Masateru Nagatani, known professionally as Charlie Nagatani, is a Japanese country music singer-songwriter. He started…
Masateru Nagatani, known professionally as Charlie Nagatani, is a Japanese country music singer-songwriter. He started performing music with his band Charlie and the Cannonballs in 1961, which is one of the longest-running music groups in Japanese history. He opened a honky tonk in his hometown of Kumamoto called Good Time Charlie, and started the Country Gold music festival at Mount Aso in 1989. His first studio album in 1992 Charlie Nagatani Sings Country Gold featured Emmylou Harris, Bill Monroe, the Osborne Brothers, and Porter Wagoner.
Famous People Born on February 20
February 20: 68 people
Jirō Takamatsu (高松 次郎, Takamatsu Jirō; 20 February 1936 – 25 June 1998) was one of the most important postwar Japanese…
Jirō Takamatsu (高松 次郎, Takamatsu Jirō; 20 February 1936 – 25 June 1998) was one of the most important postwar Japanese artists. Takamatsu used photography, sculpture, painting, drawing, and performance to fundamentally investigate the philosophical and material conditions of art. Takamatsu's practice was dedicated to the critique of cognition and perception, through the rendering and variation of morphological devices, such as shadow, tautology, appropriation, perceptual and perspective distortion and representation. Takamatsu's conceptual work can be understood through his notions of the Zero Dimension, which renders an object or form to observe its fundamental geometrical components. Takamatsu isolated these smallest constituent elements, asserting that these elements produce reality, or existence. For Takamatsu the elementary particle represents “the ultimate of division” and also “emptiness itself,” like the a line within a painting—there appears to be nothing more beyond the line itself. Yet, Takamatsu's end goal was not to just prove the presence or object-ness of these elements, but rather to use them as a way to challenge and prove the limits of human perception, leading to his fixation on “absence” or the things that are unobservable. The impact of Takamatsu's practice also has to be considered in terms of his contributions to the avant garde art scenes through his individual practice and work with collectives, as well as the legibility of his work in the discourse of conceptual art and thus the broader international art world.
Jun Isezaki (Japanese: 伊勢崎淳 Isezaki Jun; 20 February 1936 – 11 July 2026) was a Japanese ceramic artist and potter. A…
Jun Isezaki (Japanese: 伊勢崎淳 Isezaki Jun; 20 February 1936 – 11 July 2026) was a Japanese ceramic artist and potter. A graduate of Okayama University, his works ranged from traditional tea ceramics to modern sculptures. In 2004, he was designated a National Treasure for his works. Isezaki died on 11 July 2026, at the age of 90.
Hideo Ogata (尾形英夫, Ogata Hideo; (20 February 1933 – 25 January 2007)) was a producer and planner in Japan. He was also…
Hideo Ogata (尾形英夫, Ogata Hideo; (20 February 1933 – 25 January 2007)) was a producer and planner in Japan. He was also the founding editor of Animage magazine, the second largest anime and manga magazine in Japan, and the editor of the Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind manga series. Ogata assisted in the founding of Studio Ghibli. Ogata died of stomach cancer on 25 January 2007 at the age of 73. Hayao Miyazaki read the eulogy at his funeral.
Shōzō Uchii (内井 昭蔵, Uchii Shōzō) was a Japanese architect and academic authority on the works of Frank Lloyd Wright.…
Shōzō Uchii (内井 昭蔵, Uchii Shōzō) was a Japanese architect and academic authority on the works of Frank Lloyd Wright. Known for the design of landmark structures such as the Setagaya Art Museum, Oita City Museum of Art, and the Fukiage Palace, the residence on the grounds of the Tokyo Imperial Palace for the Emperor of Japan. Uchii was awarded the R.S Reynolds Memorial Prize in 1980 for his design of the Treasury building of the Kuon-ji Temple in Minobu, Yamanashi Prefecture.
Kim Swoo Geun (Korean: 김수근; February 20, 1931 – June 14, 1986) was a prominent South Korean architect, educator…
Kim Swoo Geun (Korean: 김수근; February 20, 1931 – June 14, 1986) was a prominent South Korean architect, educator, publisher and patron of artists. Along with architect Kim Chung-up (김중업), he is recognised as a significant contributor in the history of Korean architecture. With his support for diverse art genres of Korean culture, he was referred to as Lorenzo de Medici of Seoul by TIME in 1977.
Toshiro Mayuzumi (黛 敏郎, Mayuzumi Toshirō; Japanese pronunciation: [majɯꜜzɯmi toɕiɾoː]; 20 February 1929 – 10 April…
Toshiro Mayuzumi (黛 敏郎, Mayuzumi Toshirō; Japanese pronunciation: [majɯꜜzɯmi toɕiɾoː]; 20 February 1929 – 10 April 1997) was a Japanese composer. He was known for his implementation of avant-garde instrumentation alongside traditional Japanese musical techniques. His works drew inspiration from a variety of sources ranging from jazz to Balinese music, and he was considered a pioneer in the realm of musique concrète and electronic music, being the first artist in his country to explore these techniques. Over the span of his career, he wrote symphonies, ballets, operas, and film scores. Mayuzumi was the first Japanese composer to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score, for the 1966 film The Bible: In the Beginning.... He was the recipient of an Otaka prize by the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Purple Medal of Merit. John Huston called him a "modern Beethoven".
