Jun-ichi Igusa (井草 凖一, Igusa Jun’ichi; 30 January 1924 – 24 November 2013) was a Japanese mathematician who for over…
Jun-ichi Igusa (井草 凖一, Igusa Jun’ichi; 30 January 1924 – 24 November 2013) was a Japanese mathematician who for over three decades was on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University. He is known for his contributions to algebraic geometry and number theory. The Igusa zeta-function, the Igusa quartic, Igusa subgroups, Igusa curves, and Igusa varieties are named after him. He was an invited speaker for the 1962 International Congress of Mathematicians in Stockholm. He was awarded Japan's Order of the Sacred Treasure. In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.
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Ong Iok-tek (Ikutoku Ō; 王育德/王育徳; POJ: Ông Io̍k-tek; Hepburn:Ō Ikutoku: pinyin: Wáng Yùdé; Wade–Giles: Wang Yü-te; 30…
Ong Iok-tek (Ikutoku Ō; 王育德/王育徳; POJ: Ông Io̍k-tek; Hepburn:Ō Ikutoku: pinyin: Wáng Yùdé; Wade–Giles: Wang Yü-te; 30 January 1924–9 September 1985) was a Taiwanese scholar and early leader of the Taiwan independence movement. He is considered to be an authority on the Southern Min language family and the Taiwanese language. He was born in Tainan Prefecture (modern-day Tainan), during Japanese rule, of a prominent family. He attended Tokyo Imperial University in 1943 but the ongoing World War II compelled him to return to Taiwan after a year. Following the war and handover of Taiwan he took a critical attitude toward the Kuomintang, one accentuated by the killing of his brother, Wang Yu-lin, a Tokyo-educated prosecutor, in the February 28 Incident. His own life threatened by the new regime, he fled to Japan in 1949 and spent the rest of his life there in addition to various other places. He resumed his studies in May 1950, and after completing his Ph.D. in 1969 at the University of Tokyo, he later taught Taiwanese at Meiji University in 1974. He also played a leading role in garnering support for the Taiwan independence movement within Japan. As a student he had joined Thomas Liao's Republic of Taiwan Provisional Government but became dissatisfied with it after two years. He established the Taiwan Youth Association in 1960 and published the organization's influential monthly Taiwan Seinen in Japanese (later for a time in Chinese) and Formosan Quarterly in English. The Taiwan Youth Association later changed its name to the Taiwan Youth Independence League. In the 1970s he was a leader in the campaign to secure compensation for the 200,000 Taiwanese who had served as soldiers under the Imperial Japanese military. In 1982 he served as a committee member of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs. Ong argued that Han people were a folk, and not a nation, and that Hakka and Hoklos are smaller folks within the Han. Ong further argued that after Japan modernized Taiwan, the Taiwanese nation was established with Taiwan being pre-national as the Japanese ruled it, and that modern capitalism creates a nation. Ong argued that Taiwanese people can become a nation within the state container if Taiwan becomes an independent state. Shaojin Chai, author of Taiwanese Nationalism: Situation Dependency and Elite Games, said that Ong's view of a nation is that it is "the modern construction of state" and that his concept "responded to the modernity of nationalism". Chai added that "Ong's Taiwanese nationalism theory indicates that nationalism precedes nation, and without a state, there could be no nation." Chai added that Ong and Thomas Liao were both perceived as Mainlanders in Taiwan and Chinese people in Mainland China, and hence were viewed as oppressors of Taiwanese people and non-Taiwanese. Chai explained that Ong placed emphasis on the "political construction" while Liao placed emphasis on "primordial criteria". In regards to reception to Ong's ideas, Chai said that Taiwanese people at the time of Ong's active period did believe they were a folk of Han people, even though they did have a strong provincial identity. Chai added that "Ong's argument was especially convincing to Holos [sic], but it is problematic when applied to indigenous peoples. Following his rationale, the different indigenous tribes also have to [sic] right to build their state to form their own nations."
Kosaku Inaba (稲葉 興作, Inaba Kōsaku; January 16, 1924 – November 16, 2006) was a Singapore-born Japanese businessman…
Kosaku Inaba (稲葉 興作, Inaba Kōsaku; January 16, 1924 – November 16, 2006) was a Singapore-born Japanese businessman, former president of Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., head of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (1993–2001) and second president of Nippon Kaigi (1998–2001). He was a graduate of Azabu High School and Tokyo Institute of Technology. He joined the Ishikawajima Shibaura Turbine Co. in 1946. In 1962, the company merged with Ishikawajima-Shibaura Seiki Co. and Shibaura Sewing Machine Co. and changed its name to its current one. Inaba rose through the ranks as board director, managing director and senior vice president before becoming president of the company in 1983 and chairman in 1995. He was a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun.
