Kiyoshi Sasabe (佐々部清) (January 8, 1958 – March 31, 2020) was a Japanese film director.
January 8: 77 people
Kiyoshi Sasabe (佐々部清) (January 8, 1958 – March 31, 2020) was a Japanese film director.
Yasushi Tao (田尾 安志, Tao Yasushi; born January 8, 1954 in Mitoyo, Kagawa) is a Japanese retired Nippon Professional…
Yasushi Tao (田尾 安志, Tao Yasushi; born January 8, 1954 in Mitoyo, Kagawa) is a Japanese retired Nippon Professional Baseball player. He was raised in Osaka. After playing, Tao managed the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. In his one year as manager, the Eagles finished in last in the PL and was the first PL team in 40 years to lose over 90 games in a single season.
Kazumi Matsui (松井 一實, Matsui Kazumi; born January 8, 1953) is a Japanese politician and the current mayor of Hiroshima…
Kazumi Matsui (松井 一實, Matsui Kazumi; born January 8, 1953) is a Japanese politician and the current mayor of Hiroshima, the capital city of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan.
Kozo Kinomoto (木之本 興三, Kinomoto Kōzō; 8 January 1949 – 15 January 2017) was a Japanese footballer who played as a…
Kozo Kinomoto (木之本 興三, Kinomoto Kōzō; 8 January 1949 – 15 January 2017) was a Japanese footballer who played as a midfielder for Furukawa Electric from 1972 to 1975 before being forced to retire due to kidney problem. After his playing career he became a sports executive and served as director in the Japan Football League until 2003. In his later years Kinomoto lost both of his legs due to health issues and died on 15 January 2017 at the age of 68.
Susumu Hara (原 進, Hara Susumu) (January 8, 1947 – April 28, 2015) was a Japanese rugby player and professional…
Susumu Hara (原 進, Hara Susumu) (January 8, 1947 – April 28, 2015) was a Japanese rugby player and professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ashura Hara (阿修羅・原).
Miyoko Watai (渡井 美代子, Watai Miyoko; born January 8, 1945) is a Japanese retired chess player and widow of former world…
Miyoko Watai (渡井 美代子, Watai Miyoko; born January 8, 1945) is a Japanese retired chess player and widow of former world chess champion Bobby Fischer.
Hideo Oe (大江 英雄, Ōe Hideo; born 8 January 1944) is a Japanese rower. He competed in the men's coxed four event at the…
Hideo Oe (大江 英雄, Ōe Hideo; born 8 January 1944) is a Japanese rower. He competed in the men's coxed four event at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Katsuhiro Yuzaki (born 8 January 1944) is a Japanese field hockey player. He competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics and…
Katsuhiro Yuzaki (born 8 January 1944) is a Japanese field hockey player. He competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics and the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Haruki Kadokawa (角川 春樹, Kadokawa Haruki; born January 8, 1942, in Tokyo) is a Japanese entrepreneur and filmmaker. He…
Haruki Kadokawa (角川 春樹, Kadokawa Haruki; born January 8, 1942, in Tokyo) is a Japanese entrepreneur and filmmaker. He is the son of Genyoshi Kadokawa, the founder of the publishing company Kadokawa Shoten. He took over as president of the company in 1975 after his father's death. He entered the film industry as a producer and introduced a technique called media mix, which involved mass promotion and talent scouting for new artists in publishing, film, and television. In 1993, he was arrested for drug smuggling. He resigned as president of Kadokawa Shoten, founding Kadokawa Haruki Corporation instead.
Junichiro Koizumi ( koy-ZOO-mee; 小泉 純一郎, Koizumi Jun'ichirō [ko̞iꜜzɨmʲi (d)ʑɨ̃ɰ̃iꜜtɕiɾo̞ː]; born 8 January 1942) is a…
Junichiro Koizumi ( koy-ZOO-mee; 小泉 純一郎, Koizumi Jun'ichirō [ko̞iꜜzɨmʲi (d)ʑɨ̃ɰ̃iꜜtɕiɾo̞ː]; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 2009. He is the sixth-longest serving and second longest-uninterrupted serving Prime Minister in Japanese history. Coming from the prominent Koizumi family, Koizumi was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1972. He became the Parliamentary Vice Minister of Finance in 1979, before gaining his ministerial post in 1988 as Minister of Health and Welfare, which he served until 1989. He served as the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications from 1992 to 1993, and again as the Minister of Health and Welfare from 1996 to 1998. During this time, he became part of a new LDP faction, Shinseiki, and ran in the LDP leadership elections of 1995 and 1998, losing both times. In 2001, he again contested the LDP leadership, which he won. Widely seen as a maverick leader of the LDP upon his election to the position in 2001, Koizumi became known as a neoliberal economic reformer, focusing on reducing Japan's government debt and the privatisation of the Japan Post. In the 2005 election, Koizumi led the LDP to win one of the largest parliamentary majorities in modern Japanese history. Koizumi also attracted international attention through his deployment of the Japan Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, and through his visits to the Yasukuni Shrine that fueled diplomatic tensions with neighbouring China and South Korea. Koizumi resigned as prime minister in 2006. Although Koizumi maintained a low profile for several years after he left office, he returned to national attention in 2013 as an advocate for abandoning nuclear power in Japan, in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, which contrasted with the pro-nuclear views espoused by the LDP governments both during and after Koizumi's term in office.
