Otokita Shun is a Japanese politician who is serving as a member of the National Diet in the House of Councillors for…Otokita Shun is a Japanese politician who is serving as a member of the National Diet in the House of Councillors for Nippon Ishin no Kai from the Tokyo at-large district. He is now serving as chair of the party's parliamentary policy bureau.
Hideki Murai (村井 英樹, Murai Hideki; born 14 May 1980) is a Japanese politician who serves as chairman of the Diet…Hideki Murai (村井 英樹, Murai Hideki; born 14 May 1980) is a Japanese politician who serves as chairman of the Diet Affairs Committee in the Liberal Democratic Party since 2026. He was Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary from 2023 to 2024. He has represented Saitama 1st district in the House of Representatives since 2012. Born in Saitama Prefecture and educated at the University of Tokyo, Murai was an official in the Ministry of Finance before entering politics.
Hirofumi Yanagase is a Japanese politician who is a former member of the House of Councillors of Japan. He was a…Hirofumi Yanagase is a Japanese politician who is a former member of the House of Councillors of Japan. He was a representative member of the national proportional representation block.
Taisuke Ono (小野 泰輔, Ono Taisuke; born 20 April 1974) is a Japanese politician who has served as mayor of Yatsushiro…Taisuke Ono (小野 泰輔, Ono Taisuke; born 20 April 1974) is a Japanese politician who has served as mayor of Yatsushiro since 2025. He previously served as a member of the House of Representatives as a member of the Japan Innovation Party, having been elected in the 2021 Japanese general election from the Tokyo proportional representation block. Before that he was Vice Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture under Ikuo Kabashima for eight years. He also ran in the 2020 Tokyo gubernatorial election under the Innovation banner, winning 612,530 votes and 9.99% of the vote.
Satoshi Takayama (高山 智司, Takayama Satoshi; born 20 April 1970) is a former Japanese politician who served in the House…Satoshi Takayama (高山 智司, Takayama Satoshi; born 20 April 1970) is a former Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan. A native of Tokyo and graduate of Meiji University, he was elected for the first time in 2003.
Ken Akamatsu (Japanese: 赤松 健, Hepburn: Akamatsu Ken; born July 5, 1968) is a Japanese manga artist and politician who…Ken Akamatsu (Japanese: 赤松 健, Hepburn: Akamatsu Ken; born July 5, 1968) is a Japanese manga artist and politician who has served since 2022 as a member of the House of Councillors. He made his professional manga debut in 1993, and is best known as the author of Love Hina (1998–2001) and Negima! Magister Negi Magi (2003–2012), both serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine; a sequel to Negima!, UQ Holder!, was serialized from 2013 to 2022. In 2011, Akamatsu founded J-Comi (now Manga Library Z), a free digital distributor of out-of-print manga. Akamatsu has been a managing director of the Japan Cartoonists Association since 2018, and is a vocal advocate for protecting freedom of expression in manga and anime from expansions in censorship and copyright law. In the 2022 Japanese House of Councillors election, he won a seat as a candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party in the national proportional representation block on a free expression platform, becoming the first manga creator in the National Diet. On November 13, 2024, he was appointed Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Reconstruction as part of the Second Ishiba Cabinet. On September 18, 2026, he was appointed Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Digital Agency and Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Cabinet Office as part of the September 2026 cabinet reshuffle of the Second Takaichi Cabinet.
Atsushi Koyano (小谷野 敦, Koyano Atsushi; 21 December 1962) is a Japanese scholar of comparative literature and critic. He…Atsushi Koyano (小谷野 敦, Koyano Atsushi; 21 December 1962) is a Japanese scholar of comparative literature and critic. He also has advanced degrees and pedagogy careers in Osaka University, Meiji University, Tokyo University.
Saburo Komoto (河本 三郎, Kōmoto Saburō; 7 September 1950 – 21 August 2025) was a Japanese politician of the Liberal…Saburo Komoto (河本 三郎, Kōmoto Saburō; 7 September 1950 – 21 August 2025) was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature).
Osamu Masuko (益子 修, Masuko Osamu; February 19, 1949 – August 27, 2020) was a Japanese business executive. He was an…Osamu Masuko (益子 修, Masuko Osamu; February 19, 1949 – August 27, 2020) was a Japanese business executive. He was an executive of Mitsubishi Motors, serving as president from 2005 to 2020, CEO from 2005 to 2014 and 2016 to 2019, as well as chairman from 2018 to 2020.
Yasuaki Kurata (Japanese: 倉田 保昭, romanized: Kurata Yasuaki; born March 20, 1946) is a Japanese actor and martial…Yasuaki Kurata (Japanese: 倉田 保昭, romanized: Kurata Yasuaki; born March 20, 1946) is a Japanese actor and martial artist. He has worked extensively in Hong Kong action films, as well as in his native country, and is a two-time Hong Kong Film Award nominee.
Kazuo Tokumitsu (徳光 和夫, Tokumitsu Kazuo; born 10 March 1941 in Meguro, Tokyo) is a Japanese TV presenter and announcer.…Kazuo Tokumitsu (徳光 和夫, Tokumitsu Kazuo; born 10 March 1941 in Meguro, Tokyo) is a Japanese TV presenter and announcer. He is the main presenter on the Nippon Television Sunday morning TV topical news programme The Sunday Next. He is also the main presenter on the Tokyo Broadcasting System programme Kazuo Tokumitsu's Moving Reunions (徳光和夫の感動再会"逢いたい", Tokumitsu Kazuo no Kando Saikai "Aitai"). He is a big fan of Yomiuri Giants.