Tochinishiki Kiyotaka (Japanese: 栃錦 清隆; February 20, 1925 – January 10, 1990) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler…
Tochinishiki Kiyotaka (Japanese: 栃錦 清隆; February 20, 1925 – January 10, 1990) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Tokyo. He was the sport's 44th yokozuna. He won ten top division yūshō or tournament championships and was a rival of fellow yokozuna Wakanohana I. He became the head coach of Kasugano stable in 1959 and was head of the Japan Sumo Association from 1974 until 1988.
Sachio Otani (大谷 幸夫, Ōtani Sachio; February 20, 1924 – January 2, 2013) was a noted Japanese architect.
Hitoshi Motoshima (本島 等, Motoshima Hitoshi; 20 February 1922 – 31 October 2014) was a Japanese politician. He served…
Hitoshi Motoshima (本島 等, Motoshima Hitoshi; 20 February 1922 – 31 October 2014) was a Japanese politician. He served four terms as mayor of Nagasaki from 1979 to 1995. He publicly made controversial statements about the responsibility of Japan and its then-reigning Emperor for World War II, and survived a retaliatory assassination attempt in 1990 by a right wing fanatic. His mayoral successor, Iccho Itoh, was killed in an unrelated assassination in 2007.
Koichi Yaguchi (矢口 洪一, Yaguchi Kōichi; February 20, 1920 – July 25, 2006) was the 11th Chief Justice of Japan…
Koichi Yaguchi (矢口 洪一, Yaguchi Kōichi; February 20, 1920 – July 25, 2006) was the 11th Chief Justice of Japan (1985–1990). He was graduate of Kyoto University. He was a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia flowers.
Shinroku Momose (百瀬 晋六, Momose Shinroku; 20 February 1919 – 21 January 1997) was a Japanese aircraft and automotive…
Shinroku Momose (百瀬 晋六, Momose Shinroku; 20 February 1919 – 21 January 1997) was a Japanese aircraft and automotive engineer. He is famous for the development of the Subaru 360, the Subaru Sambar and the Subaru 1000 series.
Takashi Nagase (永瀬 隆, Nagase Takashi; February 20, 1918 – June 21, 2011) was a Japanese military interpreter during…
Takashi Nagase (永瀬 隆, Nagase Takashi; February 20, 1918 – June 21, 2011) was a Japanese military interpreter during World War II. He worked for the Kempeitai (military secret police) at the construction of the Burma Railway in Thailand, and spent most of his later life as an activist for post-war reconciliation and against Japanese militarism. He made over a hundred visits to Thailand, and from the 1970s, arranged several meetings between former Allied prisoners of wars and their Japanese captors, in efforts to promote peace and understanding. In 1993, he met and reconciled with British former POW Eric Lomax—in whose torture sessions Nagase had been involved—an encounter retold in Lomax's 1995 autobiography The Railway Man.
Sanshi Imai (今井 三子, Imai Sanshi; 1900–1976) was a Japanese mycologist of Hokkaido Imperial University.
Bokuzen Hidari (左 卜全, Hidari Bokuzen; 20 February 1894 – 26 May 1971) was a Japanese actor and comedian born in…
Bokuzen Hidari (左 卜全, Hidari Bokuzen; 20 February 1894 – 26 May 1971) was a Japanese actor and comedian born in Kotesashi Village (now part of Tokorozawa), Iruma District, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. He appeared in such films as Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, The Lower Depths and Ikiru. Hidari was famous among Japanese audiences for his portrayals of meek, downtrodden men, and although a teetotaller, was renowned for his convincing drunk scenes (see esp. "Ikiru").
Takuboku Ishikawa (石川 啄木, Ishikawa Takuboku; Japanese pronunciation: [ì.ɕi̥.kä́.β̞ä́ | tä̀.kɯ̈́.bó̞.kɯ̈́, -β̞ä́ tä́-]…
Takuboku Ishikawa (石川 啄木, Ishikawa Takuboku; Japanese pronunciation: [ì.ɕi̥.kä́.β̞ä́ | tä̀.kɯ̈́.bó̞.kɯ̈́, -β̞ä́ tä́-], born Hajime Ishikawa (石川 一); February 20, 1886 – April 13, 1912) was a Japanese poet. Well known as both a tanka and "modern-style" (新体詩, shintaishi) or "free-style" (自由詩, jiyūshi) poet, he began as a member of the Myōjō group of naturalist poets but later joined the "socialistic" group of Japanese poets and renounced naturalism. He died of tuberculosis.
Noburu Katagami (片上 伸, Katagami Noburu; February 20, 1884 – March 5, 1928) was a Japanese literary critic and a…
Noburu Katagami (片上 伸, Katagami Noburu; February 20, 1884 – March 5, 1928) was a Japanese literary critic and a professor of Russian literature at Waseda University. He is also known as Tengen Katagami (片上天絃; later 片上天弦).
Naoya Shiga (志賀直哉, Shiga Naoya) Japanese pronunciation: [ɕi.ɡa (|) na(ꜜ).o.ja, ɕi.ŋa-], February 20, 1883 – October 21…
Naoya Shiga (志賀直哉, Shiga Naoya) Japanese pronunciation: [ɕi.ɡa (|) na(ꜜ).o.ja, ɕi.ŋa-], February 20, 1883 – October 21, 1971 was a Japanese writer active during the Taishō and Shōwa periods of Japan, whose work was distinguished by its lucid, straightforward style and strong autobiographical overtones.