Junko Maya (真屋 順子, Maya Junko; 8 January 1942 – 28 December 2017) was a Japanese actress. Her skill was Buyō.
Nobuhiko Ochiai (Japanese: 落合信彦; 8 January 1942 – 1 February 2026) was a Japanese journalist and novelist.
Yōhei Sasakawa (笹川 陽平, Sasakawa Yōhei; born 8 January 1939) is a Japanese businessman and diplomat. He's the World…
Yōhei Sasakawa (笹川 陽平, Sasakawa Yōhei; born 8 January 1939) is a Japanese businessman and diplomat. He's the World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination. He was chairman of the Nippon Foundation, Japan's largest charitable foundation, from 2005 to 2025. His father was the controversial businessman and politician Ryōichi Sasakawa.
Koichi Hamada (浜田 宏一, Hamada Kōichi; born 8 January 1936 in Tokyo) is the Tuntex Professor Emeritus of Economics at…
Koichi Hamada (浜田 宏一, Hamada Kōichi; born 8 January 1936 in Tokyo) is the Tuntex Professor Emeritus of Economics at Yale University, where he specializes in the Japanese economy and international economics. Hamada also served as economic adviser to Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and is credited as one of the key architects of Abenomics, economic policies based upon "three arrows" of monetary easing, fiscal stimulus and structural reform. From January 2001 to July 2002, Hamada served as the first president of the Economic and Social Research Institute of the Cabinet Office of the Japanese Government. At one time Hamada was also a contender to head the WTO.
Yoshihisa Maitani (January 8, 1933 – July 30, 2009) was a designer of cameras for the Japan-based camera manufacturer…
Yoshihisa Maitani (January 8, 1933 – July 30, 2009) was a designer of cameras for the Japan-based camera manufacturer Olympus Corporation. After studying mechanical engineering at university, he joined Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (now Olympus Corporation) in 1956. Maitani went on to work for them for 40 years. He was involved with the design of many of the company's most well-known cameras, including the Pen and the Pen F half frame cameras, the OM System, and the XA.
Inahata Teiko (Japanese: 稲畑汀子; 8 January 1931 – 27 February 2022) was a Japanese haiku poet, essayist and literary…
Inahata Teiko (Japanese: 稲畑汀子; 8 January 1931 – 27 February 2022) was a Japanese haiku poet, essayist and literary critic.
Hanae Mori (Japanese: 森 英恵, Hepburn: Mori Hanae; , 8 January 1926 – 11 August 2022) was a Japanese fashion designer.…
Hanae Mori (Japanese: 森 英恵, Hepburn: Mori Hanae; , 8 January 1926 – 11 August 2022) was a Japanese fashion designer. She was one of only two Japanese women to have presented her collections on the runways of Paris and New York, and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official haute couture design house by the Fédération française de la couture in France. Her fashion house, opened in Japan in 1951, grew to become a $500 million international business by the 1990s.
Osamu Hayaishi MJA (早石 修, Hayaishi Osamu; January 8, 1920 – December 17, 2015), was a Japanese biochemist…
Osamu Hayaishi MJA (早石 修, Hayaishi Osamu; January 8, 1920 – December 17, 2015), was a Japanese biochemist, physiologist, and military physician. He discovered Oxygenases at the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, National Institutes of Health in 1955. Citing his "outstanding and pioneering contributions to biomedical sciences and enzymology," the Wolf Foundation awarded Hayaishi the 1986 Wolf Prize in Medicine "for his discovery of the oxygenase enzymes and elucidation of their structure and biological importance". Hayaishi was President of International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from 1973 to 1976.
Ryō Kurusu (来栖 良, Kurusu Ryō; January 8, 1919 – February 17, 1945) was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. He is…
Ryō Kurusu (来栖 良, Kurusu Ryō; January 8, 1919 – February 17, 1945) was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. He is noted for being the only Eurasian (American-Japanese Hāfu) person to be commemorated in Japan's Yasukuni Shrine.
Hatsuho Matsuzawa (松澤 初穂, Matsuzawa Hatsuho; 8 October 1914 – 1 January 2011) was a Japanese swimmer. She competed in…
Hatsuho Matsuzawa (松澤 初穂, Matsuzawa Hatsuho; 8 October 1914 – 1 January 2011) was a Japanese swimmer. She competed in the 100 m freestyle event at the 1932 Olympics, but was eliminated in the preliminaries. On 29 August 1933 Matsuzawa set a national record in the 50 m freestyle at 31.06 seconds that stood until 21 August 1954. In 1934 she became a high school teacher, and in 1936 a national swimming coach at the Berlin Olympics. She married in 1937 and later had five children, including Sadahiko Sugaya (菅谷定彦), who became president and CEO of TV Tokyo. She returned to swimming in 1984, and between 1986 and 2000 competed at national and world masters championships.
