Takayasu Okushima (奥島 孝康, Okushima Takayasu; 16 April 1939 – 1 May 2024) was a Japanese law professor, President of…
Takayasu Okushima (奥島 孝康, Okushima Takayasu; 16 April 1939 – 1 May 2024) was a Japanese law professor, President of Hakuoh University, President of Waseda University, the 10th Chief Scout of the Scout Association of Japan since 1 April 2010, and served as the Camp Chief of the 23rd World Scout Jamboree. In addition, Okushima was the Japan High School Baseball Federation (JHBF) President and Japan Student Baseball Association (JSBA) Director, and served as Member at-large of the Baseball Federation of Japan. Okushima died of pneumonia in Tokyo on 1 May 2024, at the age of 85.
Famous Japanese People: Scholar・Professor・Associate Professor
Scholar・Professor・Associate Professor: 1,292 people
Tadaaki Miyake (三宅 忠明, Miyake Tadaaki; born 7 March 1939) is a Japanese folklorist born in 1939 at Okayama Prefecture.
Mitsuko Tokoro (所 美都子, Tokoro Mitsuko; January 3, 1939 – January 27, 1968), also known by her pen name Mimie Tomano…
Mitsuko Tokoro (所 美都子, Tokoro Mitsuko; January 3, 1939 – January 27, 1968), also known by her pen name Mimie Tomano, was a Japanese biologist and New Left activist remembered as one of the leading theorists of the apolitical and radically anti-hierarchical Zenkyōtō movement that carried out the 1968-69 Japanese student uprisings at universities across Japan.
Mitsuaki Yoshida (吉田 光昭, Yoshida Mitsuaki; born 1939) was a Japanese virologist known for identifying the molecular…
Mitsuaki Yoshida (吉田 光昭, Yoshida Mitsuaki; born 1939) was a Japanese virologist known for identifying the molecular structure of Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 responsible for Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma.
Takashi Masuda (益田 隆司, MASUDA Takashi; born 1939) is a Japanese computer scientist. He was born in Hagi City, Yamaguchi…
Takashi Masuda (益田 隆司, MASUDA Takashi; born 1939) is a Japanese computer scientist. He was born in Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1939. Masuda graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1963, and received his MS degree in 1956 there. From 1956 to 1977, he worked at Hitachi's Central Research Center and then Systems Laboratory, studying from 1969 at Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Science School on a sabbatical. He received his PhD from University of Tokyo. His doctorate thesis was on the "Analysis and Evaluation of the Computer System Which Uses Virtual Memory". From 1977 Masuda taught at the College of Information Science in University of Tsukuba. In 1988 he moved to University of Tokyo's School of Science as a professor of computer science and became the dean of the (Graduate) School of Science there in 1995. He then moved to University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, as a professor in 2000 and became the president there in 2004. He retired from the university in 2008. From 2003 to 2005, Masuda served as president of the Information Processing Society of Japan. From 2008, he has served as an executive director of the Funai Foundation for Information Technology, which helps those who study abroad to get Ph.D.
Yoshio Sugimoto (杉本良夫, Sugimoto Yoshio; born December 7, 1939) is a sociologist based at La Trobe University…
Yoshio Sugimoto (杉本良夫, Sugimoto Yoshio; born December 7, 1939) is a sociologist based at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, where he is currently Emeritus Professor.
Haruhiro Yamashita (山下 治広, Yamashita Haruhiro; November 11, 1938 – June 19, 2026) was a Japanese gymnast, who competed…
Haruhiro Yamashita (山下 治広, Yamashita Haruhiro; November 11, 1938 – June 19, 2026) was a Japanese gymnast, who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics. He won two gold medals, in the vault and team combined exercises. After marriage he changed his last name from Yamashita to Matsuda (松田), adopting his aunt's surname, who took care of him as a child. In 1961, he graduated from Nippon Sport Science University, where in 1983 he became professor and later professor emeritus. In the early 1970s he was an assistant gymnastics coach under Roger Council at the Indiana State University. There he began his research on biorhythms. Yamashita also trained the national gymnastics team, at the 1976 Summer Olympics and at the Asian Games in 1990, and held senior positions with the Japan Gymnastics Association. In 2000 Yamashita was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. He was an honorary citizen of his native town of Uwajima. Yamashita died on June 19, 2026, at the age of 87.
