Teppei Mataki (又木 鉄平, Mataki Teppei; born February 12, 1999 in Fuefuki, Yamanashi, Japan) is a professional Japanese…Teppei Mataki (又木 鉄平, Mataki Teppei; born February 12, 1999 in Fuefuki, Yamanashi, Japan) is a professional Japanese baseball player. He plays pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants.
Go Aruga (有賀剛, Aruga Gō; born March 29, 1978 in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan) plays rugby union at fullback (and…Go Aruga (有賀剛, Aruga Gō; born March 29, 1978 in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan) plays rugby union at fullback (and sometimes centre) for Suntory Sungoliath in the Top League. He also plays at fullback for the Japan national rugby union team. He was selected for the Japanese 2007 Rugby World Cup squad and made 2 appearances. Aruga attended Kanto Gakuin University. He has scored 9 tries and 11 conversions for Japan.
Toshio Imamura (今村 俊雄, Imamura Toshio; born (1979-12-25)25 December 1979 in Enzan) is a Japanese male weightlifter…Toshio Imamura (今村 俊雄, Imamura Toshio; born (1979-12-25)25 December 1979 in Enzan) is a Japanese male weightlifter, competing in the 62 kg category and representing Japan at international competitions. He participated at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 62 kg event. He competed at world championships, most recently at the 2007 World Weightlifting Championships.
Masao Amino (網野 正大,, Amino Masao) (born in Yamanashi Prefecture, on 14 October 1974) is a Japanese former rugby union…Masao Amino (網野 正大,, Amino Masao) (born in Yamanashi Prefecture, on 14 October 1974) is a Japanese former rugby union player and currently coach.
Masahiko Kobe (神戸 勝彦, Kōbe Masahiko; October 15, 1969 – March 14, 2019) was a celebrity chef specializing in Italian…Masahiko Kobe (神戸 勝彦, Kōbe Masahiko; October 15, 1969 – March 14, 2019) was a celebrity chef specializing in Italian cuisine, most notable as the "Iron Chef Italian" on the television series Iron Chef, where he appeared wearing a chef's uniform decorated like the Italian Flag (green, white and red) and holding a tomato (in some episodes, an apple).
Hiroyuki Kajihara (梶原宏之, Kajihara Hiroyuki) (born 28 September 1966 in Yamanashi, Japan) is a former rugby union…Hiroyuki Kajihara (梶原宏之, Kajihara Hiroyuki) (born 28 September 1966 in Yamanashi, Japan) is a former rugby union footballer who played for Japan. Playing at flanker, Kajihara played 21 Tests for Japan between 1989 and 1997. He scored 19 points from his four tries. Kajihara played in both the 1991 and 1995 Rugby World Cups for Japan. He played three games in each World Cup including matches against Scotland, Ireland and the All Blacks.
Mariko Hayashi (林 真理子, Hayashi Mariko; born April 1, 1954) is a Japanese writer and chairperson of the Nihon University…Mariko Hayashi (林 真理子, Hayashi Mariko; born April 1, 1954) is a Japanese writer and chairperson of the Nihon University board of directors. Her awards include the 94th Naoki Prize and the Japanese Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon. Her novels and essays have been widely adapted for television and film, including the 1997 film Fukigen na Kajitsu and the 2018 NHK taiga drama Segodon.
Tomomi "Tommy" Tsuruta (鶴田 友美, Tsuruta Tomomi; March 25, 1951 – May 12, 2000), better known by his ring name Jumbo…Tomomi "Tommy" Tsuruta (鶴田 友美, Tsuruta Tomomi; March 25, 1951 – May 12, 2000), better known by his ring name Jumbo Tsuruta (ジャンボ鶴田, Janbo Tsuruta), was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won the PWF Heavyweight Championship, the NWA United National Championship, and the NWA International Heavyweight Championship, and unifying the three titles. He is also known for being one-half of the first World Tag Team Champions with Yoshiaki Yatsu, having won the NWA International Tag Team Championship and the PWF Tag Team Championship, and unifying the two titles.
Shinji Kazama (born 26 September 1950) is a Japanese motorcyclist who rode to the North and South Poles on motorcycles.…Shinji Kazama (born 26 September 1950) is a Japanese motorcyclist who rode to the North and South Poles on motorcycles. He is shown in the documentary television series Pole to Pole (1992), presented by Michael Palin, when he and Palin happened to be on the same flight to Patriot Hills Base Camp. As of 2010, Kazama was the only person to have reached both poles on a motorcycle. He reached the North Pole on 21 April 1987, and the South Pole on 3 January 1992. Kazama's trip to the South Pole set an overland speed record for the journey (24 days) which stood until 2005. He also set records for elevations reached on Mount Everest (5,880 metres (19,290 ft) in 1985, 6,005 metres (19,701 ft) in 1986), Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Fuji by motorcycle. In 1982, Kazama became the first Japanese national to finish the Dakar Rally. He won the Dakar Rally in the 500cc class in 1984. In 1987 he won the Rallye des Pharaons in the 250cc class. In 2004, while again participating in the Dakar Rally, Kazama was struck by a big rig, mangling his left leg. He was flown to a hospital in Paris, where the leg was saved, but Kazama was left reliant on a cane to walk. In 2007, Kazama was appointed a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations World Health Organization "Bone and Joint Decade" (2000-2010). In the same year, Kazama undertook The Trans Eurasian Continent Tour, covering 11,250 miles (18,110 km) (from Vladivostok to Cabo da Roca, Portugal) in 52 days. In 2008 and 2009, Kazama drove a Subaru Forester from Alexandria, Egypt, to Cape Town, South Africa, to promote the Bone and Joint Decade. In 2009, he traversed Australia. From May to September 2010, Kazama and three other physically disabled riders journeyed from the South Pole to the North Pole using motorcycles, bicycles, dog sleds and boats, starting off from the southern tip of Chile and finishing in Lund, Sweden.