Susumu Fujita (藤田 進, Fujita Susumu; 8 January 1912 – 23 March 1991) was a Japanese film and television actor. He played…
Susumu Fujita (藤田 進, Fujita Susumu; 8 January 1912 – 23 March 1991) was a Japanese film and television actor. He played the lead role in Akira Kurosawa's first feature, Sanshiro Sugata, and appeared in other Kurosawa films including The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail (as Togashi, commander of the border guards) and The Hidden Fortress (as General Tadokoro). Later, he was a supporting actor in Ishirō Honda's Mothra vs. Godzilla, among many other films. Before and during World War II Fujita was considered one of the great stars of Japanese cinema. In the post-war period he became known for supporting roles, often playing a soldier in war films, such as in Masaki Kobayashi's The Human Condition (film series). During the 1960s and 1970s he played minor roles in "special effects pictures" such as Ultraman and Frankenstein vs. Baragon.
Tadashi Imai (今井正, Imai Tadashi; January 8, 1912 – November 22, 1991) was a Japanese film director known for social…
Tadashi Imai (今井正, Imai Tadashi; January 8, 1912 – November 22, 1991) was a Japanese film director known for social realist filmmaking informed by a left-wing perspective. His most noted films include An Inlet of Muddy Water (1953) and Bushido, Samurai Saga (1963).
Shigeo Shingo (新郷 重夫, Shingō Shigeo; 1909–1990) was a Japanese industrial engineer who was considered as the world’s…
Shigeo Shingo (新郷 重夫, Shingō Shigeo; 1909–1990) was a Japanese industrial engineer who was considered as the world’s leading expert on manufacturing practices and the Toyota Production System.
Keizō Hayashi (林 敬三, Hayashi Keizō; 8 January 1907 – 12 November 1991) was a Japanese civil servant, general officer…
Keizō Hayashi (林 敬三, Hayashi Keizō; 8 January 1907 – 12 November 1991) was a Japanese civil servant, general officer and the first Chairman of Joint Staff Council (JSC), a post equivalent to Chief of the General Staff in other countries, from 1954 to 1964. He was instrumental in founding the post-war Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) in 1954. Hayashi began his civil service career in the Home Ministry in 1929. In post-war Japan, he became Governor of Tottori Prefecture from 1945 to 1947 and Director of the Bureau of Local Affairs from 1947 until the Home Ministry was disbanded in the same year. After that, he was appointed Vice-Minister of Imperial Household from 1948 to 1950, during which he became a confidant of Emperor Showa. After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, Hayashi, who did not have prewar military background, was chosen by Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, with the endorsement of the American occupation authority, to head the newly formed National Police Reserve (NPR) in the capacity as Superintendent-General. Since Japan had been demilitarized after the Second World War, one of his major tasks was to build up the NPR as the foundation of Japan's self-defense power in post-war era. He was also responsible for developing a new mind-set for the NPR so as to adapt to post-war changes. When the NPR was restructured as the National Safety Force (NSF) in 1952, he was appointed Chief of the 1st (Ground) Staff of the First Staff Office, which was the top decision making body of the NSF. Hayashi helped found the JSC and the JSDF after Japan regained its status as a sovereign state under the Treaty of San Francisco in 1954. As Chairman of JSC, he assisted the Director-General of Defense Agency (JDA) in formulating defense plans, reviewing proposals as submitted by the JSDF, carrying out defense-related intelligence and investigation work, as well as fostering closer military ties with the United States and its allies. Having served in the JSC for ten years, he was not only the longest-serving Chairman, but was also the only Chairman with civilian civil service background. In retirement, he took an active part in public affairs, serving as, among others, President of the Japan Housing Corporation from 1965 to 1971, of the Japanese Red Cross from 1978 to 1987, and of the Japan Good Deeds Association from 1983 to 1990.
Mitsuma Matsumura (8 January 1894 – 10 April 1970) was a Japanese politician who served as governor of Hiroshima…
Mitsuma Matsumura (8 January 1894 – 10 April 1970) was a Japanese politician who served as governor of Hiroshima Prefecture from 1 August 1944 to 21 April 1945. He was also governor of Tochigi Prefecture (1936–1937) and Kanagawa Prefecture (1940–1942).
Daigaku Horiguchi (堀口 大学; 8 January 1892 – 15 March 1981) was a poet and translator of French literature in Taishō and…
Daigaku Horiguchi (堀口 大学; 8 January 1892 – 15 March 1981) was a poet and translator of French literature in Taishō and Shōwa period Japan. He is credited with introducing French surrealism to Japanese poetry, and to translating the works of over 66 French authors into Japanese.
Kagenori Ueno (上野 景範, Ueno Kagenori; January 8, 1845 – April 11, 1888) was Japanese Consul in Great Britain from 1874…
Kagenori Ueno (上野 景範, Ueno Kagenori; January 8, 1845 – April 11, 1888) was Japanese Consul in Great Britain from 1874 to 1879. He spoke English and Dutch, which he learned in Kagoshima. In 1875 was involved in negotiations with the Ottoman Ambassador to London about the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations between the Turkish and the Japanese governments.