Susumu Sakurai (born 1968) is a Japanese scientist and science navigator. He was born in Yamagata Prefecture. He is the…Susumu Sakurai (born 1968) is a Japanese scientist and science navigator. He was born in Yamagata Prefecture. He is the president of sakurAi Science Factory Inc.
Fumitaka Sato (23 March 1938 – 14 September 2025) was a Japanese astrophysicist and theoretical physicist. He died from…Fumitaka Sato (23 March 1938 – 14 September 2025) was a Japanese astrophysicist and theoretical physicist. He died from bacterial pneumonia at a hospital in Kyoto, on 14 September 2025, at the age of 87.
Shōichi Watanabe (渡部 昇一, Watanabe Shōichi; 15 September 1930 – 17 April 2017) was a Japanese scholar of English and one…Shōichi Watanabe (渡部 昇一, Watanabe Shōichi; 15 September 1930 – 17 April 2017) was a Japanese scholar of English and one of Japan's cultural critics. He is known for ultranationalist historical negationism. He was born in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture. A graduate of Sophia University, where he obtained his Master's degree, he completed his doctorate at University of Münster in 1958. Two volumes of autobiography on his years in Germany narrate his varied experiences during this period. Returning to his alma mater, he became successively lecturer, assistant professor and full professor, until his retirement. He served as emeritus professor at the same university until his death. A passionate book-collector, he was chairman of the Japan Bibliophile Society. His personal collection of books on English philology (see Bibliography) was perhaps his most important contribution to the field of English philology in Japan, containing many rare items.
Kiyoo Mogi (茂木 清夫, Mogi Kiyoo; 1929 in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan–6 June 2021) was a prominent seismologist. He was…Kiyoo Mogi (茂木 清夫, Mogi Kiyoo; 1929 in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan–6 June 2021) was a prominent seismologist. He was regarded as Japan's foremost authority on earthquake prediction and was a chair of the Japanese Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction (CCEP). Mogi was also a director of the University of Tokyo's Earthquake Research Institute, a professor at Nihon University and a professor emeritus at Tokyo University. Due to the seismic activity in Japan, Mogi also took an interest in the safety of nuclear power in Japan. In 1969, Mogi predicted that there was a possibility of a shallow magnitude 8.0 earthquake in the Tōkai region of Japan, an area that has experienced a number of previous large earthquakes. Following the passing of the Large-Scale Earthquake Countermeasure Act, in 1978, Mogi was appointed to the newly created Earthquake Assessment Committee (EAC) for the expected Tokai earthquake, charged with warning the government if the quake was imminent. He went on to chair the ECA from 1991 until he resigned from the post in 1996 after failing to persuade the government of the need to take uncertainty into account when issuing warnings.
Teruko "Terry" Ishizaka (石坂 照子, Ishizaka Teruko; 28 September 1926 – 4 June 2019) was a Japanese scientist and…Teruko "Terry" Ishizaka (石坂 照子, Ishizaka Teruko; 28 September 1926 – 4 June 2019) was a Japanese scientist and immunologist who along with her husband Kimishige Ishizaka discovered the antibody class Immunoglobulin E (IgE) in 1966. Their work was regarded as a major breakthrough in the understanding of allergy, and for this work she received the 1972 Passano Award and the 1973 Gairdner Foundation International Award. She was known in the science world for her generosity and collaborative spirit.
Tomonobu Imamichi (今道 友信, Imamichi Tomonobu; November 19, 1922 – October 13, 2012) was a Japanese philosopher who…Tomonobu Imamichi (今道 友信, Imamichi Tomonobu; November 19, 1922 – October 13, 2012) was a Japanese philosopher who studied Chinese philosophy.
Sechi Katō (1893–1989) was a chemist who became the first woman to be a principal investigator at RIKEN, Japan's…Sechi Katō (1893–1989) was a chemist who became the first woman to be a principal investigator at RIKEN, Japan's national Institute of Chemical and Physical Research. Katō was the first female student at Hokkaido University, and the third woman Doctor of Science in Japan. She developed spectrometric analysis of organic materials in Japan. Katō faced personal adversity as well as gender barriers. When she was a baby, her mother and two of her siblings were killed when their house caught fire after collapsing in an earthquake. Her father died a few years later at the age of 43. Katō married young and had two children, one of whom died in battle in World War II. She lived to the age of 95.
