Kazumasa Nagai (Japanese: 永井 一正, Nagai Kazumasa; Ōsaka, April 20, 1929 – February 23, 2026) was a Japanese printmaker…
Kazumasa Nagai (Japanese: 永井 一正, Nagai Kazumasa; Ōsaka, April 20, 1929 – February 23, 2026) was a Japanese printmaker and graphic designer. He attended the Tokyo University of the Arts to study sculpture, and withdrew due to health problems. Nagai was a founding member of the Nippon Design Center (NDC, established in 1959), and was its president. His first works were abstract, then he changed to handmade designs of animals and plants in the 1980s. Some of his works appeared on the cover of LIFE. His work is held in museums including the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the National Gallery of Australia, the Museum of New Zealand, the British Museum, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, and the Museum of Modern Art. Nagai died on February 23, 2026, at the age of 96.
Famous People Born in April
April: 2,006 people
Shizuko Gō (郷静子; April 20, 1929–September 30, 2014) was a Japanese novelist. She was best known for her 1972 novel…
Shizuko Gō (郷静子; April 20, 1929–September 30, 2014) was a Japanese novelist. She was best known for her 1972 novel Requiem, which won the Akutagawa Prize.
Hiroko Takenishi (竹西 寛子, Takenishi Hiroko; born 11 April 1929, Hiroshima) is a Japanese fiction writer and literary…
Hiroko Takenishi (竹西 寛子, Takenishi Hiroko; born 11 April 1929, Hiroshima) is a Japanese fiction writer and literary critic. Takenishi is best known for her semi-autobiographical short story "The Rite" (1963), which tells of her experience surviving the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima. In 2012 she was named a Person of Cultural Merit for her writing.
Eiji Kitamura (Japanese: 北村 英治; born April 8, 1929) is a Japanese jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist originally…
Eiji Kitamura (Japanese: 北村 英治; born April 8, 1929) is a Japanese jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist originally from Tokyo who made his debut at the age of 22. Kitamura devoted himself to clarinet playing while still an undergraduate at Keio University in Tokyo. He first came to prominence in the U.S. at the 20th Anniversary Jam Session of the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1977. His following in Japan was built previous to this on his regular television program. He prefers to interpret traditional swing jazz rather than modern jazz, and according to Allmusic is most strongly influenced by Benny Goodman and Woody Herman.
Shōichi Ozawa (小沢 昭一, Ozawa Shōichi; April 6, 1929 – December 10, 2012) was a Japanese actor, radio host, singer, and…
Shōichi Ozawa (小沢 昭一, Ozawa Shōichi; April 6, 1929 – December 10, 2012) was a Japanese actor, radio host, singer, and prominent researcher and expert on Japanese folk art. He also founded the Shabondama-za theater company. Ozawa, who was born in Tokyo, graduated from Waseda University. He began acting after college, beginning with his debut stage role in 1951. He also appeared in television and film roles, acting quite frequently in films directed by Shohei Imamura and Yūzō Kawashima. In 1971, Ozawa launched his long running radio show. A respected folk art expert, Ozawa also researched traditional Japanese performing arts. He recorded and released "Nihon no Horo Gei" ("Japan's Itinerant Arts") based on his research. In 2004, Ozawa became the "mayor" of Meiji Mura, an open-air museum in Aichi Prefecture which showcases Meiji Era architecture. The Japanese government awarded Ozawa the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 2001 and the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1994 for his body of work. Shōichi Ozawa died on December 10, 2012, at the age of 83.
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).
Shinichiro Sakurai (桜井 眞一郎, Sakurai Shin'ichirō; 1929–2011) was a Japanese engineer for Prince Motor Company and later…
Shinichiro Sakurai (桜井 眞一郎, Sakurai Shin'ichirō; 1929–2011) was a Japanese engineer for Prince Motor Company and later Nissan. He continued to work in the automotive field up until his death. He is best known for the development of several generations of the Nissan Skyline, earning him the nickname "Father of the Skyline".
Itsuo Sonobe (Japanese: 園部逸夫 Sonobe Itsuo; 1 April 1929 – 13 September 2024) was a Japanese lawyer and politician. He…
Itsuo Sonobe (Japanese: 園部逸夫 Sonobe Itsuo; 1 April 1929 – 13 September 2024) was a Japanese lawyer and politician. He served as a Justice of the Supreme Court from 1989 to 1999. Sonobe died on 13 September 2024, at the age of 95.
