Keiji Yamada (山田 啓二, Yamada Keiji; born 5 April 1954) is a Japanese politician and former Governor of Kyoto Prefecture.…
Keiji Yamada (山田 啓二, Yamada Keiji; born 5 April 1954) is a Japanese politician and former Governor of Kyoto Prefecture. A native of Hyōgo Prefecture and 1977 graduate of the University of Tokyo, he had worked at the Ministry of Home Affairs since 1977 and served as the vice governor of Kyoto Prefecture before elected governor for the first time in 2002. In 2011 he also took over from Wataru Asō as President of the National Governors Association. Yamada ended his 16-year tenure as governor in April 2018. While stating that he had accomplished his goals in office, Yamada was believed to be preparing for a run in the 2019 House of Councillors election.
Famous People Born on April 5
April 5: 77 people
Michiko Kihara (木原 美知子, Kihara Michiko; April 5, 1948 – October 18, 2007) was a Japanese swimmer and TV actress. She…
Michiko Kihara (木原 美知子, Kihara Michiko; April 5, 1948 – October 18, 2007) was a Japanese swimmer and TV actress. She competed at the 1964 Olympics in the 100 m backstroke, 4 × 100 m freestyle relay and 4 × 100 m medley relay and finished fourth in the medley relay. After retiring from swimming, Kihara became a model, businesswoman and TV actress, playing in several Japanese TV series in the 1970s–80s. In 2005, she was appointed as director of the Japan Swimming Federation. She died of subarachnoid hemorrhage at age 59.
Sachiko Fukunaka (福中 佐知子, Fukunaka Sachiko; born April 5, 1946) is a female Japanese former volleyball player who…
Sachiko Fukunaka (福中 佐知子, Fukunaka Sachiko; born April 5, 1946) is a female Japanese former volleyball player who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics. She was born in Chiba Prefecture. In 1968 she was part of the Japanese team which won the silver medal in the Olympic tournament. She played all seven matches.
Takuro Yoshida (吉田 拓郎, Yoshida Takurō) is a Japanese male singer-songwriter. He was born on April 5, 1946, in Okuchi…
Takuro Yoshida (吉田 拓郎, Yoshida Takurō) is a Japanese male singer-songwriter. He was born on April 5, 1946, in Okuchi, Kagoshima, and raised in Hiroshima. He made his debut with the single "Imeji no Uta / Mark II" on June 1, 1970. His 1972 recording of "Tabi no Yado" sold over one million copies by September that year, and was awarded a gold disc. He established the record company "For Life Records" with Yosui Inoue, Shigeru Izumiya, and Hitoshi Komuro in 1975. Yoshida is a musician whose songs have been used as theme songs in television series such as Jun (純) , the theme song of Cromartie High School, as well as being covered by another popular artists like Hirakawachi 1-chome (Yoshida's "Natsu Yasumi"), KinKi Kids (Yoshida's "Zenbu Dakishimete").
Hiroyuki Hosoda (細田 博之, Hosoda Hiroyuki; 5 April 1944 – 10 November 2023) was a Japanese politician who served as the…
Hiroyuki Hosoda (細田 博之, Hosoda Hiroyuki; 5 April 1944 – 10 November 2023) was a Japanese politician who served as the speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan from November 2021 to October 2023. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1990, and served as Chief Cabinet Secretary in Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet from 2004 to 2005, and as Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2008 to 2009.
Shingo Haketa (羽毛田 信吾, Haketa Shingo; born 5 April 1942) is a Japanese bureaucrat. He served as Grand Steward of the…
Shingo Haketa (羽毛田 信吾, Haketa Shingo; born 5 April 1942) is a Japanese bureaucrat. He served as Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency from 1 April 2005 to 1 June 2012. Appointed by Prime Minister Junichirō Koizumi, a promoter of absolute primogeniture, Haketa is known as a supporter of the report submitted by the Advisory Council on Imperial Household Act, recommending absolute primogeniture. He criticized Prince Tomohito of Mikasa for his comment that agnatic primogeniture should be kept, and requested the members of the Imperial House to refrain from expressing their opinions on the succession. Right after the birth of Prince Hisahito of Akishino, he commented that the newborn prince would not solve the succession crisis, and insisted that the law be changed. In November 2011, he held a meeting with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to discuss the possibility for allowing women to head branches of the Imperial House (rather than losing imperial status upon marriage), in order to replenish the number of imperial members who can help fulfill the court-related duties. He had worked at the Ministry of Health until he was installed as Vice-Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency in 2001. Among his senior colleagues at the Ministry of Health was Teijiro Furukawa, a member of the Advisory Council on the Imperial Household Law. Haketa announced his retirement effective 1 June 2012, and was replaced by Noriyuki Kazaoka.
