Kiyoshi Kobayashi (小林 潔司, Kobayashi Kiyoshi) is the current (2018–19) president of the Japan Society of Civil…Kiyoshi Kobayashi (小林 潔司, Kobayashi Kiyoshi) is the current (2018–19) president of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, Director of the Management Research Center of the Graduate School of Management and Professor of Engineering, Infrastructure Economics and Management at the Department of Urban Management of Kyoto University. He was born in 1953 in Himeji, Hyōgo, Japan.
Kisaburo Tokai (渡海 紀三朗, Tokai Kisaburō; born 11 February 1948 in Takasago, Hyōgo) is a former Japanese politician who…Kisaburo Tokai (渡海 紀三朗, Tokai Kisaburō; born 11 February 1948 in Takasago, Hyōgo) is a former Japanese politician who served as the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology under Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda from 2007 to 2008.
Kenzō Takada (高田 賢三, Takada Kenzō; [takada kenꜜzoː]; 27 February 1939 – 4 October 2020) was a Japanese–French fashion…Kenzō Takada (高田 賢三, Takada Kenzō; [takada kenꜜzoː]; 27 February 1939 – 4 October 2020) was a Japanese–French fashion designer living in France. He founded Kenzo, a worldwide clothing brand that also markets skincare and perfumes. Takada was the honorary president of the Asian Couture Federation.
Jūkei Fujioka (藤岡 重慶, Fujioka Jūkei; 19 November 1933 – 23 July 1991) was a Japanese actor. He is known as an actor who…Jūkei Fujioka (藤岡 重慶, Fujioka Jūkei; 19 November 1933 – 23 July 1991) was a Japanese actor. He is known as an actor who often played villains, but is famous for playing the role of detective Daisaku Tani in the detective drama Seibu Keisatsu. Fujioka started his acting career at the Haiyuza Theatre Company. His film debut was in the 1961 film A New Wind Over the Mountain Pass directed by Seijun Suzuki. Following year, he signed his contract with Nikkatsu film company. In May 1991, while performing at the New Kabukiza in Osaka, he complained of poor health and was hospitalized at Kitasato University East Hospital in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture. At 7:06 a.m. on July 23 of the same year, he died due to intracerebral hemorrhage (died at the age of 57).
Takuya Fujioka (藤岡琢也, Fujioka Takuya; 4 September 1930 – 20 October 2006) was a Japanese actor. He is most famous for…Takuya Fujioka (藤岡琢也, Fujioka Takuya; 4 September 1930 – 20 October 2006) was a Japanese actor. He is most famous for playing the role of Daikichi Okakura on the television drama series Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari. Fujioka attended Kwansei Gakuin University but dropped out because of illness. His first starring role in the film was in the Gambare Nihondanji. He died of chronic kidney disease on 20 October 2006 at the age of 76. His final film appearance was in The Blooming Again, released in 2004.
Kazumasa Nagai (Japanese: 永井 一正, Nagai Kazumasa; Ōsaka, April 20, 1929 – February 23, 2026) was a Japanese printmaker…Kazumasa Nagai (Japanese: 永井 一正, Nagai Kazumasa; Ōsaka, April 20, 1929 – February 23, 2026) was a Japanese printmaker and graphic designer. He attended the Tokyo University of the Arts to study sculpture, and withdrew due to health problems. Nagai was a founding member of the Nippon Design Center (NDC, established in 1959), and was its president. His first works were abstract, then he changed to handmade designs of animals and plants in the 1980s. Some of his works appeared on the cover of LIFE. His work is held in museums including the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the National Gallery of Australia, the Museum of New Zealand, the British Museum, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, and the Museum of Modern Art. Nagai died on February 23, 2026, at the age of 96.
Rinzō Shiina (椎名 麟三 Shiina Rinzō; born 大坪 昇 Noboru Ōtsuka; 1 October 1911 – 28 March 1973) was a Japanese writer…Rinzō Shiina (椎名 麟三 Shiina Rinzō; born 大坪 昇 Noboru Ōtsuka; 1 October 1911 – 28 March 1973) was a Japanese writer, novelist, short story writer and playwright. Shiina's best known works were written after 1950. His writing focused on the spiritual poverty of post-occupation Japan.