Kinnosuke Ogura (born Sakata, Yamagata, 1885 – 1962, Japanese: 小倉金之助) was a Japanese mathematician and historian of…Kinnosuke Ogura (born Sakata, Yamagata, 1885 – 1962, Japanese: 小倉金之助) was a Japanese mathematician and historian of mathematics. He graduated in 1905 from Tokyo College of Science (now Tokyo Science University), and was a lecturer there from 1910 to 1911. He was assistant at the Department of Mathematics of the new Tohoku Imperial University from 1911 to 1917, and received his Ph.D. in 1916 with a thesis on trajectories in the conservative field of force. He did research in France for two years, from 1919 to 1922. He was an Invited Speaker of the ICM in 1920 at Strasbourg. Ogura was a researcher from 1917 to 1937 at the Shiomi Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (antecedent of the Faculty of Science, Osaka Imperial University). He was appointed in 1940 as Chief Director of Tokyo College of Science. In 1946 he was elected President of the Association of Democratic Scientists of Japan. Ogura died in 1962. His Collected Works appeared in eight volumes in 1974.
Kwanichi Terazawa (寺沢 寛一, Terazawa Kan'ichi; July 15, 1882 – February 5, 1969) was a Japanese mathematician and…Kwanichi Terazawa (寺沢 寛一, Terazawa Kan'ichi; July 15, 1882 – February 5, 1969) was a Japanese mathematician and administrator. Terazawa was born in Yonezawa, graduated from the Imperial University of Tokyo in 1908 following the study of physics, and earned his D.Sc. degree in 1917. His career at the Imperial University of Tokyo lasted from 1918 to his retirement in 1949 where he was professor of physics, while having served as professor at the Aeronautical Research Institute for nineteen of those years. He served as the director of that institution in 1942–1943 and as professor at the Earthquake Research Institute from 1936 to 1942 (and as director in 1938–1942). For the period 1938-1943 he was employed as dean of the Faculty of Science and in 1951 he was received at the Japan Academy.
Tetsu Tamura (also known as "S. Tetsu Tamura"; birth name: Satoru Tamura); October 18, 1876 – August 19, 1909) was a…Tetsu Tamura (also known as "S. Tetsu Tamura"; birth name: Satoru Tamura); October 18, 1876 – August 19, 1909) was a Japanese meteorologist and oceanographer, who utilized higher mathematics, active in the United States (U.S. National Weather Service) before Syukuro Manabe (2021 Nobel Prize in Physics) and Japan during the Meiji era. Tamura helped Cleveland Abbe (head of the NWS) as his assistant specialized in physico-mathematical theory for three years (1903 – 1906) until his returning to Japan and frequently published articles to Science magazine, Weekly Weather Review, etc. as listed below. He was also a pedagogist of the comparative educational system. He taught at the Naval War College, Tokyo Higher Normal School (now University of Tsukuba), and Waseda University.
Shirōta Kusakabe (Japanese: 日下部 四郎太, May 5 1875 – July 3 1924) was a Japanese geophysicist, doctor of Science. He was a…Shirōta Kusakabe (Japanese: 日下部 四郎太, May 5 1875 – July 3 1924) was a Japanese geophysicist, doctor of Science. He was a professor at Tohoku Imperial University. He won the Imperial Academy Prize for his work on rock elasticity. He has published numerous treatises, and a magazine published after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 contains a treatise on earthquake prediction by Shirota Kusakabe. Shirōta Kusakabe was born in Yamagata Prefecture in 1875. In 1900, he graduated from the Department of Physics, Tokyo Imperial University. From August 1907 to December 1910, he studied abroad in Europe and visited Germany, France and the United Kingdom. He studied under Hantaro Nagaoka and proceeded with research on rocks and seismic waves. In 1914, he won the Imperial Academy Prize for his work on rock elasticity.
Mineichirō Adachi (安達 峰一郎, Adachi Mineichirō; July 29, 1869 – December 28, 1934) was a Japanese legal expert and…Mineichirō Adachi (安達 峰一郎, Adachi Mineichirō; July 29, 1869 – December 28, 1934) was a Japanese legal expert and President of the Permanent Court of International Justice at the Hague from 1931 until 1934.