Fumiko Yonezawa (Japanese: 米沢 富美子; 19 October 1938 – 17 January 2019) was a Japanese theoretical physicist. She was the…
Fumiko Yonezawa (Japanese: 米沢 富美子; 19 October 1938 – 17 January 2019) was a Japanese theoretical physicist. She was the first woman to be appointed as the President of the Physical Society of Japan and the first Japanese student to have studied at Keele University in Staffordshire, United Kingdom. She was one of the founding members of the Department of Physics at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, Japan. Her research covered semi-conductors and liquid metals. She led a group of scientists and pioneered in visualising computer simulation.
Shōshin Kuwayama (桑山正進 Kuwayama Shōshin, born September 8, 1938) is a Japanese historian and archaeologist.
Ryōji Noyori (野依 良治, Noyori Ryōji; born 3 September 1938) is a Japanese chemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in…
Ryōji Noyori (野依 良治, Noyori Ryōji; born 3 September 1938) is a Japanese chemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001. Noyori shared a half of the prize with William S. Knowles for the study of chirally catalyzed hydrogenations; the second half of the prize went to K. Barry Sharpless for his study in chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions (Sharpless epoxidation).
Jinzaburo Takagi (高木 仁三郎, Takagi Jinzaburō; 18 July, 1938 – 8 October, 2000) was a Japanese assistant professor in…
Jinzaburo Takagi (高木 仁三郎, Takagi Jinzaburō; 18 July, 1938 – 8 October, 2000) was a Japanese assistant professor in nuclear chemistry. He wrote several books on environment protection, and on the threat of nuclear waste. He was given the Yoko Tada Human Rights Award in 1992, and the Ihatobe Award in 1994. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1997, jointly with Mycle Schneider. He was a prolific author on the subject of nuclear technology and issues surrounding nuclear power. Just before his death in 2000, he wrote a book called "Why There Will Be Another Nuclear Disaster", which was widely read after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011.
Masatoshi Naitō (内藤 正敏, Naitō Masatoshi; 18 April 1938 – 9 July 2025) was a Japanese photographer. His work is held in…
Masatoshi Naitō (内藤 正敏, Naitō Masatoshi; 18 April 1938 – 9 July 2025) was a Japanese photographer. His work is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Fumitaka Sato (23 March 1938 – 14 September 2025) was a Japanese astrophysicist and theoretical physicist. He died from…
Fumitaka Sato (23 March 1938 – 14 September 2025) was a Japanese astrophysicist and theoretical physicist. He died from bacterial pneumonia at a hospital in Kyoto, on 14 September 2025, at the age of 87.
Takayoshi Kano (加納 隆至, Kanō Takayoshi) is a Japanese primatologist, known for his pioneering work on the bonobo (Pan…
Takayoshi Kano (加納 隆至, Kanō Takayoshi) is a Japanese primatologist, known for his pioneering work on the bonobo (Pan paniscus). He highlighted their peaceful communal lifestyle and the high frequency of sexual interactions. A student of Junichiro Itani, he was a professor at Ryukyu University and at the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University. In 1973, he founded the first bonobo study center, at Wamba, Luo Reserve. It is the oldest bonobo research area and has survived a number of political upheavals in the region. Initially in his career, he assisted Toshisada Nishida in his work on the chimpanzees of the Mahale mountains in Tanzania. In 1971, Nishida conducted a brief survey looking for the bonobo (or the "pygmy chimpanzee"), and encountered several abandoned chimpanzee nests. In the conclusion of his report, he suggests that: "Before we can begin to make an intensive study, we must first make an extensive preliminary survey covering the vast area of the Central Congo Basin". In 1973, Takayoshi Kano conducted this survey, covering a large area of several hundred kilometers on bicycle, when he visited a number of remote villages unaccustomed to non-Africans, some of which were hostile. He eventually came upon the village of Wamba, where the villagers were more welcoming, and he could hear bonobo calls from the forest. Unlike the area near Lake Tumba visited by Nishida, there was no tradition of hunting chimpanzees for bushmeat here. It took over a year of effort by Kano and his assistant, Suehisa Kuroda, before they could habituate the first group of bonobos in the area, provisioning them via a sugarcane patch. The chimpanzees in the area have little fear of humans, because of a local legend, that humans and bonobos were cousins. "According to this belief, an older brother in a family of bonobos held to their traditional lifestyle and his descendants thus remained in the forest as bonobos. However, his younger brother was tired of eating raw foods. Once upon a time, he was roaming in the forest, crying, a spirit of the forest taught him to make fire, after which he left the forest and began eating cooked food. His descendants became humans. Therefore, the village people consider the bonobos akin to distant brothers and do not kill or eat them". In the local language of the Bongando, one of the words for the bonobo is elia, or "missed" - the bonobos are thought to have "missed" becoming human, or have been "blocked" on this path. Kano was among the first to comment extensively on the sexual practices among the bonobo, particularly the use of sex as a mechanism for reducing tensions within the group. Kano's work motivated a large group of researchers to work at Wamba, many of them from Kyoto and other institutions in Japan. He was among the movers in the founding of the Luo Scientific Reserve in 1990. The group was forced to pause its work several times - during the anti-Mobutu outbreak in 1991-92, and a major disruption after the Tutsi rebellion and war from 1996 to 2002. Kano's main work, The Last Ape: Pygmy Chimpanzee Behavior and Ecology, was translated from Japanese into English in 1992.
