Famous People from Japan

99 notable historical figures from Japan, including leaders, artists, scientists, and other influential people.

Akira Kurosawa

1910 – 1998

Japanese filmmaker (1910–1998)

Born March 23

Shinzō Abe

1954 – 2022

Prime Minister of Japan from 2006–2007 and 2012–2020 (1954–2022)

Born September 21

Murasaki Shikibu

970 – 1100

Japanese novelist and poet (c.973–c.1014)

Born January 1

Hirohito

1901 – 1989

Emperor of Japan from 1926 to 1989

Born April 29

Toshirō Mifune

1920 – 1997

Japanese actor (1920–1997)

Born April 1

Yasunari Kawabata

1899 – 1972

Japanese novelist (1899–1972)

Born June 11

Hayao Miyazaki

1941 – Present

Japanese animator, film director, and mangaka (born 1941)

Born January 5

Yoshihide Suga

1948 – Present

Prime Minister of Japan from 2020 to 2021

Born December 6

Kenzaburō Ōe

1935 – 2023

Japanese writer and Nobel Laureate (1935–2023)

Born January 31

Yoko Ono

1933 – Present

Japanese artist and activist based in the United States (born 1933)

Born February 18

Ichirō Mizuki

1948 – 2022

Japanese singer, voice actor (1948-2022)

Born January 7

Fumio Kishida

1957 – Present

Prime Minister of Japan from 2021 to 2024

Born July 29

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

1892 – 1927

Japanese writer (1892–1927)

Born March 1

Emperor Meiji

1852 – 1912

Emperor of Japan from 1867 until 1912

Born November 3

Hideki Yukawa

1907 – 1981

Japanese theoretical physicist (1907-1981)

Born January 23

Barbara McClintock

1902 – 1992

American scientist and cytogeneticist

Born June 16

Sanae Takaichi

1961 – Present

Japanese politician, Prime Minister of Japan since 2025

Born March 7

Junichiro Koizumi

1942 – Present

Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006

Born January 8

Hideki Tojo

1884 – 1948

Japanese general and politician (1884–1948)

Born December 30

Tokugawa Ieyasu

1543 – 1616

founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan (1543–1616)

Born February 10

Alberto Fujimori

1938 – 2024

President of Peru from 1990 to 2000

Born July 26

Yukio Hatoyama

1947 – Present

Prime Minister of Japan from 2009 to 2010

Born February 11

Eisaku Satō

1901 – 1975

Prime Minister of Japan from 1964 to 1972

Born March 27

Oda Nobunaga

1534 – 1582

Japanese samurai and warlord (1534–1582)

Born July 3

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

1537 – 1598

Japanese samurai and daimyo (1537–1598)

Born March 27

Yasuo Fukuda

1936 – Present

Prime Minister of Japan from 2007 to 2008

Born July 16

Yoshihiko Noda

1957 – Present

Prime Minister of Japan from 2011 to 2012

Born May 20

Shin'ichirō Tomonaga

1906 – 1979

Japanese physicist (1906-1979)

Born March 31

Keisuke Honda

1986 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born June 13

Isoroku Yamamoto

1884 – 1943

Japanese Marshal Admiral (1884–1943)

Born April 4

Kōbō Abe

1924 – 1993

Japanese writer, playwright, photographer and inventor

Born March 7

Masatoshi Koshiba

1926 – 2020

Japanese physicist and astronomer (1926-2020)

Born September 19

Emperor Taishō

1879 – 1926

Emperor of Japan from 1912 until 1926

Born August 31

Itō Hirobumi

1841 – 1909

1st, 5th, 7th and 10th Prime Minister of Japan (1841–1909)

Born October 16

Takeshi Kitano

1947 – Present

Japanese film director, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter and video game designer (born 1947)

Born January 18

Yoshinori Ohsumi

1945 – Present

Japanese molecular biologist (1945 - )

Born February 9

Hidetoshi Nakata

1977 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born January 22

Yoichiro Nambu

1921 – 2015

American theoretical physicist (1921-2015)

Born January 18

Akira Toriyama

1955 – 2024

Japanese manga artist and character designer (1955-2024)

Born April 5

Yasuhiro Nakasone

1918 – 2019

Japanese politician (1918–2019)

Born May 27

Shuji Nakamura

1954 – Present

Japanese doctor of Engineering (1954-), inventor of the blue LED, 2014 Nobel laureate in Physics

Born May 22

Momoko Kōchi

1932 – 1998

Japanese actress (1932-1998)

Born March 7

Shinji Kagawa

1989 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born March 17

Takaaki Kajita

1959 – Present

Japanese physicist and astronomer

Born March 9

Hulk

1986 – Present

Brazilian association football player

Born July 25

Utagawa Hiroshige

1797 – 1858

Japanese ukiyo-e artist (1797–1858)

Born January 1

Makoto Hasebe

1984 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born January 18

Shinji Okazaki

1986 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born April 16

Hiroshi Amano

1960 – Present

Japanese doctor of engineering and physicist (1960-), 2014 Nobel laureate in Physics

Born September 11

Osamu Tezuka

1928 – 1989

Japanese cartoonist and animator (1928–1989)

Born November 3

Ei-ichi Negishi

1935 – 2021

Japanese chemist (1935 - 2021)

Born July 14

Takashi Inui

1988 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born June 2

Shigeru Miyamoto

1952 – Present

Japanese video game designer (born 1952)

Born November 16

Takumi Minamino

1995 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born January 16

Shigeru Ishiba

1957 – Present

President of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2024 to 2025 and Prime Minister of Japan from 2024 to 2025

Born February 4

Makoto Kobayashi

1944 – Present

Japanese theoretical physicist (1944-)

Born April 7

Toshihide Maskawa

1940 – 2021

Japanese theoretical physicist (1940-2021)

Born February 7

Osamu Shimomura

1928 – 2018

Japanese organic chemist and marine biologist (1928–2018)

Born August 27

Yasuhito Endo

1980 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born January 28

Kenichi Fukui

1918 – 1998

Japanese chemist (1918–1998)

Born October 4

Yuya Osako

1990 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born May 18

Maya Yoshida

1988 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born August 24

Kazuyoshi Miura

1967 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born February 26

Zeami Motokiyo

1363 – 1443

Japanese aesthetician and playwright

Born January 1

Atsuto Uchida

1988 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born March 27

Eiji Kawashima

1983 – Present

Japanese footballer (born 1983)

Born March 20

Hiroshi Kiyotake

1989 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born November 12

Wataru Endō

1993 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born February 9

Kunishige Kamamoto

1944 – 2025

Japanese association football player and manager

Born April 15

Kōnosuke Matsushita

1894 – 1989

Founder of Panasonic (1894-1989)

Born November 27

Hiroki Sakai

1990 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born April 12

Gaku Shibasaki

1992 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born May 28

Yoshinori Muto

1992 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born July 15

Shunsuke Nakamura

1978 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born June 24

Hideki Shirakawa

1936 – Present

Japanese scientist (1936-)

Born August 20

Shinya Yamanaka

1962 – Present

Japanese doctor and medical scientist (born 1962)

Born September 4

Takashi Usami

1992 – Present

Japanese association football player

Born May 6