Alan Hale (March 7, 1958 – June 6, 2026) was an American professional astronomer who co-discovered Comet Hale–Bopp…
Alan Hale (March 7, 1958 – June 6, 2026) was an American professional astronomer who co-discovered Comet Hale–Bopp independently of its other co-discoverer, Thomas Bopp, an amateur astronomer. Hale specialized in the study of Sun-like stars and the search for extra-solar planetary systems, and had side interests in the fields of comets and near-Earth asteroids. He was an astronomer most of his life and served as the president of the Earthrise Institute, which he founded, and which has as its mission the use of astronomy as a tool for breaking down international and intercultural barriers. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) named an asteroid in Hale's honor, 4151 Alanhale, in recognition of his numerous comet observations.
Famous People from Tokyo
Tokyo: 17 people
Hisaki Matsuura (松浦 寿輝, Matsuura Hisaki; born March 18, 1954) is a Japanese professor, poet, and novelist.
Ken'ichi Nomoto (野本 憲一 Nomoto Ken'ichi, born 1 December 1946 in Tokyo) is a Japanese astrophysicist and astronomer…
Ken'ichi Nomoto (野本 憲一 Nomoto Ken'ichi, born 1 December 1946 in Tokyo) is a Japanese astrophysicist and astronomer, known for his research on stellar evolution, supernovae, and the origin of heavy elements.
Noriko Mizuta (水田 宗子, Mizuta Noriko; born August 19, 1937) is a scholar of comparative literature and a poet. She is…
Noriko Mizuta (水田 宗子, Mizuta Noriko; born August 19, 1937) is a scholar of comparative literature and a poet. She is the trustee of Jōsai University Educational Corporation in Japan. She was awarded the Pro Cultura Hungarica prize in 2011 and the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary (civil division) in 2013.
Taijirō Amazawa (Japanese: 天沢 退二郎 Amazawa Taijirō; 21 July 1936 – 25 January 2023) was a Japanese poet, translator, and…
Taijirō Amazawa (Japanese: 天沢 退二郎 Amazawa Taijirō; 21 July 1936 – 25 January 2023) was a Japanese poet, translator, and scholar.
Shigehiko Hasumi (Japanese: 蓮實重彥, also romanized Shiguéhiko; born 29 April 1936) is a Japanese literary critic, film…
Shigehiko Hasumi (Japanese: 蓮實重彥, also romanized Shiguéhiko; born 29 April 1936) is a Japanese literary critic, film critic, French literature scholar, and novelist. He was a professor at the University of Tokyo (Cultural Studies, or the Study of Culture and Representation), dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and the 26th President (1997-2001). Hasumi started his academic career as a Gustave Flaubert scholar, and played a central role in the early introduction of the contemporary French philosophy, such as Gilles Deleuze and Michel Foucault, into Japan in the 1970s. He is known as one of the most prolific Japanese reviewers of modern literature and film. Since the 1980s, Hasumi has been active in introducing the French New Wave filmmakers' thought and Hollywood B-films. His method of viewing and writing about film, inspired by the 1950s French film criticism appearing in Cahiers du Cinéma, played a major role in Japanese film culture in the late 20th century. His influential work includes Directed by Yasujiro Ozu (1983). Reflecting on Hasumi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa noted, "The international recognition of Yasujiro Ozu and Mikio Naruse would never have been achieved without Hasumi. Even the popularity of Clint Eastwood and Wim Wenders in Japan owes much to his influence. And as for myself—there’s no doubt that I’m only able to be here, doing what I do, all thanks to the good fortune of having met Shiguéhiko Hasumi." He is married to Chantal Van Melkebeke, the daughter of the Belgian painter, journalist, and writer Jacques Van Melkebeke, who is known for having been the first chief editor of Tintin magazine. They had one son, Shigeomi Hasumi. In 1970, the French Broadcasting and Television Office interviewed him, his wife and his son in French in Tokyo for 20 minutes. Hasumi curated a film series entitled Shiguéhiko Hasumi: Another History of the Movie in America and Japan for Japan Society in 2025, including works by Richard Fleischer, Michael Mann and Makoto Sato. Director Sho Miyake attended, presenting his collaboration with Hasumi—the montage film John Ford and Throwing.
Kanji Nishio (西尾 幹二, Nishio Kanji; July 20, 1935 – November 1, 2024) was a Japanese intellectual and professor emeritus…
Kanji Nishio (西尾 幹二, Nishio Kanji; July 20, 1935 – November 1, 2024) was a Japanese intellectual and professor emeritus of literature at the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo, Japan.
Hideo Kiyama (木山 英雄, Kiyama Hideo; born 20 April 1934) is a Japanese Sinologist. He was born in Arakawa, Tokyo and…
Hideo Kiyama (木山 英雄, Kiyama Hideo; born 20 April 1934) is a Japanese Sinologist. He was born in Arakawa, Tokyo and graduated from the University of Tokyo.