Takeo Akuta (芥田 武夫, Akuta Takeo; October 20, 1903 – September 5, 1987) was a Japanese baseball player and manager who…Takeo Akuta (芥田 武夫, Akuta Takeo; October 20, 1903 – September 5, 1987) was a Japanese baseball player and manager who was a member of the Japanese Baseball League. Akuta was born October 20, 1903 in Himeji, Japan. On September 24, 1952 Akuta took over as the manager of the Kintetsu Pearls, of the Japan Pacific League. In 1988 he was posthumously elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
Tomoji Abe (阿部 知二, Abe Tomoji; 26 June 1903 – 23 April 1973) was a Japanese novelist, social critic, humanist, and…Tomoji Abe (阿部 知二, Abe Tomoji; 26 June 1903 – 23 April 1973) was a Japanese novelist, social critic, humanist, and translator of English and American literature. Although he began writing as a modernist, in his later works he represented the intellectual movement in Japanese literature. This movement departed from Japanese traditional thinking and from established forms of narration, which focused on aesthetic values and emotional states of mind (such as appear in the works of Junichiro Tanizaki and Ryunosuke Akutagawa); it also departed from modernist views, which continued to be popular in world literature and in Japan (Japanese modernist writers included Haruo Satō, Sei Ito, Tatsuo Hori, Riichi Yokomitsu and Yasunari Kawabata). Abe's intellectual approach was incompatible with the socio-political atmosphere of Japan in the early Shōwa period (1926–1945), with rising fascism and militarism, and the crusade to preserve Japanese feudal traditions.
Mikinosuke Kawaishi (川石 酒造之助, Kawaishi Mikinosuke; born 13 August 1899 – 30 January 1969) was a Japanese master of judo…Mikinosuke Kawaishi (川石 酒造之助, Kawaishi Mikinosuke; born 13 August 1899 – 30 January 1969) was a Japanese master of judo who achieved the rank of 7th Dan. He led the development of Judo in France, with Shozo Awazu, and much of Europe. He is credited with introducing the colored belt system for differentiating early grades. However, written accounts from the archives of London's Budokwai judo club, founded in 1918, record the use of colored judo belts at the 1926 9th annual Budokwai Display, and a list of ranked colored judokas appears in the Budokwai Committee Minutes of June 1927. Kawaishi visited London and the Budokwai in 1928, and was probably inspired to bring the colored belt system to France. The Fédération Française posthumously awarded him 10th Dan in judo and jujutsu.
Isamu Yokoyama (横山 勇, Yokoyama Isamu; 1 March 1889 – 21 April 1952) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army…Isamu Yokoyama (横山 勇, Yokoyama Isamu; 1 March 1889 – 21 April 1952) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, commanding Japanese ground forces in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Pacific War. In 1948, he was sentenced to death by a military commission for Yokohama War Crimes Trials due to his direct command responsibility for vivisection and other human medical experiments performed at the Kyushu Imperial University on downed Allied airmen. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment and he died in prison in 1952.
Tetsurō Watsuji (和辻 哲郎, Watsuji Tetsurō; March 1, 1889 – December 26, 1960) was a Japanese historian and moral…Tetsurō Watsuji (和辻 哲郎, Watsuji Tetsurō; March 1, 1889 – December 26, 1960) was a Japanese historian and moral philosopher.
Ichirō Kiyose (清瀬 一郎, Kiyose Ichirō; July 5, 1884 – June 27, 1967) was a Japanese lawyer and politician who rose to…Ichirō Kiyose (清瀬 一郎, Kiyose Ichirō; July 5, 1884 – June 27, 1967) was a Japanese lawyer and politician who rose to serve as Minister of Education and later Speaker of the House of Representatives in the National Diet. As a lawyer, he rose to fame in Japan as one of the defense attorneys for the perpetrators of the May 15 Incident in 1932, and then later became famous internationally when he defended former prime minister Hideki Tōjō during the Tokyo War Crimes Trials after World War II. In 1960, as Speaker of the House of Representatives, he presided over the ramming through the Diet of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty that cemented in place the U.S.-Japan alliance and allows the United States to maintain military bases on Japanese soil.
Hidejirō Nagata (永田秀次郎, Nagata Hidejirō; 23 July 1876 – 17 September 1943), was a politician and cabinet minister in…Hidejirō Nagata (永田秀次郎, Nagata Hidejirō; 23 July 1876 – 17 September 1943), was a politician and cabinet minister in the Empire of Japan, serving as a member of the House of Peers of the Diet of Japan, twice as a cabinet minister, and also serving twice as mayor of Tokyo.
Hidetake Usuki (臼木秀剛, Usuki Hidetake; born 28 March 1981) is a Japanese politician serving as a member of the House of…Hidetake Usuki (臼木秀剛, Usuki Hidetake; born 28 March 1981) is a Japanese politician serving as a member of the House of Representatives since 2024. In the 2022 House of Councillors election, he was a candidate for the House of Councillors.
