Daisuke Enomoto (榎本 大輔, Enomoto Daisuke; born April 22, 1971, nicknamed Dice-K) is a Japanese businessman and former…
Daisuke Enomoto (榎本 大輔, Enomoto Daisuke; born April 22, 1971, nicknamed Dice-K) is a Japanese businessman and former livedoor executive who hoped to become the fourth space tourist. He had trained at Star City, Moscow in Russia to fly with two members of Expedition 14 on board Soyuz TMA-9, which was launched on September 18, 2006. However, on August 21, 2006, a Russian Federal Space Agency spokesman announced that Enomoto was "deemed not ready to fly for exclusively medical reasons", although he hinted that Enomoto might recover and join a later mission. His replacement on this particular flight was Iranian-American businesswoman Anousheh Ansari. Enomoto lodged a lawsuit against Virginia-based Space Adventures in which he hoped to reclaim the $21 million he paid the company over a two-year span. During the lawsuit, it was revealed that the "medical reason" was chronic kidney stones. Space Adventures claims it advised Enomoto to treat the kidney stones aggressively and when he did not, they had to disqualify him from spaceflight. Enomoto claims that he was misled about the kidney stones issue, and that the real reason for his disqualification was his refusal to provide additional funds to Space Adventures. Enomoto would have been the first self-funded space tourist from Japan and Asia (journalist Toyohiro Akiyama flew on Soyuz TM-11 in 1990, and could be regarded as the first space business traveller). Enomoto's flight would have taken him to the International Space Station (ISS) after lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the world's oldest spaceport. Enomoto made international news when it was revealed that he intended to go into space wearing a costume akin to that of Char Aznable, a character from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam. His planned experiment was to put together one or more Gundam models in zero gravity.
Famous Japanese People: Independent Researcher
Independent Researcher: 59 people
Takamasa Sakurai (櫻井 孝昌, Sakurai Takamasa; December 19, 1965 – December 4, 2015) was a Japanese pop culture and anime…
Takamasa Sakurai (櫻井 孝昌, Sakurai Takamasa; December 19, 1965 – December 4, 2015) was a Japanese pop culture and anime expert. Sakurai was a strong proponent for the promotion of Japanese popular culture internationally as a means of cultural exchange and cultural diplomacy. His projects promoted Japanese anime, fashion and music to a global audience. In 2009, Sakurai co-founded the Ministry of Foreign Affairs's "Kawaii Ambassador" program. He also authored several books on the country's aesthetics and pop culture, including "Sekai Kawaii Kakumei" ("World Cuteness Revolution") and Anime Bunka Gaiko (Anime Cultural Diplomacy). On December 4, 2015, Sakurai was killed when he fell onto the tracks at the Nishi-Nippori Station of the Keihin-Tōhoku Line in Arakawa, Tokyo, around 12:30 a.m. Sakurai, who was 49-years old, may have been intoxicated at the time of the accident. He had lived in the nearby Higashi-Nippon neighborhood of Tokyo.
Kaori Ishibashi (石橋かおりIshibashi Kaori; born May 6, 1962) is a Japanese confectionery researcher, baking instructor, and…
Kaori Ishibashi (石橋かおりIshibashi Kaori; born May 6, 1962) is a Japanese confectionery researcher, baking instructor, and author known for her specialty in cheesecakes. She has written 48 baking cookbooks and over 400 cheesecake recipes.
Yukari Fujimoto (藤本 由香里, Fujimoto Yukari) is a manga researcher and professor of global Japanese studies at Meiji…
Yukari Fujimoto (藤本 由香里, Fujimoto Yukari) is a manga researcher and professor of global Japanese studies at Meiji University. She was born in Kumamoto Prefecture. She was an editor for Chikuma Shobō. She is a manga critic, gender theorist, author, and liberal feminist. She is a member of the Agency for Cultural Affairs awards selection committee. She is also a member of the Japanese National Diet Library legal deposit deliberation committee.
