Kazuo Matsui (松井 稼頭央, Matsui Kazuo; born October 23, 1975) is a Japanese former professional baseball player who played…Kazuo Matsui (松井 稼頭央, Matsui Kazuo; born October 23, 1975) is a Japanese former professional baseball player who played as a shortstop and is a former manager of the Saitama Seibu Lions. He is a switch-hitter. Matsui signed with the New York Mets on December 17, 2003, becoming the first Japanese infielder to sign with a Major League Baseball team.
Masumi Kuwata (桑田 真澄 Kuwata Masumi, born 1 April 1968 in Yao, Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese former right-handed pitcher.…Masumi Kuwata (桑田 真澄 Kuwata Masumi, born 1 April 1968 in Yao, Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese former right-handed pitcher. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) from 1986 to 2006 for the Yomiuri Giants. He also played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2007. He is the older brother of professional golfer Izumi Kuwata.
Kazuhiro Kiyohara (清原 和博, Kiyohara Kazuhiro; born August 18, 1967) is a Japanese television personality, YouTuber and…Kazuhiro Kiyohara (清原 和博, Kiyohara Kazuhiro; born August 18, 1967) is a Japanese television personality, YouTuber and former professional baseball player. He played in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league for 23 seasons. He retired following the 2008 season. Born in Kishiwada, Osaka in 1967, his family were baseball fans. He began his career when he joined his high school baseball team in the 1980s that subsequently won two Japanese High School Baseball Championships. He became a widely respected high school player and was selected by Seibu Lions in 1985. During his time with the Lions, the team won six Japan Series titles and he tied the rookie HR record for Japanese professional baseball. In 1996, he joined the Yomiuri Giants, and was an integral part of their 2000 and 2002 Japan Series championship squads. He later joined the Orix Buffaloes, before retiring in 2008. He has been dubbed "The Uncrowned King" as he never won a major batting title, despite being widely regarded as one of NPB's greatest hitters. He is the eighth and currently last player to have hit 500 home runs in NPB history. In 2014, Kiyohara was hospitalized after an alleged illegal drug abuse. At first he denied the allegation, after which he was divorced by his wife Aki Kimura due to domestic violence. After a lengthy investigation, in 2016, Kiyohara tested positive for stimulants and was subsequently arrested and given a suspended prison sentence. After being cast out from television for his conviction, he became a YouTuber posting videos about baseball and weight loss.
Masahiro Doi (土井 正博, Doi Masahiro) (born December 8, 1943) is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder in…Masahiro Doi (土井 正博, Doi Masahiro) (born December 8, 1943) is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder in Nippon Professional Baseball. He played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes from 1962 to 1974 and the Taiheiyo Club / Crown Lighter / Seibu Lions from 1975 to 1981. In a career that spanned 20 years, the slugger was selected to 15 All-Star games and was named to the Best Nine Award three times (1967, 1968, 1978). Over four decades after his retirement, Doi ranks 10th all-time in hits in Japanese baseball history with 2,452. He last served as the batting coach for the Chunichi Dragons.
Masaaki Mori (森 祇晶, Mori Masaaki; born January 9, 1937) is a retired professional Japanese baseball player and manager.…Masaaki Mori (森 祇晶, Mori Masaaki; born January 9, 1937) is a retired professional Japanese baseball player and manager. Mori played Nippon Professional Baseball from 1955–1974 as the catcher of the Yomiuri Giants. He was an eight-time Best Nine Award-winner (1961–1968) and the Japan Series MVP in 1967. He was selected to eleven Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Games. He was nicknamed "the brains of the V9 Dynasty", as he was the main catcher of the Yomiuri Giants V9 Dynasty. When his career ended in 1974, he asked newly-minted Giants manager Shigeo Nagashima for a job and was refused. After his retirement as a player, Mori managed the Seibu Lions from 1986 to 1994, leading the team to six Japan Series championships of the Invincible Seibu dynasty. He won the Matsutaro Shoriki Award in 1986 and 1990. He announced his impeding retirement from the Lions at the close of the 1994 Japan Series, although it was later speculated that management expressed it was time for a change. Mori managed the Yokohama BayStars in 2001 to 2002. Mori participated in 27 of the 73 Japan Series contested, as a player, coach, and manager, as of 2023, with him winning 21 of the 27, making him the most decorated individual in NPB history.