Tatsuo Suzuki (鈴木 達夫, Suzuki Tatsuo; April 27, 1928 – July 12, 2011) Yokohama, Japan was an 8th Dan Japanese karateka…
Tatsuo Suzuki (鈴木 達夫, Suzuki Tatsuo; April 27, 1928 – July 12, 2011) Yokohama, Japan was an 8th Dan Japanese karateka instrumental in spreading the martial art of Wadō-ryū karate to Europe and the United States.
Isaac Namioka (April 25, 1928 – September 25, 2019) was a Japanese-American mathematician who worked in general…
Isaac Namioka (April 25, 1928 – September 25, 2019) was a Japanese-American mathematician who worked in general topology and functional analysis. He was a professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of Washington. He died at home in Seattle on September 25, 2019.
Katsuhiro Yamaguchi (山口勝弘, Yamaguchi Katsuhiro; 22 April 1928—2 May 2018) was a Japanese artist and art theorist based…
Katsuhiro Yamaguchi (山口勝弘, Yamaguchi Katsuhiro; 22 April 1928—2 May 2018) was a Japanese artist and art theorist based in Tokyo and Yokohama. Through his collaborations, writings, and teaching, he promoted an interdisciplinary avant-garde in postwar Japan that served as the foundation for the emergence of Japanese media art in the early 1980s, a field in which he remained active until his death. He represented Japan at the 1968 Venice Biennale and the 1975 Bienal de São Paulo, and served as producer for the Mitsui Pavilion at Expo '70 in Osaka.
Mikio Sato (Japanese: 佐藤 幹夫, Hepburn: Satō Mikio; 18 April 1928 – 9 January 2023) was a Japanese mathematician known…
Mikio Sato (Japanese: 佐藤 幹夫, Hepburn: Satō Mikio; 18 April 1928 – 9 January 2023) was a Japanese mathematician known for founding the fields of algebraic analysis, hyperfunctions, and holonomic quantum fields. He was a professor at the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Kyoto.
Mikio Sato (Japanese: 佐藤 幹夫, Hepburn: Satō Mikio; 18 April 1928 – 9 January 2023) was a Japanese mathematician known…
Mikio Sato (Japanese: 佐藤 幹夫, Hepburn: Satō Mikio; 18 April 1928 – 9 January 2023) was a Japanese mathematician known for founding the fields of algebraic analysis, hyperfunctions, and holonomic quantum fields. He was a professor at the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Kyoto.
Tokuji Utsu (Japanese: 宇津 徳治, April 13, 1928 – August 18, 2004) was a Japanese seismologist and Professor Emeritus of…
Tokuji Utsu (Japanese: 宇津 徳治, April 13, 1928 – August 18, 2004) was a Japanese seismologist and Professor Emeritus of University of Tokyo. He graduated from the Faculty of Science at the University of Tokyo in 1951 and became a professor at the Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo in 1977. Utsu was compiling "Catalog of Damaging Earthquakes in the World". He received the Medal with Purple Ribbon, the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class and so on.
Yōji Kuri (久里洋二, Kuri Yōji; April 9, 1928 – November 24, 2024) was a Japanese cartoonist and independent filmmaker. An…
Yōji Kuri (久里洋二, Kuri Yōji; April 9, 1928 – November 24, 2024) was a Japanese cartoonist and independent filmmaker. An influential figure in Japanese independent animation, he was the unofficial leader and most prolific of the "Animation Association of Three" (アニメーション三人の会, Animēshon Sannin no Kai) collective who kick-started the renaissance of modern-styled, independently made, adult-aimed animation in early 1960s Japan. He is known internationally for the very black comedy of his films, with the typically naïve style of his cartooning often belying the surreal, obscene and disturbing situations they depict (though he has worked in a variety of styles and mediums, including pixilation); this made them a favourite among the fervently counter-cultural audiences, which included such filmmakers as René Laloux, of the first few years of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and in a 1967 publication he was considered to be "the most significant" and "the only Japanese animator whose work is known in the West" (which is to disregard the Toei Animation features and Astro Boy series that were first seen in the West around the same time that Kuri's first several films were and mentioned in passing in the same publication, though these were not known as works of an individual and characteristic filmmaker and often had their Japanese origin played down). He is also known in Japan for his comics, a collection of which earned him the 1958 Bungeishunjū Manga Award. Though he was retired from filmmaking, he continued to illustrate and teach animation at Laputa Art Animation School (アート・アニメーションのちいさな学校, Āto Animēshon no Chiisana Gakkō). Kuri died on November 24, 2024, at the age of 96. His death was announced in the following month, on December 15.