Shōtarō Moriyasu (守安 祥太郎, Moriyasu Shōtarō; January 5, 1924 – September 25, 1955) was a Japanese jazz pianist. He…
Shōtarō Moriyasu (守安 祥太郎, Moriyasu Shōtarō; January 5, 1924 – September 25, 1955) was a Japanese jazz pianist. He became a leading bebop musician in Japan in the early to mid-1950s, but was never officially recorded. His suicide at the age of 31 contributed to his image as a tragic artistic figure in jazz.
Kim Chung-yum (Korean: 김정렴; Hanja: 金正濂; 3 January 1924 – 25 April 2020) was a South Korean politician. Under President…
Kim Chung-yum (Korean: 김정렴; Hanja: 金正濂; 3 January 1924 – 25 April 2020) was a South Korean politician. Under President Park Chung Hee, he was the longest serving chief presidential secretary in South Korean history. He also served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Commerce and Industry, playing a leading role in the country's miraculous economic development. Kim died on April 25, 2020.
Susumu Ishii (Japanese: 石井 進; 1924–1991) was the second kaicho (godfather) of the Inagawa-kai yakuza gang in Japan. He…
Susumu Ishii (Japanese: 石井 進; 1924–1991) was the second kaicho (godfather) of the Inagawa-kai yakuza gang in Japan. He was also fifth socho of the Yokosuka-ikka. Ishii was born in Yokosuka in 1924. As a child, he moved with his family to Kamakura where they ran a small noodle shop. In World War II, he was assigned to a kaiten unit of the Japanese Navy but was not given the chance to take part in a suicide attack. After the war, he became a yakuza and joined the Inagawa-kai in 1958. He rose to the number two position in that gang, but was imprisoned for a gambling scam from 1978 to 1984. After serving his time in prison Ishii spoke to the media, saying; "We cannot succeed in the yakuza world unless we are active and aggressive until our early forties. After that, we have to adapt our lives to ordinary society. We cannot always be so forceful." His house remains in Yokosuka city, a three-storey, brick house in French, Greek and Italian styles. Ishii owned the Iwama Country Club, with a 36 holes, luxurious golf course. Ishii gathered the wealthiest of Japan and asked them to buy memberships, at a cost of over 200,000 USD. The golf course was a success, bringing millions to Ishii. He was released from prison at the start of Japan's bubble economy in 1984. Through various loans, banking deals, and real estate scams, he accumulated assets of over $4 billion which he invested in projects around the world, including in Korea and the United States. In 1989, his group even hired Prescott Bush Jr., the brother of President George H. W. Bush, as an advisor (Bush denied knowing his clients' criminal background). The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper stated, "Almost every money transaction was related to Susumu Ishii in the 80s and 90s." Ishii's money went overseas as well. He invested in hotels in Monaco, Hong Kong and America. In total he invested 700 million dollars around the world. Throughout various investments he was able to have successful international relations and grow his money. Ishii was known as the "World's Richest Gangster" or "The Gangster With the Golden Touch".
Toyoko Yamasaki (山崎 豊子, Yamasaki Toyoko; real name Sugimoto Toyoko (杉本 豊子); 3 November 1924 – 29 September 2013) was a…
Toyoko Yamasaki (山崎 豊子, Yamasaki Toyoko; real name Sugimoto Toyoko (杉本 豊子); 3 November 1924 – 29 September 2013) was a Japanese novelist. A native of Osaka, Yamasaki worked as a journalist for the Mainichi Shimbun from 1945 to 1959 after graduating from Kyoto Women's University in Japanese literature. She published her first story, Noren (1957), a story of a kelp trader, based on the experiences of her family's business. The following year, she won the Naoki Prize for her second novel Hana Noren, the story about the founder of an entertainment group. A major influence on her writings of that period was Yasushi Inoue, who was deputy head of the Mainichi Shimbun's cultural news desk. Yamasaki wrote some stories based on actual events. For example, Futatsu no Sokoku is derived from the biography of a Japanese American David Akira Itami, and Shizumanu Taiyō is based on the Japan Air Lines Flight 123 accident. Several works of hers were featured in films and television dramas.