Hinako Sugiura (杉浦日向子, Sugiura Hinako; November 30, 1958 – July 22, 2005) was a Japanese manga artist and researcher in…
Hinako Sugiura (杉浦日向子, Sugiura Hinako; November 30, 1958 – July 22, 2005) was a Japanese manga artist and researcher in the lifestyles and customs of Japan's Edo period.
Ryūsuke Hikawa (氷川竜介, Hikawa Ryūsuke) (born 1958 in Himeji) is a Japanese anime critic and writer.
Junko Mitsuhashi (三橋 順子, Mitsuhashi Junko; born May 23, 1955) is a Japanese social and cultural historian. She…
Junko Mitsuhashi (三橋 順子, Mitsuhashi Junko; born May 23, 1955) is a Japanese social and cultural historian. She specializes in the history of gender and sexuality, with a particular focus on the social and cultural history of transgender people in Japan. Mitsuhashi is recognized as the first transgender lecturer at a Japanese university.
Christopher Yohmei Blasdel (クリストファー遙盟, born 1951 in Canyon, Texas) is a shakuhachi performer, researcher and writer…
Christopher Yohmei Blasdel (クリストファー遙盟, born 1951 in Canyon, Texas) is a shakuhachi performer, researcher and writer specializing in the music of Japan and Asia. He studied under well known masters, holds a 5th-degree black belt in Aikido, and has made significant contributions to the promotion of Japanese music globally through performances, teaching, and publications in both English and Japanese. Blasdel's work has been recognized with awards, including the Sixth Rennyo Prize for Non-Fiction.
Makoto Tonami (戸並 誠, Tonami Makoto; born September 18, 1948), also known as Mac Akasaka (マック 赤坂, Makku Akasaka), is a…
Makoto Tonami (戸並 誠, Tonami Makoto; born September 18, 1948), also known as Mac Akasaka (マック 赤坂, Makku Akasaka), is a Japanese businessman, retired politician and activist and former perennial candidate.
Hiroshi Aramata (荒俣 宏, Aramata Hiroshi; born July 12, 1947) is a Japanese author, polymath, critic, translator and…
Hiroshi Aramata (荒俣 宏, Aramata Hiroshi; born July 12, 1947) is a Japanese author, polymath, critic, translator and specialist in natural history, iconography and cartography. His most popular novel was Teito Monogatari (Tale of the Capitol), which has sold over 5 million copies in Japan alone.
Noritsugu Oda (織田憲嗣, born 1946) is a Japanese author and illustrator from Kōchi Prefecture. He graduated from Osaka…
Noritsugu Oda (織田憲嗣, born 1946) is a Japanese author and illustrator from Kōchi Prefecture. He graduated from Osaka University of Arts as a professional illustrator. Until recently he lectured at the Tokai University in Asahikawa, Hokkaidō. He is thought to have the world's largest private collection of Finn Juhl chairs. He has published several books on chairs and design, among these Danish Chairs, Hans J. Wegner's 100 Chairs and Finn Juhl.
Jun'ya Yokota (横田順彌, Yokota Jun'ya; 11 November 1945 - 4 January 2019) was a Japanese science fiction writer and a…
Jun'ya Yokota (横田順彌, Yokota Jun'ya; 11 November 1945 - 4 January 2019) was a Japanese science fiction writer and a researcher of Meiji era cultural history. He is the winner of multiple Taisho Awards, the Ozaki Memorial Prize, and the Mystery Writers of Japan Award. He also used the pseudonyms 横田順弥 (same pronunciation) and Jun Masaki (真木じゅん, Masaki Jun).
Kenichi Ara (阿羅 健一, Ara Kenichi; born February 9, 1944) is a Japanese political commentator and researcher on modern…
Kenichi Ara (阿羅 健一, Ara Kenichi; born February 9, 1944) is a Japanese political commentator and researcher on modern history. Until the 1980s, he used the pen name Hideo Hatakenaka. He is associated with the far-right and has participated in a number of organizations to promote far-right causes. Currently he is chairman of the Chūgoku no Kōnichi Kinenkan no Futō na Shashin no Tekkyo o Motomeru Kokumin no Kai, which seeks the removal of "inappropriate photographs" from war museums in China, and is advisor to both the Tamogami Ronbun to Jieikan no Meiyo o Kangaeru Kai, which supports Toshio Tamogami, and the ultranationalist Shuken Kaifuku o Mezasu Kai. He was born in Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture and is a graduate of Sendai Niko High School and the Faculty of Literature at Tohoku University. He worked at King Records from the spring of 1966 but retired around the age of 40.