Tatsuo Watanabe (渡部 龍雄, Watanabe Tatsuo) (April 4, 1928 – December 11, 2001) was a Japanese ski jumper who competed in…
Tatsuo Watanabe (渡部 龍雄, Watanabe Tatsuo) (April 4, 1928 – December 11, 2001) was a Japanese ski jumper who competed in the early 1950s. He finished 27th in the individual large hill event at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo.
Yoshihide Kozai (Japanese: 古在 由秀; 1 April 1928 – 5 February 2018) was a Japanese astronomer specialising in celestial…
Yoshihide Kozai (Japanese: 古在 由秀; 1 April 1928 – 5 February 2018) was a Japanese astronomer specialising in celestial mechanics. He is best known for discovering, simultaneously with Michael Lidov, the Kozai mechanism, for which he received the Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy in 1979. He was the first Japanese president of the International Astronomical Union from 1988 to 1991, and was director of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan from 1988 to 1994. He was professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and The Graduate University for Advanced Studies.
Kiyonori Kikutake (菊竹 清訓, Kikutake Kiyonori) (April 1, 1928 – December 26, 2011) was a prominent Japanese architect…
Kiyonori Kikutake (菊竹 清訓, Kikutake Kiyonori) (April 1, 1928 – December 26, 2011) was a prominent Japanese architect known as one of the founders of the Japanese Metabolist group. He was also the tutor and employer of several important Japanese architects, such as Toyo Ito, Shōzō Uchii and Itsuko Hasegawa.
Tamisuke Watanuki (綿貫 民輔, Watanuki Tamisuke; 30 April 1927 – 18 August 2026) was a Japanese politician who served as…
Tamisuke Watanuki (綿貫 民輔, Watanuki Tamisuke; 30 April 1927 – 18 August 2026) was a Japanese politician who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2000 to 2003.
Masayasu Nomura (野村眞康, Nomura Masayasu; April 1927 – November 19, 2011) was a Japanese molecular biologist. Nomura was…
Masayasu Nomura (野村眞康, Nomura Masayasu; April 1927 – November 19, 2011) was a Japanese molecular biologist. Nomura was born in April 1927, a native of Hyōgo Prefecture, and completed a bachelor's degree and doctorate at the University of Tokyo. Nomura began work in 1957 as a postdoctoral researcher in the United States, alongside Sol Spiegelman, James Watson, and Seymour Benzer. Nomura returned to Japan in 1960, to teach at the Osaka University Institute of Protein Research. Three years later, Nomura accepted a position at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was named a full professor in 1966, and remained on the faculty until 1984, when he moved to the University of California, Irvine as Grace Bell Professor of Biological Chemistry. Awarded the NAS Award in Molecular Biology in 1971, Nomura gained membership into the National Academy of Sciences itself in 1978. He was also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Academy of Microbiology, as well as the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. Nomura died in California on 19 November 2011, aged 84.
Kazue Morisaki (森崎和江, Morisaki Kazue; April 20, 1927 – June 15, 2022) was a Japanese poet and nonfiction writer. She is…
Kazue Morisaki (森崎和江, Morisaki Kazue; April 20, 1927 – June 15, 2022) was a Japanese poet and nonfiction writer. She is best known for her 1976 book Karayuki-san (からゆきさん).
Hisashi Katsuta (勝田 久, Katsuta Hisashi; 2 April 1927 – 21 February 2020) was a Japanese actor and voice actor. He is…
Hisashi Katsuta (勝田 久, Katsuta Hisashi; 2 April 1927 – 21 February 2020) was a Japanese actor and voice actor. He is best known for his voice-over portrayal of Professor Ochanomizu in three anime adaptations of the Astro Boy franchise, and also voiced Dr. Hoshi in Astroganger (1972–1973), Professor Tobishima in Groizer X (1976–1977), and Shin'ichirō Izumi in Tōshō Daimos (1978–1979).