Masao Kawai (河合 雅雄, Kawai Masao; January 2, 1924 – May 14, 2021) was a Japanese primatologist, who introduced the…
Masao Kawai (河合 雅雄, Kawai Masao; January 2, 1924 – May 14, 2021) was a Japanese primatologist, who introduced the concept of kyōkan as a means of studying primates in his book Life of Japanese Monkeys (1969).
Genichi Taguchi (田口 玄一, Taguchi Gen'ichi; January 1, 1924 – June 2, 2012) was a Japanese engineer and statistician.…
Genichi Taguchi (田口 玄一, Taguchi Gen'ichi; January 1, 1924 – June 2, 2012) was a Japanese engineer and statistician. From the 1950s on, Taguchi developed a methodology for applying statistics to improve the quality of manufactured goods. Taguchi methods have been controversial among some conventional Western statisticians, but others have accepted many of the concepts introduced by him as valid extensions to the body of knowledge.
Yoko Matsuoka McClain (January 1, 1924 – November 2, 2011) was a Japanese-born American professor of Japanese language…
Yoko Matsuoka McClain (January 1, 1924 – November 2, 2011) was a Japanese-born American professor of Japanese language and literature at the University of Oregon. She was the granddaughter of Japanese novelist, Natsume Sōseki, from her maternal lineage. McClain was born Yoko Matsuoka in Tokyo. She graduated from Tsuda College in 1945 and found work as a translator during the Occupation of Japan by the Americans following World War II. She obtained a scholarship, the forebear of the Fulbright Program, to study at the University of Oregon. As a student, Matsuoka worked as a receptionist for the University of Oregon's art museum, now called the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. She received a bachelor's degree in French from the University of Oregon in 1956 and a master's degree in comparative literature in 1967. McClain taught Japanese literature at the University of Oregon from 1964 to 1994, when she became a professor emeritus. She authored more than a dozen books and scholarly works on Japanese studies. Her husband, George Robert McClain, collected Japanese prints and art, which she donated to Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art following his death. The Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs honored McClain for her contributions to Japanese-U.S. cultural relations in 2003. The University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences also awarded her the Alumni Fellows Award in 2003. In August 2011, McClain received the Gertrude Bass Warner Award from the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. McClain died from a stroke on November 2, 2011, aged 87.
Teruo Ishii (石井輝男, Ishii Teruo; January 1, 1924 – August 12, 2005) was a Japanese film director best known in the West…
Teruo Ishii (石井輝男, Ishii Teruo; January 1, 1924 – August 12, 2005) was a Japanese film director best known in the West for his early films in the Super Giant series, and for his films in the ero guro ("erotic-grotesque") subgenre of sexploitation such as Shogun's Joy of Torture (1968). He also directed the 1965 film Abashiri Prison, which helped to make Ken Takakura a major star in Japan. Referred to in Japan as "The King of Cult", Ishii had a much more prolific and eclectic career than was generally known in the West during his lifetime.
Shōtarō Ikenami (池波 正太郎, Ikenami Shōtarō; January 25, 1923 – May 3, 1990) was a Japanese author. He wrote a number of…
Shōtarō Ikenami (池波 正太郎, Ikenami Shōtarō; January 25, 1923 – May 3, 1990) was a Japanese author. He wrote a number of historical novels. He won the Naoki Award for popular literature in 1960. Many of his historical novels were adapted for TV and cinema.
Chang Do-yong (Korean: 장도영; 23 January 1923 – 3 August 2012) was a South Korean general, politician and professor who…
Chang Do-yong (Korean: 장도영; 23 January 1923 – 3 August 2012) was a South Korean general, politician and professor who, as the Army Chief of Staff, played a decisive role in the May 16 coup and was the first chairman of the interim Supreme Council for National Reconstruction for a short time until his imprisonment.
Rentarō Mikuni (Japanese: 三國連太郎, Hepburn: Mikuni Rentarō; 20 January 1923 – 14 April 2013) was a Japanese actor and…
Rentarō Mikuni (Japanese: 三國連太郎, Hepburn: Mikuni Rentarō; 20 January 1923 – 14 April 2013) was a Japanese actor and film director. He starred in several films of Keisuke Kinoshita, Mikio Naruse, Tadashi Imai, Shōhei Imamura, Tomu Uchida and many others. Mikuni received numerous awards for his performances and was awarded the Jury Prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival for his film Shinran: Path to Purity, which he wrote and directed.