Akiko Kumai (熊井明子, Kumai Akiko; June 11, 1940 – September 21, 2024) was a Japanese writer and researcher focusing on…
Akiko Kumai (熊井明子, Kumai Akiko; June 11, 1940 – September 21, 2024) was a Japanese writer and researcher focusing on potpourri, known for introducing the fragrant decoration to Japan. She was married to the Japanese film director Kei Kumai.
Masayoshi Mitani (見谷 昌禧, born January 5, 1938) is a retired Japanese alpine skier. He competed in the downhill, slalom…
Masayoshi Mitani (見谷 昌禧, born January 5, 1938) is a retired Japanese alpine skier. He competed in the downhill, slalom and giant slalom events at the 1960 Winter Olympics with the best result of 33rd place in the giant slalom. While preparing for the 1964 Winter Olympics, Mitani suffered a serious head injury, which left him bedridden for 3 months and forced him to retire from competitions. After graduating from Waseda University, Mitani joined Tokyu Corporation and was transferred to the affiliated Hakuba Tourism Development. He then returned to Waseda University to work as a skiing coach and researcher. In 1969 he became head coach of the national alpine skiing team, and prepared it to the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. After the Olympics, he worked at a ski school and provided commentaries and reports on major international skiing competitions.
Shigeaki Mori (森 重昭, Mori Shigeaki; March 29, 1937 – March 14, 2026) was a Japanese historian from Hiroshima and a…
Shigeaki Mori (森 重昭, Mori Shigeaki; March 29, 1937 – March 14, 2026) was a Japanese historian from Hiroshima and a survivor of its atomic bombing. He is known for his research into Allied prisoners of war who died during the air raids on Japan. His hug with U.S. President Barack Obama during the president's visit to Hiroshima in 2016 was reported in multiple countries.
Takashi Yamaguchi (Japanese: 山口崇; 17 November 1936 – 18 April 2025) was a Japanese actor.
Jirō Tsunoda (Japanese: つのだじろう Tsunoda Jirō, born 3 July 1936) is a Japanese manga artist. He is known in Japan for his…
Jirō Tsunoda (Japanese: つのだじろう Tsunoda Jirō, born 3 July 1936) is a Japanese manga artist. He is known in Japan for his horror manga series such as Kyōfu Shinbun and Ushiro no Hyakutarō as well as illustrator of the karate series Karate Master.
Tadatoshi Miyagawa (水谷川忠俊, Miyagawa Tadatoshi; born 9 December 1935) is a Japanese composer, a Gagaku performer and…
Tadatoshi Miyagawa (水谷川忠俊, Miyagawa Tadatoshi; born 9 December 1935) is a Japanese composer, a Gagaku performer and researcher, as well as a music arranger. His former last and first name was Konoe Toshitake (近衛俊健). He is a 13th generation Patrilinear descendant, also known as the male line, of Emperor Go-Yōzei, Emperor of Japan.
Masanori Hata (畑 正憲, Hata Masanori; 17 April 1935 – 5 April 2023) was a Japanese zoologist, essayist, and filmmaker. A…
Masanori Hata (畑 正憲, Hata Masanori; 17 April 1935 – 5 April 2023) was a Japanese zoologist, essayist, and filmmaker. A popular essayist under the pen name Mutsugorō, he was awarded the Kikuchi Kan Prize for his writing in 1977. He was perhaps best known in the West as the director and screenwriter of the 1986 film The Adventures of Milo and Otis.
