March 12: 65 people
Manabu Murakami (shinjitai 村上 学, kyūjitai 村上 學, Murakami Manabu; born 1936) is a Japanese scholar specializing in…
Manabu Murakami (shinjitai 村上 学, kyūjitai 村上 學, Murakami Manabu; born 1936) is a Japanese scholar specializing in medieval Japanese literature.
Kyoko Matsuoka (March 12, 1935 – January 25, 2022; Japanese: 松岡享子, romanized: Matsuoka Kyōko) was a Japanese librarian…
Kyoko Matsuoka (March 12, 1935 – January 25, 2022; Japanese: 松岡享子, romanized: Matsuoka Kyōko) was a Japanese librarian, translator, and expert in children's literature. She is known for her own children's books, of which she wrote more than 200 in her lifetime, as well as translations of works for young readers, particularly her translation of the classic Paddington Bear series. After working at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Osaka Municipal Central Library, she founded the Matsunomi Bunko, a private children's library. When Matsunomi and three other libraries joined to form the Tokyo Children's Library in 1974, she became founding director of the organization. She remained honorary chair of the library until her death in 2022. In 2021, she was designated a Person of Cultural Merit.
Ryo Mabuchi (馬淵 良, 12 March 1933 – 22 November 2021) was a Japanese diver who won the 10 platform event at the 1958…
Ryo Mabuchi (馬淵 良, 12 March 1933 – 22 November 2021) was a Japanese diver who won the 10 platform event at the 1958 Asian Games. Together with his wife Kanoko Tsutani-Mabuchi, he competed in the springboard and platform at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics and placed 12th–18th. His daughter Yoshino Mabuchi also became an Olympic diver. Mabuchi died of emphysema on 22 November 2021, at the age of 88.
Yoshikazu Hasegawa (長谷川 善和) (12 March 1930 – 2 September 2026) was a Japanese vertebrate palaeontologist and honorary…
Yoshikazu Hasegawa (長谷川 善和) (12 March 1930 – 2 September 2026) was a Japanese vertebrate palaeontologist and honorary museum director. The Pleistocene anatid Shiriyanetta hasegawai was named in his honour, in recognition of his "outstanding contributions" to the field.
Kenjirō Azuma (吾妻 兼治郎, Azuma Kenjirō; March 12, 1926 – October 15, 2016) was a Japanese-born sculptor, painter and…
Kenjirō Azuma (吾妻 兼治郎, Azuma Kenjirō; March 12, 1926 – October 15, 2016) was a Japanese-born sculptor, painter and teacher.
Leo Esaki (江崎 玲於奈, Esaki Reona; born March 12, 1925) is a Japanese physicist who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physics…
Leo Esaki (江崎 玲於奈, Esaki Reona; born March 12, 1925) is a Japanese physicist who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physics with Ivar Giaever and Brian Josephson for his work on tunneling in semiconductors, which led to his invention of the tunnel diode that exploits this phenomenon. His research was done when he was with Sony. He has also contributed in being a pioneer of semiconductor superlattices. Since the death of Yoichiro Nambu in 2015, Esaki is the oldest living Japanese Nobel laureate.
Morihiko Hiramatsu (平松 守彦, Hiramatsu Morihiko; 12 March 1924 – 21 August 2016) was a Japanese politician who was…
Morihiko Hiramatsu (平松 守彦, Hiramatsu Morihiko; 12 March 1924 – 21 August 2016) was a Japanese politician who was governor of Ōita Prefecture from April 1979 to April 2003. He is best known for initiating the One Village One Product movement in the prefecture, which was later followed by various other countries.
Satoshi Matsui (12 March 1915 – 1 August 1995) was a Japanese basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at…
Satoshi Matsui (12 March 1915 – 1 August 1995) was a Japanese basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1936 Summer Olympics. He later served as vice president of the Japan Basketball Association.