Hirotaka Sugawara (菅原 寛孝, Sugawara Hirotaka; born March 15, 1938) is a Japanese physicist, specializing in the…
Hirotaka Sugawara (菅原 寛孝, Sugawara Hirotaka; born March 15, 1938) is a Japanese physicist, specializing in the theoretical study of particle physics. He is known for the "Lee-Sugawara relation" and "A Field Theory of Currents" aka "Sugawara Construction" of the energy-momentum tensor.
Ito Ken'ichi (伊藤 憲一, Itō Ken'ichi; 7 March 1938 – 14 March 2022) was a Japanese diplomat and political scientist who…
Ito Ken'ichi (伊藤 憲一, Itō Ken'ichi; 7 March 1938 – 14 March 2022) was a Japanese diplomat and political scientist who was engaged in international politics and strategic studies. He was president and CEO of the Japan Forum on International Relations (JFIR) since it was founded in 1987, and served as chairman of the Global Forum of Japan (GFJ), chairman of the Council on East Asian Community (CEAC), and vice president of the Worldwide Support for Development (WSD). He was professor emeritus of Aoyama Gakuin University and held an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Cambodia.
Takamitsu Muraoka (村岡 崇光, Muraoka Takamitsu; 9 February 1938 – 10 February 2026) was a Japanese Semitist. He was Chair…
Takamitsu Muraoka (村岡 崇光, Muraoka Takamitsu; 9 February 1938 – 10 February 2026) was a Japanese Semitist. He was Chair of Hebrew, Israelite Antiquities, and Ugaritic at Leiden University in the Netherlands from 1991 to 2003 and is most notable for his studies of Hebrew and Aramaic linguistics and the ancient translations of the Bible, notably of the Septuagint.
Hideki Omori (大森英樹, born December 3, 1938) is a Japanese mathematician who specialized in geometry and worked at Tokyo…
Hideki Omori (大森英樹, born December 3, 1938) is a Japanese mathematician who specialized in geometry and worked at Tokyo University of Science.
Motoko Katakura (片倉もとこ (素子)) (née Niiya, 17 October 1937 - 23 February 2013) was a Japanese anthropologist who…
Motoko Katakura (片倉もとこ (素子)) (née Niiya, 17 October 1937 - 23 February 2013) was a Japanese anthropologist who specialized in the Islamic world.
Munesuke Mita (見田 宗介, Mita Munesuke; 24 August 1937 – 1 April 2022) was a Japanese sociologist who wrote about modern…
Munesuke Mita (見田 宗介, Mita Munesuke; 24 August 1937 – 1 April 2022) was a Japanese sociologist who wrote about modern society. Mita has studied about modern society at University of Tokyo and influenced many young sociologists such as Masachi Ohsawa, Shunya Yoshimi, Atsushi Miura and Shinji Miyadai.