Akira Nakamura (中村 粲, Nakamura Akira; 24 April 1934 – 23 June 2010) was a Japanese academic of English literature and…
Akira Nakamura (中村 粲, Nakamura Akira; 24 April 1934 – 23 June 2010) was a Japanese academic of English literature and self-trained historian specialising in Japan's wartime role in the first half of the 20th century. Born in Tokyo, Nakamura studied English literature and graduated from University of Tokyo in March 1959. He worked as a senior high school teacher of English until he clashed with the school principal. From April 1964 onwards he lectured at the newly founded Dokkyo University on a full-time basis until his retirement in March 2005 to become an emeritus professor. A representative of Showa History Research Institute, he frequently joined controversies surrounding Japan's wartime past, particularly the denialism or minimization of the Nanking Massacre of 1937–38. He completely rejected the Chinese government's claim of 300,000 death toll as mere propaganda, giving his own estimate of around 10,000 deaths. He was also a supporter of the film The Truth About Nanjing, containing apologism for Japan's wartime past, and which denied the existence of the Nanking Massacre. He detested what he viewed as "left leaning" mass media, especially The Asahi Shimbun newspaper and NHK public broadcasting organisation.
Fujio Ishihara (石原藤夫, Ishihara Fujio; born in Tokyo in 1933) is a former professor of electronics at Tamagawa…
Fujio Ishihara (石原藤夫, Ishihara Fujio; born in Tokyo in 1933) is a former professor of electronics at Tamagawa University, and a Japanese science fiction author. He graduated Waseda University with a degree in electronics. He made his science fiction debut in 1965. During the 1970s and 1980s he has been an active hard SF advocate. In the first half of the 1980s, he coined the term "Kōseiki Sekai" (光世紀世界, Light Century Universe), defined as the sphere with a diameter of 100 light years (within 50 light years radius from the Sun). He also edited Kōseiki Seihyō (光世紀星表, Light Century Catalogue), the star catalogue of Light Century Universe (738 stars had been known at the time, include the Sun). Also he is known for bibliographies of Japanese science fiction. He received the Seiun Award best non-fiction book in 1985 for Kōseiki no Sekai, and Nihon SF Taisho Award special award in 1991 for his bibliography works.
Goro Hasegawa (19 October 1932 – 20 June 2016) was a Japanese game designer known for creating the board game Othello.
Yoshiaki Itakura (板倉 由明, Itakura Yoshiaki; 1932–1999) was a Japanese businessman and researcher of military history…
Yoshiaki Itakura (板倉 由明, Itakura Yoshiaki; 1932–1999) was a Japanese businessman and researcher of military history born in Kanagawa Prefecture. He is most well known for his research and denial on the Nanjing Massacre and was a member of a committee assembled by Kaikosha to study the incident. He graduated from the faculty of engineering at Yokohama National University and was manager of Itakura factories. In addition to his business, he wrote and spoke on military history, the Japanese history textbook controversies, the comfort women, and especially the Nanjing Massacre. He estimated that 10,000 to 20,000 Chinese were massacred in Nanjing and consistently criticized advocates of the great massacre school such as those who accepted the line of the Chinese government that 300,000 had been murdered. Itakura was on good terms with the historian Ikuhiko Hata while still publicly arguing with him. He was also a friend of Masaaki Tanaka though he had exposed his fraudulent tampering of the diary of Iwane Matsui. Itakura died of liver failure in 1999.
Miyozo Yamazaki (山崎 三四造, Yamazaki Myōzō; born 1931) is an amateur archaeologist in Japan. He reenacted the Jōmon period…
Miyozo Yamazaki (山崎 三四造, Yamazaki Myōzō; born 1931) is an amateur archaeologist in Japan. He reenacted the Jōmon period (the Stone Age in Japan) for 20 years. He is well known in Japan since the mass media introduced his Jōmon life. He is now compiling a memoir of his Jōmon life. He established a private museum of the Jōmon period at Tsu, Mie Prefecture.