Taeko Kono (河野多惠子, Kōno Taeko; February 24, 1926 – January 29, 2015) was a Japanese writer who was active during the…
Taeko Kono (河野多惠子, Kōno Taeko; February 24, 1926 – January 29, 2015) was a Japanese writer who was active during the latter half of the 20th century. Kōno belonged to a generation of female Japanese writers who became more well-known in the 1960s and 70s. She established a reputation for herself as an acerbic essayist, a playwright, and a literary critic. By the end of her life, she played a role in Japan's literary establishment and one of the first female writers to serve on the Akutagawa Literary Prize committee. Kenzaburō Ōe, Japan's Nobel Laureate, described her as one of the most lucidly intelligent female writers in Japan, and the US critic and academic Masao Miyoshi identified her as among the most "critically alert and historically intelligent". US critic and academic Davinder Bhowmik described her as one of the truly original voices of the twentieth century, beyond questions of gender or nationality. A writer who deals with dark themes, Kōno is known to many English speaking readers because of her collection of short stories Toddler-Hunting and Other Stories (New Directions, 1996).
Yasuki Hiramatsu (平松 保城, Hiramatsu Yasuki; (April 30, 1926 – April 11, 2012) was born in Osaka, Japan. He was a…
Yasuki Hiramatsu (平松 保城, Hiramatsu Yasuki; (April 30, 1926 – April 11, 2012) was born in Osaka, Japan. He was a Japanese artist and considered a pioneer of modern jewelry in Japan. He served as a member of the Japan Craft Design Association, the Japan Jewellery Designers Association, and the Mitglied von der Gesellschaft für Goldschmiedekunst.
Man Sasaki (Japanese: 佐々木満 Sasaki Man; 20 April 1926 – 7 April 2022) was a Japanese politician. A member of the Liberal…
Man Sasaki (Japanese: 佐々木満 Sasaki Man; 20 April 1926 – 7 April 2022) was a Japanese politician. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he served in the House of Councillors from 1976 to 1998. He died in Akita on 7 April 2022 at the age of 95.
Takashi Sugimura (杉村 隆, Sugimura Takashi; April 20, 1926 – September 6, 2020) was a Japanese biochemist, famous for…
Takashi Sugimura (杉村 隆, Sugimura Takashi; April 20, 1926 – September 6, 2020) was a Japanese biochemist, famous for research on chemical carcinogens. He received the Japan Prize for the contribution to establishment of fundamental concept on causes of cancer. He was elected as President of the Japan Academy on October 15, 2013, serving till 2016 and was followed by Hiroshi Shiono.
Yasuaki Ninomiya is a Japanese aircraft designer. He is the creator of the "WhiteWings" line of paperboard aircraft…
Yasuaki Ninomiya is a Japanese aircraft designer. He is the creator of the "WhiteWings" line of paperboard aircraft, described as "the Ferraris of paper airplanes" by a curator of the National Air and Space Museum.
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.
Komimasa Tanaka (田中 小実昌, Tanaka Komimasa; April 29, 1925–February 29, 2000) was a noted Japanese writer, essayist, and…
Komimasa Tanaka (田中 小実昌, Tanaka Komimasa; April 29, 1925–February 29, 2000) was a noted Japanese writer, essayist, and translator.
Masatarō Shimizu (清水 正二郎, Shimizu Masatarō; 26 April 1925 – 23 May 1994), known by his pen name Koshi Kurumizawa (胡桃沢…
Masatarō Shimizu (清水 正二郎, Shimizu Masatarō; 26 April 1925 – 23 May 1994), known by his pen name Koshi Kurumizawa (胡桃沢 耕史, Kurumizawa Kōshi), was a Japanese writer of detective fiction during the Shōwa era.
Ichirō Tominaga (富永一朗, Tominaga Ichirō; April 25, 1925 - May 5, 2021) was a Japanese manga artist. He was a recipient…
Ichirō Tominaga (富永一朗, Tominaga Ichirō; April 25, 1925 - May 5, 2021) was a Japanese manga artist. He was a recipient of the Japan Cartoonists Association Award, the Medal with Purple Ribbon, and he was Honorary Director of the Kibi Kawakami Fureai Manga Museum in Okayama Prefecture.
Tokitsuyama Jin'ichi (March 10, 1925 – November 21, 1968) was a professional sumo wrestler from Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan…
Tokitsuyama Jin'ichi (March 10, 1925 – November 21, 1968) was a professional sumo wrestler from Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan who wrestled for Tatsunami stable. He won the top division sumo championship in the summer tournament of 1953 and was runner-up in five other tournaments. His highest rank was sekiwake. After his retirement in 1961 he worked as a coach at Tatsunami stable until his death in 1968.