Ryūzō Saki (佐木 隆三, Saki Ryūzō; April 14, 1937 – October 31, 2015) was a Japanese novelist and non-fiction writer, born…
Ryūzō Saki (佐木 隆三, Saki Ryūzō; April 14, 1937 – October 31, 2015) was a Japanese novelist and non-fiction writer, born in North Hamgyong, a province of what is now North Korea. He was interested in high-profile crimes in Japan and published a number of non-fiction books about Japanese crimes. On January 14, 1976, Saki was awarded the Naoki Prize for the novel Vengeance Is Mine based on Japanese serial killer Akira Nishiguchi. The novel became the basis of Shohei Imamura's film Vengeance Is Mine. He also wrote the books about Norio Nagayama, Tsutomu Miyazaki, Fusako Sano and Futoshi Matsunaga. His 1980 novel The Miracle of Joe, the Petrel was adapted into a feature film in 1984 by Toshiya Fujita. In 1992, Saki published a book about Japanese Resident-General of Korea Itō Hirobumi and Korean An Jung-geun, titled Itō Hirobumi to An Jung-geun. On 1 November 2015, he died from throat cancer in Kitakyūshū at age 78.
Yoshito Kishi (岸 義人, Kishi Yoshito; 13 April 1937 – 9 January 2023) was a Japanese chemist who was the Morris Loeb…
Yoshito Kishi (岸 義人, Kishi Yoshito; 13 April 1937 – 9 January 2023) was a Japanese chemist who was the Morris Loeb Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University. He was known for his contributions to the sciences of organic synthesis and total synthesis.
Takashi Asano (浅野 孝, Asano Takashi; born 1937) is a Japanese-born environmental engineer and a professor emeritus at…
Takashi Asano (浅野 孝, Asano Takashi; born 1937) is a Japanese-born environmental engineer and a professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis. Asano has more than 40 years of academic and professional experience in environmental and water resources engineering, specializing in water reclamation, recycling, and reuse. During 1978–1992, he served as the water reclamation specialist for the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) in Sacramento, during the formative years of water reclamation, recycling, and reuse. Asano has conducted water reclamation and reuse studies at the SWRCB and the University of California, Davis, many of which contributed to the scientific and technical basis for State of California's Title 22 regulations (State of California Water Recycling Criteria). Previously, Asano taught at Montana State University, Bozeman, 1971–75, and Washington State University, Pullman, 1975–78. He has continued to lecture widely and publish on topics current and ancient. Asano co-authored with Franklin L. Burton, Harold L. Leverenz, Ryujiro Tsuchihashi, and George Tchobanoglous the widely used textbook entitled Water Reuse: Issues, Technologies, and Applications by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., New York, NY.
Kikuko Masumoto (増本 伎共子, Masumoto Kikuko; born 2 February 1937) is a Japanese pianist, music educator, composer, and…
Kikuko Masumoto (増本 伎共子, Masumoto Kikuko; born 2 February 1937) is a Japanese pianist, music educator, composer, and ethnomusicologist.
Mitsuo Tasumi (January 23, 1937 – November 24, 2021) was a Japanese physical chemist known for his vibrational…
Mitsuo Tasumi (January 23, 1937 – November 24, 2021) was a Japanese physical chemist known for his vibrational spectroscopic works on synthetic and biological macromolecules. He was Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo, and a former president of Saitama University, having trained a number of physical chemists active in academia and industry. Moto-o Tasumi, a zoologist at Kyoto University, was his brother.
Haruhisa Ishida (Japanese: 石田晴久) (30 October 1936 – 9 March 2009) was a Japanese Internet pioneer, information…
Haruhisa Ishida (Japanese: 石田晴久) (30 October 1936 – 9 March 2009) was a Japanese Internet pioneer, information scientist, and university teacher. He was the head of Japan Network Information Center and the Japanese chapter of the Internet Society. Ishida also served as the director of the computer center at the University of Tokyo. He has authored and translated books and authored and co-authored a number of scientific publications.