Eijun Kiyokumo (清雲 栄純, Kiyokumo Eijun; born September 11, 1950) is a former Japanese football player and manager. He…Eijun Kiyokumo (清雲 栄純, Kiyokumo Eijun; born September 11, 1950) is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team.
Yoshio Tsuchiya (土屋 嘉男, Tsuchiya Yoshio; May 18, 1927 – February 8, 2017) was a Japanese actor. He appeared in such…Yoshio Tsuchiya (土屋 嘉男, Tsuchiya Yoshio; May 18, 1927 – February 8, 2017) was a Japanese actor. He appeared in such films as Toshio Matsumoto's surreal Funeral Parade of Roses and Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Red Beard, and Kihachi Okamoto's Kill!. He had a long-standing interest in UFOs and wrote several books on the subject. He preferred starring in science fiction films, usually as aliens, or people possessed by them, in such films as Battle in Outer Space, Monster Zero, and Destroy All Monsters.
Shichirō Fukazawa (深沢 七郎, Fukazawa Shichirō; January 29, 1914 – August 18, 1987) was a Japanese author and guitarist…Shichirō Fukazawa (深沢 七郎, Fukazawa Shichirō; January 29, 1914 – August 18, 1987) was a Japanese author and guitarist whose 1960 short story Fūryū mutan ("Tale of an Elegant Dream") caused a nationwide uproar and prompted an assassination attempt of the president of the magazine that published it.
Seiei Toyama (遠山正瑛, Toyama Seiei) (April 21, 1906 – February 25, 2004) is a Japanese environmentalist. He received the…Seiei Toyama (遠山正瑛, Toyama Seiei) (April 21, 1906 – February 25, 2004) is a Japanese environmentalist. He received the 2003 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding for his two-decade-long effort to combat desertification in China, promoting solidarity and peace.
Yoshiaki Ozawa (小沢 儀明, Ozawa Yoshiaki) was a paleontologist and geologist. After graduating from the University of…Yoshiaki Ozawa (小沢 儀明, Ozawa Yoshiaki) was a paleontologist and geologist. After graduating from the University of Tokyo (when Tokyo Imperial University in 1923, Ozawa was hired by faculty as an assistant and become a full-time lecturer next year. His early work earned him a fellowship in the Geological Society of Japan and proved that Akiyoshi plateau had a reverse stratigraphy. He became an associate professor in 1925 and got the Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy in 1926. The foraminifera genus "Staffella Ozawa" is named after him. Ozawa with his wife received a grant to travel to Europe (England, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France) and United States in 1927, collaborating with the Massachusetts researcher Joseph Augustine Cushman. During that period and after return to Japan Ozawa performed mostly foraminifera research, both gathering his own samples and analyzing samples of other researchers. Five months after his return in Japan, Ozawa contracted typhoid fever and died 29 December 1929. Afterward, the Geological Society of Japan established "The Geological Society of Japan Ozawa Yoshiaki Award" which is granted to young (under 37 years old) scientists for exceptional contribution to the field of geology.
Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki (Japanese: 山崎保代; often spelled as Yamazaki; October 17, 1891 – May 29, 1943) was a Japanese…Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki (Japanese: 山崎保代; often spelled as Yamazaki; October 17, 1891 – May 29, 1943) was a Japanese Army officer who commanded the Japanese forces on Attu during the Battle of Attu in World War II. Yamasaki was a native of what is now part of Tsuru, Yamanashi, where his father was a Buddhist priest. He graduated from the 25th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1913 and served in the Siberian Intervention from April 1918 to December 1920. In May 1928, he was part of the Japanese expeditionary force to mainland China during the Jinan Incident. Yamasaki was promoted to colonel in March 1940. Later that year, he assumed command of the 130th Infantry Regiment. In February 1943, Yamasaki became commanding officer of the 2nd District Force of the North Sea Defense Force, a position in which he went to the Aleutians. He arrived on Attu in April 1943 by submarine. His orders were to hold the island without outside help. The 2,650 defenders under Yamasaki did not contest the American landings on Attu, but rather dug in on high ground away from the shore. The battle produced some of the bloodiest fighting in the American Theater and the Pacific Theater, similar to the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. On May 29, the last of the Japanese forces suddenly attacked near Chichagof Harbor in the first and only instance of a banzai charge on American soil. The charge was led by Yamasaki himself, who was killed later that day, sword in hand, and assaulting Engineer Hill. His attack penetrated American lines far enough to encounter shocked rear-echelon units of the American force. After furious, brutal, close-quarter, and often hand-to-hand combat, the entire Japanese force was killed almost to the last man: only 29 prisoners were taken, with none of them officers. American burial teams counted 2,351 Japanese dead, but it was presumed that hundreds more had been buried by bombardments over the course of the battle.