Jun Kubota (久保田 淳 Kubota Jun, born 13 June 1933) is a scholar of Japanese literature. He is best-known for his work on…
Jun Kubota (久保田 淳 Kubota Jun, born 13 June 1933) is a scholar of Japanese literature. He is best-known for his work on medieval waka.
Susumu Nakanishi (中西進, Nakanishi Susumu; born 21 August 1929 in Tokyo) is a scholar of Japanese literature…
Susumu Nakanishi (中西進, Nakanishi Susumu; born 21 August 1929 in Tokyo) is a scholar of Japanese literature, particularly of the Man'yōshū. He earned his Doctor of Literature degree from the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) in 1962. He is widely believed to have conceived the name of the current era of the official calendar of Japan, Reiwa (令和, 2019-). However, it is a custom not to reveal the conceiver of the name of an era, and he has said, 'Era names are not for secular individuals like Susumu Nakanishi to decide, but are determined by divine inspiration. There is no such person as the inventor of the name "Reiwa"'.
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.
Masao Miyoshi (三好将夫, Miyoshi Masao; 1928 – 1 October 2009) was a scholar of literature and culture and Hajime Mori…
Masao Miyoshi (三好将夫, Miyoshi Masao; 1928 – 1 October 2009) was a scholar of literature and culture and Hajime Mori Endowed Chair in Japanese Language and Literature at the University of California, San Diego.
Hanako Muraoka (村岡 花子, Muraoka Hanako; June 21, 1893 – October 25, 1968) was a Japanese novelist and translator. She is…
Hanako Muraoka (村岡 花子, Muraoka Hanako; June 21, 1893 – October 25, 1968) was a Japanese novelist and translator. She is best known for translating Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery into Japanese.
Yūkichi Takeda (武田 祐吉, Takeda Yūkichi; 5 May 1886 – 29 March 1958) was a scholar of Japanese literature.
Bin Ueda (上田 敏, Ueda Bin; October 30, 1874 – July 9, 1916) was a Japanese writer. Born in Tsukiji, Tokyo, he graduated…
Bin Ueda (上田 敏, Ueda Bin; October 30, 1874 – July 9, 1916) was a Japanese writer. Born in Tsukiji, Tokyo, he graduated from Tokyo Imperial University. His major work is Kaichoon 海潮音 (The Sound of the Tide, 1905), a collection of translations from Western poets by Ueda himself.
Sazanami Iwaya (巖谷 小波, Iwaya Sazanami; 4 July 1870 - 5 September 1933) was a Japanese writer, children's author, oral…
Sazanami Iwaya (巖谷 小波, Iwaya Sazanami; 4 July 1870 - 5 September 1933) was a Japanese writer, children's author, oral storyteller, German literature scholar, journalist and haiku poet from the Meiji and Taishō eras. His birthname was Sueo Iwaya (巖谷季雄, Iwaya Sueo). Pseudonyms include Sazanami Sanjin (漣山人), Rakutenkyo (楽天居) and Ōe Sazanami (大江小波). He is regarded as a pioneer of Japanese children's literature who ushered the history of modern children's literature by publishing Japan's first original children's story, “Koganemaru” (Hakubunkan, 1891).
Natsume Sōseki (; Japanese: 夏目 漱石; born Natsume Kinnosuke (夏目 金之助); 9 February 1867 – 9 December 1916) was a Japanese…
Natsume Sōseki (; Japanese: 夏目 漱石; born Natsume Kinnosuke (夏目 金之助); 9 February 1867 – 9 December 1916) was a Japanese novelist, poet, and scholar. He is considered one of the greatest writers in modern Japanese history and is often called the first modern novelist of Japan. Sōseki's fiction explored themes of individualism, loneliness, and the conflict between traditional Japanese values and the rapid Westernization of the Meiji era. His major works include I Am a Cat (1905), Botchan (1906), Sanshirō (1908), Kokoro (1914), and his unfinished final novel Light and Dark (1916). Born on the cusp of the Meiji Restoration, Sōseki had a turbulent childhood, having been given up for adoption twice. He graduated from Tokyo Imperial University and became a scholar of English literature. In 1900, he was sent by the Japanese government to study in London, where he spent two miserable years marked by poverty, racial alienation, and a severe nervous breakdown. Upon his return to Japan, he succeeded Lafcadio Hearn as a lecturer in English literature at Tokyo Imperial University. In 1905, he achieved fame with the publication of the satirical novel I Am a Cat. This success prompted him to begin a prolific writing career, and in 1907, he resigned from his university post to become a full-time author for the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, a move that marked the birth of the professional artist in modern Japan. For the rest of his life, Sōseki published a novel a year while also writing poetry and literary criticism. His work is characterized by its psychological depth, its blend of humor and pessimism, and its exploration of the human ego. Throughout his adult life, he suffered from severe stomach ulcers and recurring bouts of mental illness, including paranoid delusions, which deeply affected his work and personal life. Sōseki died from complications of his stomach condition in 1916 at the age of 49, leaving his final novel, Light and Dark, unfinished. His influence on Japanese literature is profound, and he remains one of the country's most beloved and widely read authors. His portrait appeared on the 1,000-yen banknote from 1984 to 2004.