Shinsuke Ogawa (小川紳介, Ogawa Shinsuke) (25 June 1935 – 7 February 1992) was a Japanese documentary film director. Ogawa…Shinsuke Ogawa (小川紳介, Ogawa Shinsuke) (25 June 1935 – 7 February 1992) was a Japanese documentary film director. Ogawa and Noriaki Tsuchimoto have been called the "two figures [that] tower over the landscape of Japanese documentary."
Anarchism in Japan began to emerge in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as Western anarchist literature began to…Anarchism in Japan began to emerge in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as Western anarchist literature began to be translated into Japanese. It existed throughout the 20th century in various forms, despite repression by the state that became particularly harsh during the two world wars, and it reached its height in the 1920s with organisations such as Kokuren and Zenkoku Jiren. Japanese anarchism had a number of notable leading figures who dominated the movement at different times. The first of these leaders was Kōtoku Shūsui, who led the development of an anarchist faction within existing left-wing movements, which then split into its own independent movement in the first decade of the 1900s. Kōtoku was executed for treason in 1911, and the movement was subject to severe repression for a decade. The next leading figure was Ōsugi Sakae, who involved himself heavily in support for anarcho-syndicalism and helped to bring the movement out of its 'winter period', until he was murdered by military police in 1923. Another leading figure was Hatta Shūzō, who reoriented the anarchist movement in a more anarcho-communist direction during the late 1920s, opposing labour unions as a tool of revolution. This produced a split between anarcho-syndicalists and anarcho-communists, which dominated anarchist politics and weakened the movement. From 1931 onwards, the anarchist movement was suppressed more harshly due to the wartime policies of the Empire of Japan. After the war, an anarchist movement once again appeared (the Japanese Anarchist Federation) and was led by important pre-war anarchists such as Iwasa Sakutarō and Ishikawa Sanshirō, but it was once again weakened by splits between the two factions. From very early on in the history of Japanese anarchism, the movement was in close contact with anarchists from Europe, America, and elsewhere in Asia. Japanese anarcho-syndicalist ideas were often inspired by French syndicalists, and works by writers such as Peter Kropotkin and Emma Goldman had a great influence on the Japanese anarchist movement.
Ichiro Hatta (八田一朗, Hatta Ichirō; 3 June 1906 – 15 April 1983) was a Japanese judoka and wrestler. He was instrumental…Ichiro Hatta (八田一朗, Hatta Ichirō; 3 June 1906 – 15 April 1983) was a Japanese judoka and wrestler. He was instrumental in founding the Japanese Amateur Wrestling Association and bringing the 1964 Olympics to Japan.
Tsūsai Sugawara (or Sugahara, 菅原通済 or 菅原通濟, 16 February 1894 – 13 June 1981) was a Japanese social activist, business…Tsūsai Sugawara (or Sugahara, 菅原通済 or 菅原通濟, 16 February 1894 – 13 June 1981) was a Japanese social activist, business leader, writer, art patron, and occasional actor. In the West he is best known for his cameo appearances in several of the last films directed by Yasujirō Ozu. In 1976, Sugawara was among the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Mosaburō Suzuki (鈴木 茂三郎, Suzuki Mosaburō; February 7, 1893 – May 7, 1970) was a Japanese journalist, essayist, and…Mosaburō Suzuki (鈴木 茂三郎, Suzuki Mosaburō; February 7, 1893 – May 7, 1970) was a Japanese journalist, essayist, and socialist politician who served nine terms in the House of Representatives. He was the first chairman of the Left Socialist Party of Japan (1951–1955) and later the second chairman of the reunified Japan Socialist Party (1955–1960). Born into poverty in Gamagōri, Aichi, Suzuki worked various odd jobs before graduating from Waseda University in 1916. As a newspaper reporter he covered the Siberian Intervention, an experience that reinforced his lifelong opposition to militarism. In the interwar period he became a leading figure in the proletarian movement, joined the newly founded Japanese Communist Party in 1922, helped organize several left-wing parties, and was repeatedly arrested under the Peace Preservation Law, including during the Popular Front Incident of 1937. He spent the war years in prison without trial. After Japan's surrender, he helped found the Japan Socialist Party. He was elected to the Diet in 1946 and became party secretary in 1949. When the party split over the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951, he became the first chairman of the Left Socialist Party. In his inaugural speech as its chairman he delivered the widely quoted pacifist appeal "Young men, do not take up arms. Women, do not send your husbands and children to the battlefield." After the socialists reunited in 1955 he served as chairman of the unified JSP until his resignation in 1960 following the formation of the Democratic Socialist Party. In later years he continued to push the party leftward, opposed structural-reform theories, and established a socialist library that was later donated to the Museum of Modern Japanese Literature. He retired from electoral politics before the 1967 election and died in Tokyo in 1970.
Kesago Nakajima (中島 今朝吾, Nakajima Kesago; 15 June 1881 – 28 October 1945) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial…Kesago Nakajima (中島 今朝吾, Nakajima Kesago; 15 June 1881 – 28 October 1945) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japanese forces under Nakajima's command committed the 1937 Nanjing Massacre.
Seizō Sakonji (左近司政三, Sakonji Seizō; 27 June 1879 – 20 August 1969) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and…Seizō Sakonji (左近司政三, Sakonji Seizō; 27 June 1879 – 20 August 1969) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and cabinet minister in the wartime government of the Empire of Japan.