Hiro Sachiya (ひろさちや, Hirosachiya; 1936 – April 7, 2022) was a Japanese religious scholar and a popular contemporary…Hiro Sachiya (ひろさちや, Hirosachiya; 1936 – April 7, 2022) was a Japanese religious scholar and a popular contemporary writer of Buddhism. His birth name is Yoshihiko Masuhara (増原 良彦). He was born in Osaka Prefecture and studied Indian philosophy at University of Tokyo, graduating in 1960. Under the pen name Hiro Sachiya (derived from the Sanskrit Satya), he has written more than 400 books and articles. His interest in religion is not limited to Buddhism. He is mostly known for his comparative studies in all religions including Buddhism, Shinto, Christianity, Islam, and Confucianism.
Taeko Tomioka (富岡 多恵子, Tomioka Taeko; July 28, 1935 – April 6, 2023) was a Japanese writer. She was born in Osaka, was…Taeko Tomioka (富岡 多恵子, Tomioka Taeko; July 28, 1935 – April 6, 2023) was a Japanese writer. She was born in Osaka, was educated at Osaka Women's College, worked as a high school English teacher and moved to Tokyo in 1960. Tomioka visited New York City in 1964 and returned home to Japan in 1966. In 1969, she married Suga Kishio. Tomioka published several collections of poems. Henrei (1958) won the Mr. H Prize (H-shi Shō), awarded by the Association of Contemporary Japanese Poets. Monogatari no akuru hi (1961) received the 'Muro Saisei Prize. Tomioka also wrote a poetical drama Matsuri (1959) and a screenplay Shinju ten no Amijima (Double suicide, 1968). In 1971, she published the novel Oka ni mukatte hito wa narabu (Facing the Hills they stand). In 1974, Tomioka wrote Shokubutsu sai, which received the Tamura Toshiko Prize. In 1974, she published Meido no kazoku (Family in hell), which received the Women's Literature Prize. Her 1983 novel Namiutsu tochi was published in English as Building Waves (2012: ISBN 9781564787156). Tomioka also translated some English works by authors such as Gertrude Stein into Japanese. She has also produced essays on literature from a feminist viewpoint. In 1993, she published Nobuyoshi Araki: Akt-Tokyo, 1971-1991, a book of erotic photography. In 1997, Tomioka wrote Hiberunia kikō (A journey to Ireland), which received the Noma Literary Prize. In 2000, The Funeral of a Giraffe: Seven Stories, a collection of her stories translated from Japanese to English, was published. Tomioka died on April 6, 2023, at the age of 87.
Kotaro Ikeguchi (13 July 1935 – 8 February 2019), known by his pen name Taichi Sakaiya, was a Japanese economist and…Kotaro Ikeguchi (13 July 1935 – 8 February 2019), known by his pen name Taichi Sakaiya, was a Japanese economist and author.
Ritsuo Horimoto (堀本律雄, Horimoto Ritsuo; January 20, 1935 – January 14, 2012) was a Japanese baseball pitcher. He played…Ritsuo Horimoto (堀本律雄, Horimoto Ritsuo; January 20, 1935 – January 14, 2012) was a Japanese baseball pitcher. He played for the Yomiuri Giants from 1960 to 1962, winning both the Central League Rookie of the Year Award and the Eiji Sawamura Award in his first season. The Giants won the Japan Series the next year, and traded him for Toshio Yanagida at the end of the 1962 season. Horimoto closed his playing career with the Orions franchise, and coached the Yokohama Taiyo Whales in two stints from 1977 to 1978 and 1991 to 1992. He then joined the Nippon Ham Fighters coaching staff for two seasons, 1993 and 1994, followed by a return to coaching in 1997 with the Uni-President Lions, a Chinese Professional Baseball League team. Horimoto died of pneumonia in Yokohama on January 14, 2012, at the age of 76.
