Memorials & famous biographies

Japanese association football player known for his role as a forward

Japanese statesman who served as Prime Minister twice, founded Waseda University, and was a key advocate for Western science and parliamentary democracy during Japan's Meiji and Taishō eras

Japanese film director and screenwriter known for his poignant explorations of family dynamics and intergenerational relationships in films like Late Spring, Tokyo Story, and An Autumn Afternoon

Japanese animator, director, producer, and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, widely recognized for his critically acclaimed animated feature films

Japanese association football player who served as a central defender for the Japan national team

Japanese educator and judoka who founded judo and introduced the dan ranking system and black and white belts, making it the first Japanese martial art to become an official Olympic sport

81st Prime Minister of Japan, notable for his historic Murayama Statement apologizing for Japan's wartime actions

Imperial Japanese Army officer known for continuing guerrilla warfare on Lubang Island for nearly three decades after World War II ended

Japanese mountaineer and explorer, the first woman to summit Mount Everest and ascend the Seven Summits

Legendary first emperor of Japan who traditionally ascended in 660 BC and established the imperial center of power in Yamato

Japanese aesthetician, actor, and playwright who systematized and theorized Noh theater, developing key concepts like yūgen and hana

Japanese marine biologist who discovered green fluorescent protein and won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Japanese novelist and short story writer celebrated for modern classics like The Setting Sun and No Longer Human

Nobel laureate Japanese chemist who pioneered the frontier orbital theory for chemical reactions, explaining the roles of HOMO and LUMO

Japanese cartoonist, animator, writer, and physician, recognized as "the Father of Manga" for his pioneering techniques and extensive body of work including Astro Boy and Pluto

Japanese martial artist and founder of the martial art of Aikido, known respectfully as Kaiso or Ōsensei

Japanese theoretical physicist known for his Nobel Prize-winning work on CP-violation and the prediction of three families of quarks

Japanese architect and urban planner who designed the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and helped define modern Japanese architecture globally

Japanese ukiyo-e artist and xylographer, considered the last great master of the ukiyo-e tradition, renowned for iconic series like 'Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido'

Japanese actress, seiyū, and stage actor known for iconic roles in films like "Godzilla" (1954) and "The Mysterians" (1959)

Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, known for privatizing state-owned companies and advocating for a pro-United States foreign policy and neoliberal economic policies

Japanese manga artist and character designer widely celebrated for creating the Dragon Ball franchise and recognized as one of the most influential authors in the history of manga

Japanese electronics engineer who co-invented the blue LED, earning the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics and revolutionizing energy-efficient lighting worldwide

American theoretical physicist and professor at the University of Chicago, born in Japan