Kojiro Nakamura (中村 廣治郎, Nakamura Kōjirō; 1936 – 5 December 2023) was a Japanese scholar of Islam. He was professor…
Kojiro Nakamura (中村 廣治郎, Nakamura Kōjirō; 1936 – 5 December 2023) was a Japanese scholar of Islam. He was professor emeritus of Islamic studies at both Tokyo University and Oberlin University. Tokyo University's Department of Islamic Studies was the first such department in Japan, established in 1982 with Nakamura appointed its first professor. Nakamura translated and commented on portions of Al-Ghazali's Revival of Religious Sciences, his most important work, for the Islamic Texts Society in 1992. Much of Nakamura's effort had been spent on analysis of al-Ghazali's works, a number of which Nakamura has translated to the Japanese language. Nakamura's Islam and Modernity also focuses on what he held are four main streams of modern Islamic thought in order to frame Islamic studies within the wider field of religious studies. He also served as a conference chair at the first al-Manar conference organised by Routledge. Nakamura received his PhD from Harvard University in 1970. Nakamura died from a subdural hematoma on 5 December 2023, at the age of 87.
Hiroo Kanamori (金森 博雄, Kanamori Hiroo; born October 17, 1936) is a Japanese seismologist who has made fundamental…
Hiroo Kanamori (金森 博雄, Kanamori Hiroo; born October 17, 1936) is a Japanese seismologist who has made fundamental contributions to understanding the physics of earthquakes and the tectonic processes that cause them.
Miyata Noboru (宮田 登, Miyata Noboru; October 14, 1936 - February 10, 2000) was a Japanese folklorist, and a close…
Miyata Noboru (宮田 登, Miyata Noboru; October 14, 1936 - February 10, 2000) was a Japanese folklorist, and a close collaborator and friend of the historian Amino Yoshihiko.
Makoto Nagao (長尾 真, Nagao Makoto; October 4, 1936 – May 23, 2021) was a Japanese computer scientist. He contributed to…
Makoto Nagao (長尾 真, Nagao Makoto; October 4, 1936 – May 23, 2021) was a Japanese computer scientist. He contributed to various fields: machine translation, natural language processing, pattern recognition, image processing and library science. He was the 23rd president of Kyoto University (1997–2003) and the 14th director of National Diet Library in Japan (2007–2012).
Anton Wicky (アントン・ウィッキー) (born September 26, 1936) is an educator and celebrity in Japan. His full name is Anton Wicky…
Anton Wicky (アントン・ウィッキー) (born September 26, 1936) is an educator and celebrity in Japan. His full name is Anton Wicky Ampalavanar. He was born in Ceylon and went to Japan in 1961 as a Mombusho scholar. In 1969 he earned a doctorate from the University of Tokyo. His teaching career has included Ohu and Reitaku Universities. He began his Nippon Television show Wicky-san's One-point English Conversation in 1979. It ran for fifteen years. The show began again in 2007. Since 2006, Wicky has appeared in commercials for Yellow Hat, a chain of automotive-supply retail stores.
Yoichiro Murakami (村上 陽一郎, Murakami Yōichirō) born in Tokyo, Japan on September 9, 1936, is a Japanese scholar. He…
Yoichiro Murakami (村上 陽一郎, Murakami Yōichirō) born in Tokyo, Japan on September 9, 1936, is a Japanese scholar. He specializes in the areas of history of science and philosophy of science.
Hideki Shirakawa (白川 英樹, Shirakawa Hideki; August 20, 1936 – August 24, 2026) was a Japanese chemist and engineer who…
Hideki Shirakawa (白川 英樹, Shirakawa Hideki; August 20, 1936 – August 24, 2026) was a Japanese chemist and engineer who was Professor Emeritus at the University of Tsukuba and Zhejiang University. He was best known for his discovery of conductive polymers. He was co-recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with Alan MacDiarmid and Alan Heeger.
Haruo Hosoya (Japanese: 細矢 治夫, Hepburn: Hosoya Haruo; born 1936) is a Japanese chemist and emeritus professor of…
Haruo Hosoya (Japanese: 細矢 治夫, Hepburn: Hosoya Haruo; born 1936) is a Japanese chemist and emeritus professor of Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan. He is the namesake of the Hosoya index used in discrete mathematics and computational chemistry.
Adolfo Nicolás Pachón (29 April 1936 – 20 May 2020) was a Spanish Catholic priest who served as the 30th superior…
Adolfo Nicolás Pachón (29 April 1936 – 20 May 2020) was a Spanish Catholic priest who served as the 30th superior general of the Society of Jesus from 2008 to 2016. He previously taught at Sophia University in Tokyo for twenty years and headed educational institutions in Manila from 1978 to 1984 and in Tokyo from 1991 to 1993. He led the Jesuits in Japan from 1993 to 1996 and, after four years of pastoral work in Tokyo, led the Jesuits in Asia from 2004 to 2008. Though elected superior general for life, Nicolás, like his predecessor Peter Hans Kolvenbach, resigned, as the Jesuit constitutions permit.