Takumi Shibano (柴野 拓美, Shibano Takumi; October 27, 1926 – January 16, 2010) was a Japanese science-fiction translator…
Takumi Shibano (柴野 拓美, Shibano Takumi; October 27, 1926 – January 16, 2010) was a Japanese science-fiction translator and author. He was a major figure in fandom in Japan and contributed to establishing the Japanese science fiction genre. A native of Kanazawa, Ishikawa, in 1957 Takumi started Japan's first successful science fiction fanzine Uchūjin initially published monthly; many contributors to the fanzine later became pro, including Shin'ichi Hoshi, Sakyo Komatsu, Ryu Mitsuse and Yasutaka Tsutsui, and formed the first generation of modern Japanese science fiction authors. Shibano was the chair of Japan's first science fiction convention in 1962, as well as the second (1963), fourth (1965) and sixth (1967). He worked on the formation of the Federation of SF Fan Groups of Japan, founded in 1965, and served as its chair from 1966 through 1970. After leaving his job as a high-school mathematics teacher in 1977, he became a full-time writer and translator. Under the pen-name Rei Kozumi (小隅 黎, Kozumi Rei), a play on "cosmic ray," he translated as many as sixty science fiction novels from English into Japanese, including E. E. Smith's Lensman series and Larry Niven's Known Space series. Also as Rei Kozumi, he wrote three children's books, Superhuman ‘Plus X’ (1969), Operation Moonjet (1969), and Revolt in North Pole City (1977), and was also principal author of The World of Popular Literature (1978). In 1968 a fan fund paid for him to attend Worldcon for the first time, and after 1979 he attended most of the Worldcons and served as the presenter of the Seiun Award. He received the E. E. Evans Big Heart Award in 1986 and a Worldcon Special Award at the 51st World Science Fiction Convention in 1993. He was the Fan Guest of Honor of the 54th World Science Fiction Convention in 1996 and the 65th World Science Fiction Convention in 2007. Nihon SF Taisho Award Special Prize, Seiun Award Special Prize, Tokyo Anime Award Award of Merit were awarded posthumously for his lifetime achievement.
Takehiko Furuta (August 8, 1926 – October 14, 2015) was a Japanese history of ideas scholar, ancient history…
Takehiko Furuta (August 8, 1926 – October 14, 2015) was a Japanese history of ideas scholar, ancient history fabricator, conspiracy theorist, and former professor at Showa Pharmaceutical University. He specialized in Shinran and other medieval Japanese philosophical history and conspiracy theory. He proposed the highly controversial Kyushu dynasty theory, to little academic acclaim.
Toshimichi Takatsukasa (鷹司 平通, Takatsukasa Toshimichi; 26 August 1923 – 27 January 1966), son of Prince Nobusuke, was a…
Toshimichi Takatsukasa (鷹司 平通, Takatsukasa Toshimichi; 26 August 1923 – 27 January 1966), son of Prince Nobusuke, was a Japanese researcher of railways and trains.
Eiji Hamano (浜野 栄次, Hamano Eiji; 1923–1992) was a renowned Japanese photographer.
Tetsurō Tamba (Japanese: 丹波 哲郎, Hepburn: Tanba Tetsurō), born Shozaburo Tanba (丹波 正三郎, Tanba Shōzaburō; July 17, 1922 –…
Tetsurō Tamba (Japanese: 丹波 哲郎, Hepburn: Tanba Tetsurō), born Shozaburo Tanba (丹波 正三郎, Tanba Shōzaburō; July 17, 1922 – September 24, 2006), was a Japanese actor with a career spanning five decades. He appeared in nearly 300 film and television productions, both in leading and supporting roles, and was the winner of the 1981 Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Supporting Actor. At the height of his career, he was one of Japan's most esteemed and prolific leading men, and worked with many significant directors including Kinji Fukasaku, Shōhei Imamura, Masaki Kobayashi, Masahiro Shinoda and Takashi Miike. Several of his films were identified with the Japanese New Wave movement. He also appeared in several international films, notably as Japanese secret service chief Tiger Tanaka in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice. Later in his life, Tamba became known for his well-publicized interest in psychic phenomena, publishing several books on the subject and acting as a spokesperson for the Risshō Kōsei Kai new religious movement. He continued acting until 2006, when he died of pneumonia.