Eiji Bandō (板東 英二, Bandō Eiji; April 5, 1940 – July 22, 2026) was a Japanese television entertainer, baseball player…
Eiji Bandō (板東 英二, Bandō Eiji; April 5, 1940 – July 22, 2026) was a Japanese television entertainer, baseball player and YouTuber. He pitched many innings in his high school career. The Japan High School Baseball Federation was afraid that he would injure his arm, so they set a new rematch rule in 1958. However, he pitched 18 innings in a 1958 quarterfinal game, which resulted in the first rematch in the National High School Baseball Championship. He reached the final, but did not win. His record of 83 strikeouts in the tournament remains unbroken. He joined Chunichi Dragons but it is said that he did not regain his pitching strength. He could not extend his elbow even then. Bandō died from chronic heart failure on July 22, 2026, at the age of 86.
Yoshiko Shiotani (潮谷 義子, Shiotani Yoshiko; born 5 April 1939) is a Japanese former politician who served as the…
Yoshiko Shiotani (潮谷 義子, Shiotani Yoshiko; born 5 April 1939) is a Japanese former politician who served as the governor of Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan from 2001 to 2009. She was Kumamoto's first female governor and the second in Japanese history. She is a member of the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Manabu Koga (5 April 1935 – 18 May 1974) was a Japanese freestyle swimmer who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics.
Shigeharu Suzuki (鈴木 重晴, Suzuki Shigeharu; 5 April 1934 – 27 February 2012) was a Japanese sprinter. He competed in the…
Shigeharu Suzuki (鈴木 重晴, Suzuki Shigeharu; 5 April 1934 – 27 February 2012) was a Japanese sprinter. He competed in the men's 800 metres and the men's 4 × 400 metres relay events at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He served as the coach for the Waseda University track and field team for 19 years starting in 1984.
Hideshi Miyake (三宅 秀史, Miyake Hideshi; April 5, 1934 – March 3, 2021) was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball third…
Hideshi Miyake (三宅 秀史, Miyake Hideshi; April 5, 1934 – March 3, 2021) was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball third baseman and second baseman. He played for the Osaka/Hanshin Tigers from 1953 to 1967.
Motoo Fujii (藤井 基男, Fujii Motoo) is a former international table tennis player from Japan. He won a bronze medal at the…
Motoo Fujii (藤井 基男, Fujii Motoo) is a former international table tennis player from Japan. He won a bronze medal at the 1956 World Table Tennis Championships in the mixed doubles with Yoshiko Tanaka.
Kano Yukimitsu (27 March 1932 – 8 March 2020) was a senior administrator in judo, and was the fourth president of the…
Kano Yukimitsu (27 March 1932 – 8 March 2020) was a senior administrator in judo, and was the fourth president of the Kodokan and the President of the All Japan Judo Federation. He was the son of Kano Risei and grandson of the founder of Judo Kano Jigoro. He served from 1980 to 1995 as the President of the Judo Union of Asia. He was an advocate of Kodokan Judo over the International Judo Federation. On 9 March 2020, it was reported that he died at the age of 87.
Yasuo Segawa (瀬川 康男, Segawa Yasuo; 5 April 1932 – 18 February 2010) was a Japanese illustrator for children's books…
Yasuo Segawa (瀬川 康男, Segawa Yasuo; 5 April 1932 – 18 February 2010) was a Japanese illustrator for children's books, born in Okazaki, Aichi. He won the first grand prize in Biennial of Illustration Bratislava in 1967 for Taro and the Bamboo Shoot (ふしぎな たけのこ, Fushigina Takenoko) written by Masako Matsuno. Segawa died on 18 October 2010 of rectal cancer at a hospital in Obuse, Nagano.