Koji Miyata (宮田 孝治, Miyata Koji; born January 15, 1923) is a Japanese former football player. He played for Japan…
Koji Miyata (宮田 孝治, Miyata Koji; born January 15, 1923) is a Japanese former football player. He played for Japan national team.
Mitsuru Yoshida (吉田 満 Yoshida Mitsuru; January 6, 1923 – September 17, 1979) was a Japanese author and naval officer.…
Mitsuru Yoshida (吉田 満 Yoshida Mitsuru; January 6, 1923 – September 17, 1979) was a Japanese author and naval officer. He was born in Tokyo. He was a survivor of the battleship Yamato when it was sunk on 7 April 1945 during Operation Ten-Go, an attempt to support the defenders of Okinawa. His best-known work is Senkan Yamato-no Saigo (Requiem for Battleship Yamato), based on his personal experiences as a junior officer on Yamato's final voyage. It was made into a movie Senkan Yamato ("Battleship Yamato" Shin-Toho. Dir.: Yutaka Abe) in 1953. Another movie, Yamato, was released in 2005.
Mitsuo Kagawa (賀川 光夫, Kagawa Mitsuo; January 5, 1923 – March 9, 2001) was a Japanese archaeologist and a professor at…
Mitsuo Kagawa (賀川 光夫, Kagawa Mitsuo; January 5, 1923 – March 9, 2001) was a Japanese archaeologist and a professor at Beppu University in Ōita Prefecture, Japan. He committed suicide by hanging himself on March 9, 2001, as a result of the Japanese Paleolithic hoax.
Tamanoumi Daitarō (real name Tomohiro Miura; 2 January 1923 – 27 September 1987) was a sumo wrestler from Ōita, Japan.…
Tamanoumi Daitarō (real name Tomohiro Miura; 2 January 1923 – 27 September 1987) was a sumo wrestler from Ōita, Japan. His highest rank was sekiwake. He won a top division tournament championship in 1957. He was later the head coach of Kataonami stable.
Yoshiro Hayashi (林由郎, Hayashi Yoshirō; 27 January 1922 – 2 January 2012) was a Japanese golfer.
Tarō Naka (Japanese: 那珂太郎, Hepburn: Naka Tarō; 23 January 1922 – 1 June 2014) was a prize-winning Japanese poet. He was…
Tarō Naka (Japanese: 那珂太郎, Hepburn: Naka Tarō; 23 January 1922 – 1 June 2014) was a prize-winning Japanese poet. He was born Shōjirō Fukuda in Hakata, now Fukuoka, on the island of Kyushu in western Japan. At school he read, among others, Sakutarō Hagiwara, Friedrich Nietzsche, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Charles Baudelaire, and the Kyoto School philosopher Kitarō Nishida. In April 1941, he entered Tokyo Imperial University to study Japanese Literature. Some of his earliest poems dealing with the war and its immediate aftermath appeared in his debut collection, Etudes, in 1950, published by his high-school classmate Tokuo Date's Eureka Press. Between 1957 and 1964, Naka worked on what the critic Shōbin Hirai, among many others, considered his magnum opus, his 1965 collection Ongaku ('Music'). It was published by Shichōsha, Japan's foremost poetry publisher, in a limited edition of four hundred copies. It received widespread critical praise and was awarded the Yomiuri Prize and the Saisei Murō Prize. The collection is characterized by its high degree of attention to the interplay between the visual, phonetic and semantic aspects of words. In 2003, he composed a nō play, Shikōtei ('The First Emperor'), which was performed at the National Noh Theatre on 20 March 2014, a few months before Naka died from pneumonia in June 2014. An English translation of his work, Music: Selected Poems, was published by Isobar Press in July 2018.
Shigeru Izumi (Japanese: 泉 茂, Hepburn: Izumi Shigeru) (1922–1995) was a Japanese painter and printmaker.
Seiya Yamada (山田 誠也, Yamada Seiya; January 4, 1922 – July 28, 2001), known by his pen name Futaro Yamada (山田 風太郎…
Seiya Yamada (山田 誠也, Yamada Seiya; January 4, 1922 – July 28, 2001), known by his pen name Futaro Yamada (山田 風太郎, Yamada Fūtarō), was a Japanese author. He was born in Yabu, Hyogo. In 1947, he wrote a mystery short story Daruma-tōge no Jiken (達磨峠の事件; lit. "The Incident on Dharma Pass") and was awarded a prize by the magazine Houseki (宝石). He was discovered by Edogawa Rampo and became a novelist. He wrote many ninja (忍法帖 Ninpōchō series) and mystery stories. Many of his works have been adapted for film, TV, manga, and anime.