Hideo Haga (芳賀 日出男 Haga Hideo, 10 September 1921 – 12 November 2022) was a Japanese photographer, known for his…
Hideo Haga (芳賀 日出男 Haga Hideo, 10 September 1921 – 12 November 2022) was a Japanese photographer, known for his photography of traditional Japanese festivals and folk culture.
Tal-su Kim (金達寿、キム・タルス/キムダルス、김달수, Kimu Darusu/Tarusu) was a Korea-born, Japan-raised writer. He is considered the…
Tal-su Kim (金達寿、キム・タルス/キムダルス、김달수, Kimu Darusu/Tarusu) was a Korea-born, Japan-raised writer. He is considered the "founding father" of Resident Korean literature. He was born in Masanhoewon-gu. Although he spent most of his life in Japan, many of his literary works are set in Korea and explore the injustices of colonial rule and its painful aftermath.
Major Shizuo Fukui (福井 静夫, Fukui Shizuo; 1913-1993) was a Japanese author, photographer, editor, and Imperial Japanese…
Major Shizuo Fukui (福井 静夫, Fukui Shizuo; 1913-1993) was a Japanese author, photographer, editor, and Imperial Japanese Naval and Japanese Coast Guard officer with the rank of lieutenant commander. He was most famous for his comprehensive books of all combatant vessels and minor miscellaneous vessels in the Japanese Navy during World War II and postwar Japan. His third son Takeo Fukui was President of Honda R&D and Honda.
Haruhiko Kindaichi (金田一 春彦, Kindaichi Haruhiko; 1913–2004) was a Japanese linguist and a scholar of Japanese…
Haruhiko Kindaichi (金田一 春彦, Kindaichi Haruhiko; 1913–2004) was a Japanese linguist and a scholar of Japanese linguistics (国語学, kokugogaku). He was well known as an editor of Japanese dictionaries and his research in Japanese dialects and accents. He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun for his efforts. He was awarded a Doctor of Literature degree at Tokyo University in 1962. He was given official commendation as someone who has performed special service in the field of culture and an honorary citizen of the Tokyo Metropolitan District.
Masaaki Tanaka (田中 正明, Tanaka Masaaki) (February 11, 1911 – January 8, 2006) was a Japanese author notable for his book…
Masaaki Tanaka (田中 正明, Tanaka Masaaki) (February 11, 1911 – January 8, 2006) was a Japanese author notable for his book What Really Happened in Nanking: The Refutation of a Common Myth, which denies that the Nanjing Massacre as traditionally understood took place. Originally written in Japanese in 1987, an English version was published in 2000 in response to Iris Chang's book, The Rape of Nanking.
Lieutenant Colonel Inaba Masao (稲葉 正夫, Inaba Masao; May 1, 1908 - October 10, 1973) was a Japanese officer during World…
Lieutenant Colonel Inaba Masao (稲葉 正夫, Inaba Masao; May 1, 1908 - October 10, 1973) was a Japanese officer during World War II of the Military Affairs Bureau. In 1945, after the Emperor and his ministers were seeking to surrender, he urged Korechika Anami, the War Minister, that the soldiers be told to keep fighting, especially with the Soviet Union massing its forces. He prepared a statement urging soldiers to fight to the bitter end, without reference to surrender. Two lieutenant colonels, one of them Masahiko Takeshita, came to tell him that the Cabinet was about to issue a statement hinting at surrender, and they hastened to broadcast his message without Anami's approval. The Director of the Information Bureau, Hiroshi Shimomura, concluded that without its broadcast, Anami might be assassinated by younger officers, and so broadcast it. This caused consternation in the government, which feared that his statement would provoke a third atomic bomb, and arranged for the message to be sent as a news broadcast, in English and Morse code, to escape military censors and so arrive in time. When the Kyūjō Incident was plotted, to prevent the emperor's declaration of surrender from being broadcast, Inaba refused to join the conspiracy and told the conspirators that the attempt was useless.