Yoko Nagae Ceschina (チェスキーナ・永江洋子) (5 April 1932 – 10 January 2015) was a Japanese-born patron of the arts and noted…
Yoko Nagae Ceschina (チェスキーナ・永江洋子) (5 April 1932 – 10 January 2015) was a Japanese-born patron of the arts and noted patroness of classical music.
Masaji Tajima (田島 政次, Tajima Masaji; born 5 April 1929) is a Japanese former long jumper who competed in the 1952…
Masaji Tajima (田島 政次, Tajima Masaji; born 5 April 1929) is a Japanese former long jumper who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1956 Summer Olympics. His original name was 田島 政次. He is 5 feet and 7 inches (171 cm) tall. He weighs 128 lbs (58 kg).
Teruhisa Matsusaka (松阪 輝久, Matsusaka Teruhisa) (1926–2006) was a Japanese-born American mathematician, who specialized…
Teruhisa Matsusaka (松阪 輝久, Matsusaka Teruhisa) (1926–2006) was a Japanese-born American mathematician, who specialized in algebraic geometry. Matsusaka received his Ph.D. in 1954 at Kyoto University; he was a member of the Brandeis Mathematics Department from 1961 until his retirement in 1994, and was that department's chair from 1984–1986. He was invited to address the International Congress of Mathematicians held in Edinburgh in 1958 and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1966. During the difficult years after the Second World War, Matsusaka worked on several problems connected with Weil's Foundations of Algebraic Geometry. This led to a correspondence and eventually Weil invited Matsusaka to the University of Chicago (1954–57) where they became life-long friends. After three years at Northwestern University and a year at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, he went to Brandeis University in 1961 where he stayed until 1994, helping to build the department to its current prominence. Matsusaka was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for the academic year 1959–1960. In 1972, Matsusaka introduced Matsusaka's big theorem, a key technical result on ample line bundles.
Takeshi Nomura (野村 武史, Nomura Takeshi; born Kiyoshi Nomura, April 5, 1919 – January 29, 1985) was a Nippon Professional…
Takeshi Nomura (野村 武史, Nomura Takeshi; born Kiyoshi Nomura, April 5, 1919 – January 29, 1985) was a Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher.
Kenji Okabe (岡部 健二, Okabe Kenji; 1915–September 1943) was an ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN)…
Kenji Okabe (岡部 健二, Okabe Kenji; 1915–September 1943) was an ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Participating in many of the Pacific War battles and campaigns as a member of several units, Okabe was officially credited with destroying 15 enemy aircraft. Okabe was credited with shooting down eight enemy aircraft on 8 May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea, the IJN's official record for the number of aircraft destroyed in a single encounter. He is famous for his strong opposition to the kamikaze attacks, rare in IJN at the time. Okabe was killed in action in September 1943 over Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.
Shigeru Sahashi (佐橋滋, Sahashi Shigeru; 5 April 1913 – 31 May 1993) was a Japanese government official.
Yozo Hamaguchi (April 5, 1909 - December 25, 2000) was a Japanese copper printmaker who specialized in mezzotint and…
Yozo Hamaguchi (April 5, 1909 - December 25, 2000) was a Japanese copper printmaker who specialized in mezzotint and was responsible for its resurgence as a printmaking medium in the mid-20th century. Hamaguchi's prints are distinguished for their careful attention to detail of boldly hued animals and objects contrasted against a velvety black background. The corpus of Hamaguchi's prints are focused on the still life genre. Once considered a major printmaking medium in Europe throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries, the influence and technological ingenuity of photography signaled the end of mezzotint printmaking as a modern reproducible form. However, Hamaguchi valued its emphasis on tonality and texture as expressed in a work's lighting and tactile qualities. By working in a European-born printing technique, Hamaguchi received praise from the European, American, and Japanese art centers for his distinct mezzotint printing methods and re-popularization of the long-ignored medium. His works attained global exposure after Hamaguchi participated in the prestigious São Paulo Biennale in Brazil (1957) and was included in the Japanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in Italy (1960). Hamaguchi's legacy is preserved in the Musee Hamaguchi Yozo that possesses much of his prints and it frequently organizes exhibitions centered on his printmaking, alongside works by his wife Keiko Minami and contemporary practitioners of mezzotint printmaking.