Masaaki Fujita (藤田 正明, Fujita Masaaki; January 3, 1922 – May 27, 1996) was a Japanese politician who served as a member…
Masaaki Fujita (藤田 正明, Fujita Masaaki; January 3, 1922 – May 27, 1996) was a Japanese politician who served as a member of the House of Councillors. Fujita was born and brought up in Hiroshima City and he graduated from Waseda University in 1944. During his 30-year political career, he served in some important posts such as the Director General of Okinawa Development Agency (1976-1977) and the President of the House of Councillors (1986-1988). He received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun in 1992.
Hitoshi Nozaki (野崎 一, Nozaki Hitoshi; 1922 – September 25, 2019), sometimes spelled Hitosi, was a Japanese chemist…
Hitoshi Nozaki (野崎 一, Nozaki Hitoshi; 1922 – September 25, 2019), sometimes spelled Hitosi, was a Japanese chemist specializing in the field of organic chemistry, known as the head of Japanese organic chemistry research, and one of the discoverers of Nozaki–Hiyama–Kishi reaction. He was Emeritus Professor of Kyoto University.
Katsuya Susaki (須崎 勝彌, Susaki Katsuya; January 1, 1922 – January 9, 2015) was a Japanese screenwriter and novelist. He…
Katsuya Susaki (須崎 勝彌, Susaki Katsuya; January 1, 1922 – January 9, 2015) was a Japanese screenwriter and novelist. He is perhaps best remembered for his contributions to war films, which drew on his personal experiences as a surviving kamikaze pilot. His works often explored themes of sacrifice, camaraderie, and the human cost of conflict, reflecting the emotional impact of losing comrades in battle. The film actors were often people who had experienced war first hand.
Akio Morita (盛田 昭夫, Morita Akio; January 26, 1921 – October 3, 1999) was a Japanese entrepreneur and co-founder of Sony…
Akio Morita (盛田 昭夫, Morita Akio; January 26, 1921 – October 3, 1999) was a Japanese entrepreneur and co-founder of Sony along with Masaru Ibuka.
Masamine Sumitani (隅谷正峯; born Sumitani Yoichiro; 14 January 1921 – 12 December 1998) was a Japanese swordsmith.…
Masamine Sumitani (隅谷正峯; born Sumitani Yoichiro; 14 January 1921 – 12 December 1998) was a Japanese swordsmith. Sumitani's family ran a soy-sauce manufacturing business, but rather than entering the family trade, Masamine opted to study at Ritsumeikan University, with a view to becoming a swordsmith, graduating in 1941 with a degree in mechanical engineering. After his graduation, Sumitani remained at Kyoto, studying (alongside Masayuki Nagare) under Sakurai Masayuki. When the University's sword studio was destroyed in a fire in 1942, Sumitani moved to Onomichi to continue his education at the Foundation of National Japanese Sword Studies and the Kokoku Japanese Sword Temper Workshop there. Sumitani settled in Mattō, Ishikawa. He worked in the Bizen tradition, and was noted for his choji midare or "clove patterns" along the hamon of his blades. As well as swords, Sumitani also specialised in the forging of tosu knives and was a practitioner of bachiru. In 1975 he co-founded the Zen Nihon Toshokai ("Japanese Swordsmith's Association"), and served as the group's Vice-Secretary.
Yoichiro Nambu (南部 陽一郎, Nanbu Yōichirō; 18 January 1921 – 5 July 2015) was a Japanese-American physicist and professor…
Yoichiro Nambu (南部 陽一郎, Nanbu Yōichirō; 18 January 1921 – 5 July 2015) was a Japanese-American physicist and professor at the University of Chicago. Known for his groundbreaking contributions to theoretical physics, Nambu was the originator of the theory of spontaneous symmetry breaking, a concept that revolutionized particle physics. He was also a pioneer of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), one of the founding figures of string theory, and the proposer of Nambu mechanics. In addition, he co-created the Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model, which explained the dynamical origin of mass in nucleons. He was awarded half of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008 for the discovery in 1960 of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics, related at first to the strong interaction's chiral symmetry and later to the electroweak interaction and Higgs mechanism. The other half was split equally between Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa "for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature".
