Masako Sato (佐藤 雅子, Satō Masako; born 27 November 1987, in Yazu) is a Japanese field hockey player. At the 2012 Summer…Masako Sato (佐藤 雅子, Satō Masako; born 27 November 1987, in Yazu) is a Japanese field hockey player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she competed with the Japan women's national field hockey team in the women's tournament.
Kōichi Morishita (森下 広一, Morishita Kōichi; born 5 September 1967) is a retired Japanese male long-distance runner. He…Kōichi Morishita (森下 広一, Morishita Kōichi; born 5 September 1967) is a retired Japanese male long-distance runner. He competed for Japan at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain where he won the silver medal in the men's marathon event. Morishita was born in Yazu, Tottori. Beyond his Olympic medal, his achievements include wins at the Beppu-Ōita Marathon and the Tokyo International Marathon. His winning time in the former race (2:08:53) was the fastest marathon recorded in 1991. Since 1999, he has managed the Toyota Kyūshū Athletic team, based in Miyawaka, Fukuoka. He has coached many runners including the late Samuel Wanjiru, who was a member of the team from 2005 to early 2008.
Minoru Honda (本田 実, Honda Minoru; February 26, 1913 – August 26, 1990) was a Japanese astronomer. Starting in 1937…Minoru Honda (本田 実, Honda Minoru; February 26, 1913 – August 26, 1990) was a Japanese astronomer. Starting in 1937, Honda worked for Issei Yamamoto at the Zodiacal Light Observatory in Hiroshima. He discovered twelve comets between 1940 and 1968, including the periodic comet 45P/Honda–Mrkos–Pajdušáková. He discovered on FH Serpentis (Nova Serpentis 1970) on February 13, 1970 from Kurashiki, Japan. He was the first to report the very bright V1500 Cygni (Nova Cygni 1975) at magnitude 3.0 on August 29, 1975; it peaked at 2.0, and many hundreds of independent discoveries were subsequently made by others. The asteroid 3904 Honda is named after him, 8485 Satoru is named after his wife, and 11442 Seijin-Sanso is named after his astronomical observatory.
Jirō Ishiba (Japanese: 石破 二朗, Hepburn: Ishiba Jirō; 29 July 1908 – 16 September 1981) was a Japanese bureaucrat and…Jirō Ishiba (Japanese: 石破 二朗, Hepburn: Ishiba Jirō; 29 July 1908 – 16 September 1981) was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who served as the governor of Tottori and as a member of the House of Councillors. He also held other high-ranking positions, including Minister of Home Affairs and Vice Minister of Construction. His son Shigeru Ishiba, served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 2024 to 2025.
Shigeru Ishiba (born 4 February 1957) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of…Shigeru Ishiba (born 4 February 1957) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2024 until his resignation in 2025. He has represented Tottori 1st in the House of Representatives since 1996. Before his premiership, he was the Minister of Defense from 2007 to 2008 and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 2008 to 2009, as well as Secretary-General of the LDP from 2012 to 2014. The son of politician Jirō Ishiba, he graduated from Keio University in 1979. Prior to entering politics after his father's death, Ishiba worked at a bank before being elected to the House of Representatives in the 1986 general election as a member of the LDP at the age of 29. As a Diet member, Ishiba specialized in agricultural policy and defense policy. He served as parliamentary vice minister of agriculture under the premiership of Kiichi Miyazawa, but left the LDP in 1993 to join the Japan Renewal Party. After transitioning through several parties and returning to the LDP in 1997, Ishiba held various prominent positions, including Director-general of the Defense Agency under the premiership of Junichiro Koizumi, minister of defense under the premiership of Yasuo Fukuda and minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries under the premiership of Tarō Asō. Ishiba became a key figure within the LDP, running for party leadership multiple times. First in 2008 where he placed fifth, and notably against Shinzo Abe in the 2012 and 2018 elections. Despite his criticisms of LDP factionalism, he established his own faction, Suigetsukai, in 2015, aiming for leadership. After Abe's second resignation, Ishiba ran again for party president in 2020, but placed third behind Yoshihide Suga. Ishiba declined to run and endorsed Taro Kono in the 2021 election, which was won by Fumio Kishida. After Kishida announced that he would step down, Ishiba contested for the fifth time in the 2024 election where he defeated Sanae Takaichi in a second round run-off, becoming the new party leader and prime minister–designate, and was formally elected Prime Minister by the National Diet on 1 October 2024. As prime minister, Ishiba almost immediately announced a snap general election, where the ruling LDP coalition lost its majority in the House of Representatives for the first time since 2009, suffering its second-worst result in party history. In the National Diet, Ishiba relied on opposition parties to pass legislation due to his coalition's minority government status. On foreign policy, Ishiba moved Japan economically closer to India and South Korea amidst protectionist policies being employed by the United States, while continuing to support Ukraine during the Russian invasion that began in 2022. After the LDP-Komeito coalition lost its majority in the House of Councillors after a poor result in the 2025 election, Ishiba began to face calls within the LDP for him to resign. Ishiba initially announced he planned to remain as prime minister, citing the need to see through tariff negotiations with the United States. He eventually announced his intention to resign as party president and as prime minister in September 2025, and was succeeded as prime minister by Takaichi the next month. Ishiba has developed a reputation throughout his career as a political maverick due to his willingness to criticize his own party, as well as his relatively liberal stances on social issues; he supported a motion of no-confidence against the Miyazawa Cabinet in 1993 and criticized Abe throughout his second premiership, despite serving in the governments of both prime ministers. During his tenure as prime minister however, Ishiba was criticized for being too hesitant to embrace reform and for reversing several of his earlier positions.