Kim Kirim (Korean: 김기림; Hanja: 金起林; May 11, 1908 – 2000) was a Korean poet and literary critic who represented Korean…
Kim Kirim (Korean: 김기림; Hanja: 金起林; May 11, 1908 – 2000) was a Korean poet and literary critic who represented Korean modernist literature in the 1930s. Kim wrote monumental poems such as “The Weather Chart” (1936), “Wind Speed of the Sun” (1939), and “The Sea and the Butterfly” (1939) during the Japanese colonial period. In pursuing a new spirit of poetry, he criticized sentimental romanticism in the 1920s and the movement of the Korean Artists’ Proletarian Federation (Korea Artista Proleta Federacio; KAPF), which based its literary theory and practice on left-wing ideologies. Kim was one of the first intellectualists who introduced modernism to the Korean literary circle and emphasized rationality by means of the compressibility of poetry. Being active as a literary critic, he introduced great Korean writers such as Yi Sang, Baek Seok, and Jeong Ji-yong to the literary world through his critique and papers. After Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Kim took part in the progressive Chosun Writer's Union along with the writers Jeong Ji-yong and Lee Tae-jun and called for the role of literature in building a new nation by its active engagement in reality.
Nobushige Kusamitsu (草光 信成, Kusamitsu Nobushige; 5 April 1892 – 21 December 1970) was a Japanese painter. His work was…
Nobushige Kusamitsu (草光 信成, Kusamitsu Nobushige; 5 April 1892 – 21 December 1970) was a Japanese painter. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Nobuyasu Satō (Japanese: 佐藤 信安, Satō Nobuyasu; 5 April 1874 – 1 August 1964) was a Japanese lawyer, prosecutor, Home…
Nobuyasu Satō (Japanese: 佐藤 信安, Satō Nobuyasu; 5 April 1874 – 1 August 1964) was a Japanese lawyer, prosecutor, Home Ministry official, and politician who served as the Mayor of Hiroshima from 1922 to 1925.
Sanji Muto (武藤 山治, 1867–1934) was born on April 5, 1867, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and later grew up in what is now…
Sanji Muto (武藤 山治, 1867–1934) was born on April 5, 1867, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and later grew up in what is now known as Gifu Prefecture. He was the son of a wealthy village headman who was a strong advocate for education, influenced by the ideas of Fukuzawa Yukichi, particularly after reading "Seiyō Jijō.” Muto attended Keiō Gijuku, now part of Keio University, where he had the opportunity to study directly under Fukuzawa Yukichi. At Keiō, Muto was introduced to British educational methods, which offered a striking contrast to his traditional Confucian background. This exposure ignited Muto's ambition to study at University of Cambridge in England. Graduating from Keiō University in 1884, Muto was poised to pursue further education abroad. However, his plans were derailed by the "Matsukata Deflation," a severe economic downturn that gravely affected farmers and landlords, including Muto's family. Although his father had set aside funds for his education, these plans were thwarted when a relative, who owed money to Muto's father, was bankrupted by the deflation and unable to repay the debt. As a result, Muto was forced to abandon his dream of studying in England.
Baron Arisaka Nariakira (有坂 成章; April 5, 1852 – January 12, 1915) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese…
Baron Arisaka Nariakira (有坂 成章; April 5, 1852 – January 12, 1915) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army. The inventor of the Arisaka rifle, he is regarded as one of the leading arms designers in Japanese history, alongside Kijirō Nambu.
Tanikawa Kotosuga (谷川 士清; April 5, 1709 – November 20, 1776) was a Japanese kokugaku scholar and author in mid-Edo…
Tanikawa Kotosuga (谷川 士清; April 5, 1709 – November 20, 1776) was a Japanese kokugaku scholar and author in mid-Edo period Japan. He also used the epistolary name of “Tansai”.