Sensui Shoji (Japanese: 庄司 浅水, Hepburn: Shōji Sensui; 10 November 1903 – 7 September 1991) was a Japanese bibliophile…
Sensui Shoji (Japanese: 庄司 浅水, Hepburn: Shōji Sensui; 10 November 1903 – 7 September 1991) was a Japanese bibliophile and author. He wrote and translated over 100 books and articles, mainly on the history of Japanese and Western literature, but also in the area of the supernatural.
Kyūya Fukada (深田 久弥, Fukada Kyūya; 11 March 1903 – 21 March 1971) was a Japanese writer and mountaineer active during…
Kyūya Fukada (深田 久弥, Fukada Kyūya; 11 March 1903 – 21 March 1971) was a Japanese writer and mountaineer active during the Shōwa period in Japan.
Mirei Shigemori (重森三玲, Shigemori Mirei; 1896–1975), was a Japanese landscape architect and historian of Japanese…
Mirei Shigemori (重森三玲, Shigemori Mirei; 1896–1975), was a Japanese landscape architect and historian of Japanese gardens.
Sosaku Kobayashi (小林 宗作; 15 June, 1893 – 8 February, 1963) was a Japanese eurhythmics and early childhood education…
Sosaku Kobayashi (小林 宗作; 15 June, 1893 – 8 February, 1963) was a Japanese eurhythmics and early childhood education researcher and schoolteacher. He was responsible for popularizing eurhythmics in Japanese early childhood education, and he is also known as the headmaster of the innovative elementary school Tomoe Gakuen.
Yamakawa Kikue (山川菊栄; November 3, 1890 – November 2, 1980) was a Japanese essayist, activist, and socialist feminist…
Yamakawa Kikue (山川菊栄; November 3, 1890 – November 2, 1980) was a Japanese essayist, activist, and socialist feminist who contributed to the development of feminism in modern Japan. Born into a highly-educated family of the former samurai class, Yamakawa graduated from the private women's college Joshi Eigaku Juku (renamed Tsuda College in 1948) in 1912. In 1916, she married the communist activist and theoretician Yamakawa Hitoshi, who, in 1922, founded the short-lived pre-war Japanese Communist Party and was a leader of the Labor-Farmer faction. In pre-war times, Yamakawa contributed to the development of feminism as a founding member of the Red Wave Society (Sekirankai), Japan's first socialist women's organization, and she was one of the most visible socialist women. She is famous for "her position in debates on prostitution and motherhood, in which she consistently challenged liberal feminists (who she termed 'bourgeois feminists') on the possibility of women achieving full rights within a capitalist system". While Yamakawa is perhaps better known for these debates, "her participation in male-dominant socialist organizations and her interventionist writings on behalf of women within those organizations, directed toward her male socialist peers, were equally substantial". After the end of World War II, Yamakawa became the first head of the Women's and Minors' Bureau of the Ministry of Labor from 1947 to 1951. In addition, she engaged in activism for women's and workers' rights.
Kosakai Mitsuji (Japanese: 小酒井 光次, 8 October 1890 – 1 April 1929), better known by the pen name Kosakai Fuboku…
Kosakai Mitsuji (Japanese: 小酒井 光次, 8 October 1890 – 1 April 1929), better known by the pen name Kosakai Fuboku (Japanese: 小酒井 不木), was a Japanese medical scientist and crime writer. A variant of the family name Kosakai is Kozakai.
Captain Koreshige Inuzuka (犬塚 惟重, Inuzuka Koreshige; 11 July 1890 – 19 February 1965) was the head of the Japanese…
Captain Koreshige Inuzuka (犬塚 惟重, Inuzuka Koreshige; 11 July 1890 – 19 February 1965) was the head of the Japanese Imperial Navy's Advisory Bureau on Jewish Affairs from March 1939 until April 1942. Unlike his Imperial Japanese Army counterpart, Colonel Yasue Norihiro, he believed strongly in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion; these beliefs led him to think that attracting Jews to settle in Japanese-controlled Asia was in the Empire of Japan's best interests.