Shunpei Ueyama (上山 春平, Ueyama Shunpei; January 16, 1921 in Wakayama – August 2012, in Minoyama) was a Japanese…
Shunpei Ueyama (上山 春平, Ueyama Shunpei; January 16, 1921 in Wakayama – August 2012, in Minoyama) was a Japanese philosopher associated with the postwar Kyoto School. He graduated in philosophy from Kyoto University in 1943, and trained in a kamikaze human torpedo (gyorai:魚雷) squad. His main professional interest in philosophy were in the fields of logic, and American pragmatism, especially with its founding fathers Charles Sanders Peirce, William James and John Dewey. He was emeritus professor at Kyoto University.
Takasi Yamazaki (Japanese: 山崎敬) (6 January 1921–2 February 2007) was a Japanese botanist and taxonomist. He was born in…
Takasi Yamazaki (Japanese: 山崎敬) (6 January 1921–2 February 2007) was a Japanese botanist and taxonomist. He was born in Odawara and grew up in Yokohama. After graduating from the former Niigata High School, he graduated from Tokyo Imperial University in 1944 and studied Plant taxonomy of since his research in the laboratory of Shoji Honda. Beginning in 1954, he taught at the University of Tokyo, and in 1972, he became been a professor at the Botanical Garden attached to the University of Tokyo. In the 1960s, he participated in a field survey in Bhutan and an academic survey of the Ogasawara Islands. He studied the taxa Scrophulariaceae and Ericaceae. From 1987 to 1988, he was the chairman of the Japanese Society of Plant Taxonomy. The standard author abbreviation T.Yamaz. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
Shinya Inoué (井上 信也, Inoue Shin'ya; January 5, 1921 – September 30, 2019) was a Japanese American biophysicist and cell…
Shinya Inoué (井上 信也, Inoue Shin'ya; January 5, 1921 – September 30, 2019) was a Japanese American biophysicist and cell biologist, a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His research field was visualizing dynamic processes within living cells using light microscopy.
Natsuko Kahara (賀原夏子, Kahara Natsuko; 3 January 1921 – 20 February 1991) was a Japanese stage and film actress. She was…
Natsuko Kahara (賀原夏子, Kahara Natsuko; 3 January 1921 – 20 February 1991) was a Japanese stage and film actress. She was a member of the Bungakuza theatre company and regularly appeared in the films of director Mikio Naruse. During her 50 years spanning career, she also worked for directors such as Yasujirō Ozu, Akira Kurosawa, Keisuke Kinoshita and Tadashi Imai.
Machiko Hasegawa (長谷川町子, Hasegawa Machiko; January 30, 1920 – May 27, 1992) was a Japanese manga artist and one of the…
Machiko Hasegawa (長谷川町子, Hasegawa Machiko; January 30, 1920 – May 27, 1992) was a Japanese manga artist and one of the first female manga artists. She started her own comic strip, Sazae-san, in 1946. It reached national circulation via the Asahi Shimbun in 1949, and ran daily until Hasegawa decided to retire in February 1974. All of her comics were printed in Japan in digest comics; by the mid-1990s, Hasegawa's estate had sold over 60 million copies in Japan alone.
Kanzen Teruya (1920–2004) was an Okinawan physician who contributed much to the Okinawan medical world in post-World…
Kanzen Teruya (1920–2004) was an Okinawan physician who contributed much to the Okinawan medical world in post-World War II days. He reported a mass Cycas revoluta (sago palm) poisoning in people living on Miyako-jima island in 1956. He later became a professor at the University of the Ryukyus (1978–1985).
Koichi Tohei (藤平光一, Tōhei Kōichi) (20 January 1920 – 19 May 2011) was a 10th Dan aikidoka and founder of the Ki Society…
Koichi Tohei (藤平光一, Tōhei Kōichi) (20 January 1920 – 19 May 2011) was a 10th Dan aikidoka and founder of the Ki Society and its style of aikido, officially Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido (literally "aikido with mind and body unified"), but commonly known as Ki-Aikido.