Kunihiko Fukushima (Japanese: 福島 邦彦, born 16 March 1936) is a Japanese computer scientist, most noted for his work on…
Kunihiko Fukushima (Japanese: 福島 邦彦, born 16 March 1936) is a Japanese computer scientist, most noted for his work on artificial neural networks and deep learning. He is currently working part-time as a senior research scientist at the Fuzzy Logic Systems Institute in Fukuoka, Japan.
Takuo Aoyagi (青柳卓雄, Aoyagi Takuo; February 14, 1936 — April 18, 2020) was a Japanese engineer, known for his work…
Takuo Aoyagi (青柳卓雄, Aoyagi Takuo; February 14, 1936 — April 18, 2020) was a Japanese engineer, known for his work leading to the modern pulse oximeter.
Kazumi Maki (kanji: 真木 和美, kana: まき かずみ Maki Kazumi, January 27, 1936, Takamatsu, Japan – September 10, 2008, Los…
Kazumi Maki (kanji: 真木 和美, kana: まき かずみ Maki Kazumi, January 27, 1936, Takamatsu, Japan – September 10, 2008, Los Angeles) was a Japanese theoretical physicist, known for his research in "superconductivity, superfluid ³He, and quasi‑one‑dimensional (1D) materials."
Shun'ichi Amari (甘利 俊一, Amari Shun'ichi) (born 1936) is a Japanese engineer and neuroscientist, known as a pioneer of…
Shun'ichi Amari (甘利 俊一, Amari Shun'ichi) (born 1936) is a Japanese engineer and neuroscientist, known as a pioneer of information geometry and artificial intelligence.
Chieko Nohno (南野 知恵子, Nōno Chieko; born November 14, 1935) is a Japanese politician. In some English-language Japanese…
Chieko Nohno (南野 知恵子, Nōno Chieko; born November 14, 1935) is a Japanese politician. In some English-language Japanese newspapers her family name is romanized as Noono. She was born in Qiqihar, Manchuria in 1935 and moved to Kagoshima Prefecture at the end of World War II. She graduated from Kagoshima Prefectural Konan High School in 1954 and attended the School of Midwifery attached to the Medical Department of Osaka University. Nohno worked as a nurse for more than thirty years before beginning her political career. She was first elected to the House of Councillors in 1992, and was reelected in 1998 and 2004. In 2001 she served as the Vice Minister for Labor for half a year. She was Minister for Combating Birth Decline and for Gender Equality. Prime Minister Koizumi appointed her Minister of Justice on 27 September 2004. Her selection was somewhat controversial. Her background is in medicine, with no formal legal training. She is only the second woman to serve in the position. The first was Tachiko Nagao, who served for ten months in 1996. Nohno has spoken in favor of immigration and assimilation of immigrants into Japanese society.
Tōru Ohno (大野 徹, Ohno Tōru; 1935 – 7 October 2022) was a Japanese scholar of Burmese. He was an emeritus professor at…
Tōru Ohno (大野 徹, Ohno Tōru; 1935 – 7 October 2022) was a Japanese scholar of Burmese. He was an emeritus professor at the Osaka University of Foreign Studies, where he served for many years as chairman of the Burmese department. He graduated from the same university with a major in the Burmese language. He taught at Osaka University of Foreign Studies from 1965 to 2001, starting his career as an assistant professor.
Mitsuru Hotta (堀田 満, Hotta Mitsuru) (23 July 1935 – 8 July 2015) was a Japanese botanist best known for his research on…
Mitsuru Hotta (堀田 満, Hotta Mitsuru) (23 July 1935 – 8 July 2015) was a Japanese botanist best known for his research on Araceae. Hotta was born in Osaka, Japan in 1935. He graduated from the Agricultural Department of Osaka Prefecture University in 1960. The same year, he took part in the Tonga and Fiji Expedition organised by Kyoto University. Between 1963 and 1964, Hotta made numerous plant collections in Borneo together with Professor Minoru Hirano of Osaka City University.