Takami Eto (江藤 隆美, Etō Takami; 10 April 1925 – 22 November 2007) was a Japanese politician and former member of Japan's…
Takami Eto (江藤 隆美, Etō Takami; 10 April 1925 – 22 November 2007) was a Japanese politician and former member of Japan's House of Representatives.
Zenzō Matsuyama (松山 善三, Matsuyama Zenzō; 3 April 1925 – 27 August 2016) was a Japanese screenwriter and film director.…
Zenzō Matsuyama (松山 善三, Matsuyama Zenzō; 3 April 1925 – 27 August 2016) was a Japanese screenwriter and film director. He was born in Kobe and grew up in Yokohama. After leaving school, he began training to become a doctor but dropped out of medical school to take up a career in films. In 1948 he became an assistant director at Shochiku studios. With the support of Keisuke Kinoshita, he also began writing film scripts. His first filmed script was Kojo no tsuki, based on the song "Kōjō no Tsuki", filmed in 1954. In 1955 he married actress Hideko Takamine. He made his debut as a director with a film called Na mo naku mazushiku utsukushiku in 1961. He continued to work as a scriptwriter for films like Proof of the Man as well as a director. He also wrote the lyrics for a song "Ippon no enpitsu" for Hibari Misora.
Kazuo Shinohara (篠原 一男, Shinohara Kazuo; April 2, 1925 – July 15, 2006) was a Japanese architect, forming what is now…
Kazuo Shinohara (篠原 一男, Shinohara Kazuo; April 2, 1925 – July 15, 2006) was a Japanese architect, forming what is now widely known as the "Shinohara School", which has been linked to the works of Toyo Ito, Kazunari Sakamoto and Itsuko Hasegawa, Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa. As architectural critic Thomas Daniell put it, "A key figure who explicitly rejected Western influences yet appears on almost every branch of the family tree of contemporary Japanese architecture... is Kazuo Shinohara... His effects on the discipline as a theorist, designer and teacher have been immense." He studied at Tokyo Institute of Technology, (TIT) finishing in 1953, and going on to become professor in 1970. He established his own practice in 1954, going on to design more than 30 residential buildings, as well as many key public buildings across Japan. His work is generally classified as having strong qualities of lucidity and ephemerality, and for these reasons is often seen as ideologically influential on Toyo Ito's work. He was awarded the Architectural Institute of Japan's (AIJ) grand prize in 2005. In 2010 the Biennale di Venezia awarded a special commemorative Golden Lion in memory of Kazuo Shinohara.
Tatsuo Endo (遠藤 達雄, Endō Tatsuo; 1925 – 1989) was a Japanese engineer. In 1968, while a visiting professor at the…
Tatsuo Endo (遠藤 達雄, Endō Tatsuo; 1925 – 1989) was a Japanese engineer. In 1968, while a visiting professor at the University of Illinois, he developed the rainflow-counting algorithm for fatigue analysis of structures, along with M. Matsuishi.
Kunio Busujima (毒島 邦雄, Busujima Kunio; 1 April 1925 – 22 October 2016) was a Japanese billionaire businessman, and the…
Kunio Busujima (毒島 邦雄, Busujima Kunio; 1 April 1925 – 22 October 2016) was a Japanese billionaire businessman, and the founder and chairman of Sankyo, one of the three major pachinko machine makers in Japan. According to Forbes in January 2015, he had an estimated net worth of US$4.2 billion. He died in October 2016 at the age of 91.
Tsunetoshi Tanaka (田中 恒利, Tanaka Tsunetoshi; April 1, 1925 - January 12, 2014) was a Japanese politician. He was a…
Tsunetoshi Tanaka (田中 恒利, Tanaka Tsunetoshi; April 1, 1925 - January 12, 2014) was a Japanese politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives (1969–1972, 1980–1996).
Masatoshi Itō (伊藤 雅俊, Itō Masatoshi; 30 April 1924 – 10 March 2023) was a Japanese businessman and founder of…
Masatoshi Itō (伊藤 雅俊, Itō Masatoshi; 30 April 1924 – 10 March 2023) was a Japanese businessman and founder of Ito-Yokado.
Shintaro Abe (安倍 晋太郎, Abe Shintarō; 29 April 1924 – 15 May 1991) was a Japanese politician who served as Minister of…
Shintaro Abe (安倍 晋太郎, Abe Shintarō; 29 April 1924 – 15 May 1991) was a Japanese politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1982 to 1986. He was a leading member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He was the father of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and part of the Satō–Kishi–Abe family.