Masayoshi Ōhira (大平 正芳, Ōhira Masayoshi; 12 March 1910 – 12 June 1980) was a Japanese politician who served as prime…
Masayoshi Ōhira (大平 正芳, Ōhira Masayoshi; 12 March 1910 – 12 June 1980) was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1978 until his death in 1980. Born in Kagawa Prefecture, Ōhira worked in the Ministry of Finance from 1936, and served as the private secretary to Hayato Ikeda, finance minister from 1949 to 1952. Ōhira was first elected to the Diet in 1952, and served as foreign minister in Ikeda's cabinet from 1962 to 1964 and as international trade and industry minister from 1968 to 1970 under Eisaku Satō. He took over Ikeda's faction of the Liberal Democratic Party and later served as foreign minister from 1972 to 1974 under Kakuei Tanaka and as finance minister from 1974 to 1976 under Takeo Miki. He succeeded Takeo Fukuda as LDP president and prime minister in 1978. After his government was defeated in a no-confidence vote, Ōhira decided to call the 1980 election rather than resign, but died suddenly of a heart attack. He is the most recent Japanese premier to die in office.
Takashi Shimura (Japanese: 志村 喬, romanized: Shimura Takashi, born Shōji Shimazaki; March 12, 1905 – February 11, 1982)…
Takashi Shimura (Japanese: 志村 喬, romanized: Shimura Takashi, born Shōji Shimazaki; March 12, 1905 – February 11, 1982) was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1934 and 1981. He appeared in 21 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films (more than any other actor), including as a lead actor in Drunken Angel (1948), Rashomon (1950), Ikiru (1952) and Seven Samurai (1954). He played Professor Kyohei Yamane in Ishirō Honda's original Godzilla (1954) and its first sequel, Godzilla Raids Again (1955). In total, Shimura appeared in more than 300 film roles between 1934 and 1980. He was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor, and won the Mainichi Film Award for Best Actor in 1950. For his contributions to the arts, the Japanese government decorated Shimura with the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1974 and the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette in 1980.
Henry Yuzuru Sugimoto (March 12, 1900 – May 8, 1990) was a Japanese-American artist, art teacher and a survivor of…
Henry Yuzuru Sugimoto (March 12, 1900 – May 8, 1990) was a Japanese-American artist, art teacher and a survivor of Japanese American Internment during World War II. Sugimoto became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1952.
Yuzuru Nozu (野津謙, Nozu Yuzuru; 12 March 1899 – 27 August 1983) was a Japanese footballer who made two appearances for…
Yuzuru Nozu (野津謙, Nozu Yuzuru; 12 March 1899 – 27 August 1983) was a Japanese footballer who made two appearances for Japan at the 1921 Far Eastern Championship Games.
Kōgorō Uemura (植村 甲午郎, Uemura Kōgorō; February 12, 1894 – August 1, 1978) was a Japanese businessman from the early…
Kōgorō Uemura (植村 甲午郎, Uemura Kōgorō; February 12, 1894 – August 1, 1978) was a Japanese businessman from the early Shōwa period (1920s–1970s). The chief of Nippon Keidanren in 1968, he served as President of the Sapporo Olympic Organizing Committee, and served as Chairman of the National Board of the Boy Scouts of Japan.
Yoshiki Hayama (葉山 嘉樹, Hayama Yoshiki; March 12, 1894 – October 18, 1945) was a Japanese author associated with the…
Yoshiki Hayama (葉山 嘉樹, Hayama Yoshiki; March 12, 1894 – October 18, 1945) was a Japanese author associated with the Japanese proletarian literature movement. He is perhaps best known for Men Who Live on the Sea (海に生くる人々, Umi ni Ikuru Hitobito), a 1926 novel about the appalling labor conditions on a cargo ship plying the Japan trade lanes, and for short stories such as The Prostitute (淫売婦, Imbaifu; 1925), an early example of proletarian literature in Japan. He spent time in jail due to his involvement with the labor movement, but later turned away from Marxism and became an enthusiastic supporter of Japanese imperialism.
Toshichi Iwata (岩田 藤七, Iwata Tōshichi; 12 March 1893– 23 August 1980) was a Japanese glass artist considered to be the…
Toshichi Iwata (岩田 藤七, Iwata Tōshichi; 12 March 1893– 23 August 1980) was a Japanese glass artist considered to be the founding father of modern art glass making in Japan. Active from 1927 until his death, he created unique studio works as well as production pieces. During his lifetime, Iwata was considered to be Japan's foremost authority on modern glass craft.