Ei-ichi Negishi (根岸 英一, Negishi Eiichi; 14 July 1935 – 6 June 2021) was a Japanese chemist who was best known for his…
Ei-ichi Negishi (根岸 英一, Negishi Eiichi; 14 July 1935 – 6 June 2021) was a Japanese chemist who was best known for his discovery of the Negishi coupling. He spent most of his career at Purdue University in the United States, where he was the Herbert C. Brown Distinguished Professor and the director of the Negishi-Brown Institute. He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for palladium catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis" jointly with Richard F. Heck and Akira Suzuki.
Satoshi Ōmura (大村 智, Ōmura Satoshi; [oːmɯɾa saꜜtoɕi]; born 12 July 1935) is a Japanese biochemist. He is known for the…
Satoshi Ōmura (大村 智, Ōmura Satoshi; [oːmɯɾa saꜜtoɕi]; born 12 July 1935) is a Japanese biochemist. He is known for the discovery and development of hundreds of pharmaceuticals originally occurring in microorganisms. In 2015 he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Tu Youyou and with William C. Campbell for their role in the discovery of the world's first endectocide, ivermectin, a safe and highly effective microfilaricide. It is believed that the large molecular size of ivermectin prevents it from crossing the blood/aqueous humour barrier, and renders the drug an important treatment of helminthically-derived blindness.
Eiji Osawa (Japanese: 大澤 映二, Hepburn: Ōsawa Eiji; born June 9, 1935 in Toyama, Japan) is a former professor of…
Eiji Osawa (Japanese: 大澤 映二, Hepburn: Ōsawa Eiji; born June 9, 1935 in Toyama, Japan) is a former professor of computational chemistry, noted for his prediction of the C60 molecule in 1970. Osawa received his Master's of Engineering in chemistry from Kyoto University's Department of Industrial Chemistry and then became an engineer at Teijin Co., Ltd. In 1964, he returned to Kyoto University and earned a Doctorate of Engineering in chemistry under Professor M. Yoshida. After three years of postdoctoral work at the University of Wisconsin, Princeton University, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, in 1970 he became an assistant professor at Hokkaido University. In 1990, Osawa became a full professor at Toyahashi University of Technology, where he retired in 2001. Upon his retirement, assisted by Futaba, Co., Ltd., headquartered in Chiba, Osawa started the research and development company Nano-Carbon Research Institute, Ltd.
Hisako Matsubara (松原 久子, Matsubara Hisako; May 21, 1935 in Kyoto) is a Japanese novelist who has published works in…
Hisako Matsubara (松原 久子, Matsubara Hisako; May 21, 1935 in Kyoto) is a Japanese novelist who has published works in German, English and Japanese. Born as the daughter of a prominent Shinto priest, Matsubara grew up at the Kenkun Shrine in the northern part of Kyoto. She graduated from high school in Kyoto, then attended Tokyo's International Christian University, where she studied comparative religion and literature. After receiving a BA, she moved to the United States to study theater arts at Pennsylvania State University, from which she graduated with a MA. She worked for a while as an editor in the US before moving to Germany in 1962. She lived in Marburg and Göttingen, where she attended the university and perfected her German language skills. She then settled in Cologne, and in 1970, obtained her PhD in philosophy jointly from the Ruhr University of Bochum and the University of Göttingen. In 1967 Matsubara started to write a regular column at the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit. This work turned into a collection of short stories and essays, Blick aus Mandelaugen, 1968, through which she entered the German literary scene. In 1969, Matsubara published a German translation of the ancient Japanese tale Taketori-monogatari. She worked on documentaries of the major German TV stations ARD and ZDF. She published several novels in German (Brokatrausch 1978, Samurai 1979, Glückspforte 1980, Abendkranich 1981, Brückenbogen 1986,Karpfentanz 1994, Himmelszeichen 1998,) which were quite successful in Germany and internationally as well. Her novels are set during recent Japanese history addressing changes in Japanese culture relating to modernization and western influences. Matsubara also wrote non-fiction books (Weg zu Japan 1983, and Raumschiff Japan 1989) highlighting contrasts between Japanese history and European history over the past five centuries. She moved back to the US in the mid 1980s, where she was a scholar at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. In recent years, she has published mostly in Japanese, both fiction and non-fiction. Currently she lives with her family in Los Altos. Hisako Matsubara is a member of the German PEN since 1971 and since 1985 a member of the American Art Directors Club. She received the New York Critics Award in 1985 and in 1987 she was the Writer in residence at the East West Center in Manoa, Hawaii. Matsubara is married to the German solid state physicist Friedemann Freund. Their son, the physicist Minoru Freund (1962-2012), died of brain tumor (glioblastoma) in early 2012. The woodcut artist Naoko Matsubara is her younger sister.