Miyeko O Murase (村瀬実惠子 Murase Miyeko 27 April 1924 – 12 February 2025) was a Japanese art historian, curator, and…
Miyeko O Murase (村瀬実惠子 Murase Miyeko 27 April 1924 – 12 February 2025) was a Japanese art historian, curator, and scholar known for her work on classical Japanese painting, particularly narrative handscrolls (emakimono), folding screens (byōbu), and calligraphy. She was the Takeo and Itsuko Atsumi Professor of Japanese Art at Columbia University and served for a decade as Special Consultant for Japanese Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Junnosuke Yoshiyuki (吉行 淳之介, Yoshiyuki Junnosuke; April 13, 1924 – July 26, 1994) was a Japanese novelist and…
Junnosuke Yoshiyuki (吉行 淳之介, Yoshiyuki Junnosuke; April 13, 1924 – July 26, 1994) was a Japanese novelist and short-story writer, and a member of the so-called "Third Generation of Postwar Writers" (第3の新人).
Ikuma Dan (團 伊玖磨, Dan Ikuma; 7 April 1924 – 17 May 2001) was a Japanese composer. Dan was born in Tokyo, the descendant…
Ikuma Dan (團 伊玖磨, Dan Ikuma; 7 April 1924 – 17 May 2001) was a Japanese composer. Dan was born in Tokyo, the descendant of a prominent family, his grandfather Baron Dan Takuma having been President of Mitsui before being assassinated in 1932. He graduated from Aoyama Gakuin and Tokyo Music School in 1946. He studied with teachers including Kosaku Yamada, Kunihiko Hashimoto, Kan'ichi Shimofusa, Saburō Moroi, and Midori Hosokawa. During his career he completed six symphonies, all recorded and released on the Decca label in Japan, and wrote seven operas as well as a number of filmscores, and many songs. He wrote celebratory music for the Japanese imperial family, actively promoted cultural exchange with China (from 1979 until his death in Suzhou, China, in 2001), and received the commission to write an opera (Takeru) for the 1997 opening of the New National Theatre, Tokyo, Japan's main opera house. Dan is known in Japan for his 1951 opera Yūzuru (Twilight Crane), which is regularly revived there.
Tokuji Iida (飯田 徳治, Iida Tokuji; April 6, 1924 – June 19, 2000) was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball first…
Tokuji Iida (飯田 徳治, Iida Tokuji; April 6, 1924 – June 19, 2000) was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball first baseman. He both batted and threw right-handed. Iida spent most of his 16-year career with the Nankai Hawks, where he won 5 Best Nine Awards, 4 Pacific League pennants, and a Pacific League MVP Award in 1955. He spent the remainder of his career with the Kokutestu Swallows, with his final season in 1963. He played 1,246 consecutive games until finally taking a rest day on May 24, 1958.
Sen Sōshitsu XV (十五代千宗室, jū go dai sen sōshitsu; 19 April 1923 – 14 August 2025) was the 15th-generation Grand Master…
Sen Sōshitsu XV (十五代千宗室, jū go dai sen sōshitsu; 19 April 1923 – 14 August 2025) was the 15th-generation Grand Master (iemoto) of Urasenke, which is one of the most widely known schools of Japanese tea, and served in official capacity from 1964 to 2002. In 1949, he received the Zen title Hōunsai (鵬雲斎). Following his retirement, he adopted the name Sen Genshitsu (玄室), with the honorary title Daisōshō, in order to distinguish him from his son and successor, Sen Sōshitsu XVI. For over seven decades, Sen Genshitsu traveled across the world in order to promote the ethos of "Peacefulness through a Bowl of Tea".
Shozo Awazu (粟津 正蔵, Awazu Shōzō; April 18, 1923 – March 17, 2016) was a Japanese master of judo who achieved the rank…
Shozo Awazu (粟津 正蔵, Awazu Shōzō; April 18, 1923 – March 17, 2016) was a Japanese master of judo who achieved the rank of Kōdōkan 9th Dan. He led the development of judo in France.
