中井 洽, Nakai Hiroshi; 10 June 1942 – 22 April 2017) was a Japanese politician serving in the House of…Hiroshi Nakai (中井 洽, Nakai Hiroshi; 10 June 1942 – 22 April 2017) was a Japanese politician serving in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan. He was born in Jilin, China on 10 June 1942, then part of Manchukuo. A graduate of Keio University he was elected for the first time in 1976 after an unsuccessful run in 1972. Nakai died on 22 April 2017 from stomach cancer at the age of 74.
Masahiko Kōmura (高村 正彦, Kōmura Masahiko; born 15 March 1942) is a Japanese politician who served as Vice President of…Masahiko Kōmura (高村 正彦, Kōmura Masahiko; born 15 March 1942) is a Japanese politician who served as Vice President of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2012 to 2018. He served in several cabinet position, including as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1998 to 1999 and again from 2007 to 2008. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1980 to 2017.
Gōzō Yoshimasu (吉増 剛造|Yoshimasu Gōzō) (born 1939, Tokyo) is a prolific Japanese poet, photographer, artist and…Gōzō Yoshimasu (吉増 剛造|Yoshimasu Gōzō) (born 1939, Tokyo) is a prolific Japanese poet, photographer, artist and filmmaker active since the 1960s. He has received a number of literary and cultural awards, including the Takami Jun Prize (1971), the Rekitei Prize, the Purple Ribbon Medal in 2003 (given by the Government of Japan), the 50th Mainichi Art Award for Poetry (2009), and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays in 2013. Major influences include Shinobu Orikuchi, Paul Klee, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, William Blake, John Cage, Patrick Chamoiseau. Many of his poems are multilingual, blending elements of French, English, Chinese, Korean, Gaelic, and more, and feature cross-linguistic and typographic wordplay. His poems rely on intimate experiences with geography and history, layering encounters in the present with a keen awareness of the past. Drawing on multiple translators whose detailed notes appear opposite the translations, helping to elucidate them, Alice Iris Red Horse: Selected Poems of Yoshimasu Gozo, a Book in and on Translation is the most extensive and adventurous attempt at an English translation of Yoshimasu's complex poetry. Yoshimasu's performances often include film, the display of fetish objects, chanting, ritual procedures, and the collaboration of musicians and other artists. In a 2014 interview by Aki Onda on the MoMA blog "Post," Yoshimasu described the relationship of his poetry to performance by remarking, "My quest is to reclaim the poetry that lies at the root of performing arts." His visual art has been gaining increased recognition, with the Japan Art Academy awarding him the Imperial Prize and the Japan Art Academy Prize in 2015.
Kiyoshi Nishimura (西村 潔, September 7, 1932 – November 17, 1993) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He was…Kiyoshi Nishimura (西村 潔, September 7, 1932 – November 17, 1993) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He was best known for working as an assistant director for filmmakers such as Akira Kurosawa and Ishiro Honda, and for directing numerous films under Toho.
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.
Shumon Miura (三浦 朱門, Miura Shumon; 12 January 1926 – 3 February 2017) was a Japanese novelist. He attended the…Shumon Miura (三浦 朱門, Miura Shumon; 12 January 1926 – 3 February 2017) was a Japanese novelist. He attended the University of Tokyo, and upon graduation joined the staff of the literary magazine Shin-Shicho (新思潮: "New Thought") in 1950. The next year, Miura published his first book. He then married fellow Third Generation writer Ayako Sono in 1953, with whom he wrote many books about Catholicism and religion. Miura began teaching at Nihon University in 1967, the same year he was awarded the Shinchosha Prize. From 1985 to 1986, he was commissioner of the Cultural Affairs Agency. In 1999, the Japanese government designated Miura a Person of Cultural Merit. In 2004, Miura was appointed to lead the Japan Art Academy. He stepped down in 2014, and died at a hospital in Tokyo due to pneumonia on 3 February 2017, aged 91.
Kimishige "Kimi" Ishizaka (石坂 公成, Ishizaka Kimishige; 3 December 1925 – 6 July 2018) was a Japanese immunologist who…Kimishige "Kimi" Ishizaka (石坂 公成, Ishizaka Kimishige; 3 December 1925 – 6 July 2018) was a Japanese immunologist who, with his wife Teruko Ishizaka, discovered the antibody class Immunoglobulin E (IgE) in 1966–1967. Their work was regarded as a major breakthrough in the understanding of allergy. He was awarded the 1973 Gairdner Foundation International Award and the 2000 Japan Prize for his work in immunology.
Yozo Ishikawa (石川 要三, Ishikawa Yōzō; 6 July 1925 – 21 June 2014) was a Japanese lawmaker and a member of the Liberal…Yozo Ishikawa (石川 要三, Ishikawa Yōzō; 6 July 1925 – 21 June 2014) was a Japanese lawmaker and a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He served as director general of the now-defunct defense agency of Japan in 1990.