Makoto Kumada (熊田 誠, Kumada Makoto; 17 January 1920 – 28 June 2007) was a Japanese chemist and was a Professor of…
Makoto Kumada (熊田 誠, Kumada Makoto; 17 January 1920 – 28 June 2007) was a Japanese chemist and was a Professor of Chemistry first at Osaka City University until his retirement in 1983 at Kyoto University in Japan. In 1972, Kumada's group reported nickel-catalyzed cross coupling reactions nearly concurrently with the Corriu group working in France. The Kumada coupling now bears his name. In an interview after the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was announced, Nobel Committee member Jan Bekvall (professor at Stockholm University) said: "If Professor Kumada been alive, he could have won this year's Nobel Prize for his work in developing cross-coupling."
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.
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.
Shinnen Tagaya (多賀谷 真稔, Tagaya Shinnen; 20 January 1920 – 9 April 1995) was a Japanese politician. He graduated from…
Shinnen Tagaya (多賀谷 真稔, Tagaya Shinnen; 20 January 1920 – 9 April 1995) was a Japanese politician. He graduated from Waseda University in 1943 and became general secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the Japan Socialist Party in December 1977.
Takeji Iwamiya (岩宮 武二, Iwamiya Takeji; 1920–1989) was a Japanese photographer particularly known for his depiction of…
Takeji Iwamiya (岩宮 武二, Iwamiya Takeji; 1920–1989) was a Japanese photographer particularly known for his depiction of architecture, gardens, and Japanese crafts.
This is a list of Japan international footballers – Japanese association football players who have played for the Japan…
This is a list of Japan international footballers – Japanese association football players who have played for the Japan national football team as recorded by the Japan Football Association.
Yukio Inokuma (born 2 January 1920, date of death unknown) was a Japanese sports shooter. He competed at the 1952…
Yukio Inokuma (born 2 January 1920, date of death unknown) was a Japanese sports shooter. He competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics, 1956 Summer Olympics and 1960 Summer Olympics. Inokuma is deceased.
Tadaaki Hayashi (林 忠明, Hayashi Tadaaki) was a Japanese international table tennis player.
Masato Ide ( 井 手 雅人, い で ま さ と, Ide Masato?), born on January 1, 1920, in Saga, Japan and died on July 17, 1989, was a…
Masato Ide ( 井 手 雅人, い で ま さ と, Ide Masato?), born on January 1, 1920, in Saga, Japan and died on July 17, 1989, was a Japanese screenwriter and novelist.
Miyoko Mitsui (三井 美代子, Mitsui Miyoko; 23 January 1919 – 28 April 2007) was a Japanese hurdler. She competed in the…
Miyoko Mitsui (三井 美代子, Mitsui Miyoko; 23 January 1919 – 28 April 2007) was a Japanese hurdler. She competed in the women's 80 metres hurdles at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Tenkōkō Sonoda (園田 天光光, Sonoda Tenkōkō; 23 January 1919 – 29 January 2015) was a Japanese politician who was a member…
Tenkōkō Sonoda (園田 天光光, Sonoda Tenkōkō; 23 January 1919 – 29 January 2015) was a Japanese politician who was a member of the Japanese Diet from 1946–1952. In 1950, she became the first woman in Japanese political history to have a baby while in office.
Park Choong-hoon (Korean: 박충훈; 19 January 1919 – 16 March 2001) was a South Korean politician who served as the acting…
Park Choong-hoon (Korean: 박충훈; 19 January 1919 – 16 March 2001) was a South Korean politician who served as the acting prime minister and acting president of South Korea in 1980.
Terukuni Manzō (Japanese: 照國 万藏; January 10, 1919 – March 20, 1977) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from…
Terukuni Manzō (Japanese: 照國 万藏; January 10, 1919 – March 20, 1977) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ogachi, Akita. He was the sport's 38th yokozuna. He was promoted to yokozuna without any top division tournament titles to his name, although he later attained two.
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.
Jirō Noguchi (野口二郎, Noguchi Jirō) (January 6, 1920 – May 21, 2007) was a Japanese baseball pitcher and…
Jirō Noguchi (野口二郎, Noguchi Jirō) (January 6, 1920 – May 21, 2007) was a Japanese baseball pitcher and outfielder/infielder who played 13 seasons in the Japanese Baseball League and then Nippon Professional Baseball, from 1939 to 1952. A two-way player who really excelled at pitching, Noguchi was a six-time 20-game winner, a three-time 30-game winner, and once won 40 games in a season. His 1.96 career earned run average is second all-time. As a batter, Noguchi had a 31-game hitting streak, a Japanese professional baseball record which stood for 25 years. He was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Noguchi was one of four brothers who played professional baseball in Japan.