Akira Iwai (岩井 章, Iwai Akira; April 25, 1922 – February 18, 1997) was a Japanese trade union leader. He served as the…
Akira Iwai (岩井 章, Iwai Akira; April 25, 1922 – February 18, 1997) was a Japanese trade union leader. He served as the secretary-general of the General Council of Trade Unions of Japan (Sōhyō) from 1955 to 1970. Born in Matsumoto, Nagano, Iwai left school in 1937 and began working as a locomotive hand on the Japan National Railways. He served in the armed forces during World War II, but returned to the railways after the war, and joined the National Railway Workers' Union. In 1950, he became the chair of the union's headquarters struggle committee, leading the union's "year-end struggle" in 1952 and 1953, but in 1954 he was sacked by his employer due his trade union activities. Within the national trade federation Sōhyō, Iwai voiced his disagreement with secretary-general Minoru Takano over Takano's "Peace Force Thesis," whereby Takano sought to align Sōhyō with the "peaceful" Soviet Union and Communist China against the "warlike" United States. In 1955, Iwai was instrumental in blocking the reelection of Takano to a fifth term, and was himself elected secretary-general instead. When the charismatic Kaoru Ōta was elected Sōhyō chairman in 1958, Ōta and Iwai formed a close partnership known as the "Ōta-Iwai Line," which sought to balance wage struggles with political struggles. Iwai supported Ōta's policy of the "spring wage offensive" (shuntō), an annual, coordinated, pre-scheduled strike by Sōhyō unions to secure annual wage increases in line with Japan's economic growth. Iwai also helped oversee Sōhyō's militant role in the 1960 Anpo protests against the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty and the 1960 Mitsui Miike Coal Mine Strike. However, both the Anpo and Miike struggles came to be viewed as defeats for the labor movement, as the Anpo protests failed to stop passage of a revised security treaty, and the Miike miners' union was broken when Mitsui corporation succeeded in hiving off a more pliable "second union" and reopening the mine. After these perceived failures, Iwai and Ōta sought to further moderate Sōhyō's renowned militancy, shying away from political protests and focusing more on bread-and-butter issues such as securing piecemeal workplace improvements and wage increases, negotiated amicably with employers in advance of the annual shuntō spring wage offensive. Public-sector unions, however, did not benefit as much from these efforts, and saw their wages falling behind private-sector counterparts. These workers remained extremely militant, and pressured Sōhyō to take more forceful actions vis-a-vis their government employers. When Sōhyō's public-sector unions threatened to go on strike in 1964, in defiance of a law banning public-sector workers from striking, Ōta and Iwai met face-to-face with Prime Minister of Japan Ikeda Hayato, and successfully negotiated an annual increase in public sector wages that would match pay in the private sector, in exchange for a promise to further reduce labor militancy. Iwai retired as secretary-general of Sōhyō in 1970, and was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize that same year. In 1972, he became vice-president of the Japan-Soviet Friendship Society.
Ayako Miura (三浦綾子, Miura Ayako; 25 April 1922 – 12 October 1999) was a Japanese novelist. She published over eighty…
Ayako Miura (三浦綾子, Miura Ayako; 25 April 1922 – 12 October 1999) was a Japanese novelist. She published over eighty works of both fiction and non-fiction. Many of her works are considered best-sellers, and a number have been remade as feature-length films. Her debut novel, Hyōten (氷点, "Freezing Point"), was published in 1964, and won the Asahi Shimbun's Ten Million Yen Award that same year.
Kazui Nihonmatsu (二本松 嘉瑞, Nihonmatsu Yoshimitsu) (born 9 April 1922, date of death unknown) was a Japanese film…
Kazui Nihonmatsu (二本松 嘉瑞, Nihonmatsu Yoshimitsu) (born 9 April 1922, date of death unknown) was a Japanese film director.
Kyohei Fujita (藤田 喬平, Fujita Kyōhei; 1921 – September 18, 2004) was a Japanese glass artist. He received training early…
Kyohei Fujita (藤田 喬平, Fujita Kyōhei; 1921 – September 18, 2004) was a Japanese glass artist. He received training early in his career as a worker in the factory of Toshichi Iwata and his early work shows Iwata's influence in style and materials. Fujita later matured as a glass artist and developed his own, unique style. With Histoshi Iwata, son of Toshichi Iwata, and fifty other artists, Fujita established the Japan Glass Artcrafts Association in 1972. Kyohei Fujita is best known for his glass boxes with complicated surface decorations, and his work was included in the exhibit One of a Kind: The Studio Craft Movement at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, December 22, 2006 – September 3, 2007.