Jun'ya Yano (矢野 絢也, Yano Junya; born 27 April 1932) is a retired Japanese politician and political commentator who…Jun'ya Yano (矢野 絢也, Yano Junya; born 27 April 1932) is a retired Japanese politician and political commentator who served as the fourth leader of Komeito between 1986 and 1989. Over a decade after leaving politics, Yano has become a notable critic of the party and its religious partner Soka Gakkai.
Tetsuji Takechi (武智 鉄二, Takechi Tetsuji; 10 December 1912 – 26 July 1988) was a Japanese theatrical and film director…Tetsuji Takechi (武智 鉄二, Takechi Tetsuji; 10 December 1912 – 26 July 1988) was a Japanese theatrical and film director, critic, and author. First coming to prominence for his theatrical criticism, in the 1940s and 1950s he produced influential and popular experimental kabuki plays. Beginning in the mid-1950s, he continued his innovative theatrical work in noh, kyōgen and modern theater. In late 1956 and early 1957 he hosted a popular TV program, The Tetsuji Takechi Hour, which featured his reinterpretations of Japanese stage classics. In the 1960s, Takechi entered the film industry by producing controversial soft-core theatrical pornography. His 1964 film Daydream was the first big-budget, mainstream pink film released in Japan. After the release of his 1965 film Black Snow, the government arrested him on indecency charges. The trial became a public battle over censorship between Japan's intellectuals and the government. Takechi won the lawsuit, enabling the wave of softcore pink films which dominated Japan's domestic cinema during the 1960s and 1970s. In the later 1960s, Takechi produced three more pink films. Takechi did not work in film during most of the 1970s. In the 1980s, he remade Daydream twice, starring actress Kyōko Aizome in both films. The first Daydream remake (1981) is considered the first theatrical hardcore pornographic film in Japan. Though Takechi is largely unknown in Japan today, he was influential in both the cinema and the theater during his lifetime, and his innovations in kabuki were felt for decades. He also helped shape the future of the pink film in Japan through his battles against governmental censorship, earning him the titles, "The Father of Pink" and "The Father of Japanese Porn."
Michio Takeyama (竹山 道雄, Takeyama Michio; 17 July 1903 – 15 June 1984) was a Japanese writer, literary critic and…Michio Takeyama (竹山 道雄, Takeyama Michio; 17 July 1903 – 15 June 1984) was a Japanese writer, literary critic and scholar of German literature, active in Shōwa period Japan.
Sōichi Ōya (大宅 壮一, Ōya Sōichi; 13 September 1900 – 22 November 1970) was a Japanese journalist noted for his research…Sōichi Ōya (大宅 壮一, Ōya Sōichi; 13 September 1900 – 22 November 1970) was a Japanese journalist noted for his research and commentaries on popular culture.
Tatsuji Miyoshi (三好 達治, Miyoshi Tatsuji; 23 August 1900 – 5 April 1964) was a Japanese poet, literary critic, and…Tatsuji Miyoshi (三好 達治, Miyoshi Tatsuji; 23 August 1900 – 5 April 1964) was a Japanese poet, literary critic, and literary editor active during the Shōwa period of Japan. He is known for his lengthy free verse poetry, which often portray loneliness and isolation as part of contemporary life, but which are written in a complex, highly literary style reminiscent of classical Japanese poetry.
Yasunari Kawabata (川端 康成, Kawabata Yasunari; Japanese pronunciation: [ka.wa.ba.ta (|) ja.sɯꜜ.na.ɾʲi], 11 June 1899 – 16…Yasunari Kawabata (川端 康成, Kawabata Yasunari; Japanese pronunciation: [ka.wa.ba.ta (|) ja.sɯꜜ.na.ɾʲi], 11 June 1899 – 16 April 1972) was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly-shaded prose works won him the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal and are still widely read.