Yukio Takefuta (竹蓋 幸生) (May 20, 1935 – April 30, 2014) was a Japanese English education scholar. Professor Emeritus of…
Yukio Takefuta (竹蓋 幸生) (May 20, 1935 – April 30, 2014) was a Japanese English education scholar. Professor Emeritus of Chiba University, he devoted his life to the study and research of English phonetics, English education, and systems engineering, thus advancing English education in Japanese institutions of higher education. He served as a board member for universities and academic societies. He was awarded the Senior Fourth Rank (Shoshii) and the Order of the Sacred Treasures in 2014 for his notable contributions to the scientific approach to learning. He developed an English education integrated system known as "Three-step Auditory Comprehension Approach" (3 Step System). This system included Computer-assisted Language Learning (CALL) materials based on the concept or system of multilateral feedback. When compared to traditional methods, the learner outcomes for the "Three-step Auditory Comprehension Approach" verified positive learning experiences, resulting in it being used in higher education institutions throughout Japan. Takefuta and three research collaborators were awarded The Japan Association for Language Education & Technology Academic Prize in 2007 for the development, application, and evaluation of the system, "Three-step Auditory Comprehension Approach."
Ikujiro Nonaka (野中 郁次郎, Nonaka Ikujirō; 10 May 1935 – 25 January 2025) was a Japanese organizational theorist and…
Ikujiro Nonaka (野中 郁次郎, Nonaka Ikujirō; 10 May 1935 – 25 January 2025) was a Japanese organizational theorist and Professor at the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy of the Hitotsubashi University. Known for developing the Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation, which explains how organizations generate continuous and sustainable innovation through the creation and conversion of individual, group, and organizational knowledge. He has also been a key figure in the field of knowledge management.
Yuji Ijiri (Japanese: 井尻 雄士, romanized: Ijiri Yūji) (24 February 1935 – 18 January 2017) was a Japanese economist…
Yuji Ijiri (Japanese: 井尻 雄士, romanized: Ijiri Yūji) (24 February 1935 – 18 January 2017) was a Japanese economist, accounting researcher and educator. He was the Robert M. Trueblood University Professor of Accounting and Economics at Carnegie Mellon University until his retirement on June 30, 2011. He is noted in economics and finance for his contributions to research on firm growth and the general field of mathematical economics, and in particular power laws in economics. In accounting, he is known for his proposal of triple-entry accounting. At the age of 21 he became a Certified Public Accountant in Japan, and remains the youngest person to do so. He died of natural causes on 18 January 2017.
Teiichiro Fujita (藤田貞一郎, Fujita Teiichiro) (February 11, 1935 – June 13, 2015) was a Japanese economist and economic…
Teiichiro Fujita (藤田貞一郎, Fujita Teiichiro) (February 11, 1935 – June 13, 2015) was a Japanese economist and economic historian, emeritus professor at Doshisha University, author of books on Japanese economic history and the history of Japanese economic thought. He was born in Pyongyang, Korea, Empire of Japan to Fusasuke Fujita and Sei Fujita née Asaoka. He graduated from Osaka University and in 1967 received his PhD in economics from Osaka University for his research on "Early Modern Economic Thought: The Shogunate System and the Idea of National Interest". He was a lecturer at Matsuyama University, and later became professor at Doshisha University. He published several monographs and articles on the Japanese economic history and the history of Japanese economic thought from early modern (Edo period) until modern (Meiji and Taishō) eras. His research focused on the development of the notion of national economic interest (Kokueki in Japanese) that played a central role in creating the modern nation-state of Japan and the modern political economy of the country. He published also on the history of guilds (Dôgyou kumiai in Japanese) and the market history of fresh foods in modern Japan.