Kanoko Okamoto (岡本 かの子, Okamoto Kanoko; 1 March 1889 – 18 February 1939) was the pen-name of Kano Ōnuki (大貫 カノ, Ōnuki…
Kanoko Okamoto (岡本 かの子, Okamoto Kanoko; 1 March 1889 – 18 February 1939) was the pen-name of Kano Ōnuki (大貫 カノ, Ōnuki Kano), a Japanese author, tanka poet, and Buddhist scholar active during the Taishō and early Shōwa periods.
Masao Mimatsu (三松正夫; 9 July 1888 – 8 December 1977) was a Japanese postmaster who recorded the growth of the…
Masao Mimatsu (三松正夫; 9 July 1888 – 8 December 1977) was a Japanese postmaster who recorded the growth of the Shōwa-shinzan mountain in 1944–1945. On 31 December 1943, Shōwa-shinzan began forming from rapid uplifting of a wheat field as a result of a sudden earthquake. This seismic event would eventually change into volcanic activity and result in the eruption of Mount Usu in 1944. Due to the Japanese war effort, basic scientific materials were unavailable. However, Mimatsu, the postmaster of Sobetsu-cho, recorded measurements and drew diagrams of the rising mountain on paper. The story goes that in 1946, in order to study the volcano more thoroughly, he bought up the land using all of his savings and became owner of the volcano. A conflicting story described in Time on Monday, 4 July 1949 indicates this purchase to be around 1944, and to have happened as a result of pressure from the villagers of Fukaba. Whatever the reasons, what Mimatsu gleaned from his "pet volcano" would be the basis for much understanding in years to come. Despite his amateur status, when he presented his data and sketches to the World Volcano Conference in Oslo in 1948, his work was praised by professional volcanologists. His papers were referred to as the "Mimatsu Diagram" (ja) and for them he received the First Hokkaido Cultural Award. In 1977, he was able to witness the third eruption of Mt. Usu in his lifetime. However, he died of illness on December 8 of the same year without being able to witness the end of the eruptive event. He is now honoured by a statue at the base of Usuzan, and his work is celebrated in the Mimatsu Masao Memorial Hall near the site of Shōwa-shinzan.
Vice-Admiral Masaichi Niimi (新見 政一, Niimi Masaichi; 4 February 1887 – 2 April 1993) was an admiral in the Imperial…
Vice-Admiral Masaichi Niimi (新見 政一, Niimi Masaichi; 4 February 1887 – 2 April 1993) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Kizen Sasaki (佐々木喜善, Sasaki Kizen), also sometimes Sun-Hee Sasaki and Kyōseki Sasaki (5 October 1886 – 29 September…
Kizen Sasaki (佐々木喜善, Sasaki Kizen), also sometimes Sun-Hee Sasaki and Kyōseki Sasaki (5 October 1886 – 29 September 1933), was a Japanese folklorist, sometimes known as the Japanese Grimm.
Okamoto Ippei (岡本 一平) (June 11, 1886 – October 11, 1948) was a Japanese illustrator, cartoonist, and writer.
Mokutarō Kinoshita (木下 杢太郎, Kinoshita Mokutarō; August 1, 1885 – October 15, 1945) was the pen-name of a Japanese…
Mokutarō Kinoshita (木下 杢太郎, Kinoshita Mokutarō; August 1, 1885 – October 15, 1945) was the pen-name of a Japanese author, dramaturge, poet, art historian and literary critic, as well as a licensed doctor specializing in dermatology during Taishō and early Shōwa period Japan. His other pen names included Hori Kason (堀花村), Chika Isshakusei (地下一尺生), Sōnan (葱南) and others. As professor of dermatology and a noted leprosy researcher, he served at four universities (South Manchuria Medical College, Aichi Medical College, Tohoku Imperial University, Tokyo Imperial University).
Mitsutarō Yamaoka (Japanese: 山岡光太郎; 7 March 1880 – 23 September 1959), also known as Umar Yamaoka (Japanese: ウマル・ヤマオカ)…
Mitsutarō Yamaoka (Japanese: 山岡光太郎; 7 March 1880 – 23 September 1959), also known as Umar Yamaoka (Japanese: ウマル・ヤマオカ) was a Japanese Islamic scholar known for being the first known Japanese pilgrim to Mecca.