People from Japan
61 people remembered here.
Hiroshi Okuda1932 – 2026 · BusinessmanToyota outsider who forced the Prius into the world and remade Japanese industry.
97 candles · 4 tributes
Yoshikazu Hasegawa1930 – 2026 · Vertebrate paleontologistHe showed Japan its first plesiosaur and spent a life reading fossil bones.
95 candles · 7 tributes
Nobue Matsubara1961 – 2026 · Enka singerEnka star of Onna no Debune who carried Kitajima's craft through seven Kohaku nights and a hard-won second chance.
81 candles · 7 tributes- YYuri Nakamura1982 – 2026 · Actress
Zainichi Korean actress who lit every scene and kept working through illness.
80 candles · 4 tributes 
Great Gidayu1958 – 2026 · Japanese comedianTakeshi Army's Benkei: guitar, rakugo, and laughter through dialysis.
74 candles · 9 tributes
Shinichi Abe1950 – 2026 · Manga artistGaro artist who turned Asagaya love and later illness into private manga that outlived the silence.
70 candles · 10 tributes
Leo Morimoto1943 – 2026 · ActorJapanese actor and narrator whose gentle voice defined Thomas, Q-sama!! and Honneamise's Shirotsugh.
70 candles · 6 tributes
Kōichi Watanabe1957 – 2026 · LDP member of the House of RepresentativesIwamizawa mayor turned five-term Hokkaido Diet member who fell and did not rise again.
63 candles · 4 tributes
Hidetoshi Nakanishi1958 – 2026 · Judoka1983 world champion who turned Olympic experience into a lifetime of teaching judo at Tokai.
48 candles · 6 tributes
Isao Harimoto1940 – 2026 · Professional baseball outfielderNPB's only 3,000-hit man, Hiroshima survivor, and Sunday Morning's blunt Appare / Kats voice.
41 candles · 8 tributes
Yuri Nakamura1982 – 2026 · ActressZainichi Korean actress who lit every scene and kept working through a quiet fight with cancer.
41 candles · 7 tributes
Keiko Kishi1932 – 2026 · ActressInternational star of postwar Japanese film who chose courage over comfort, from Machiko-maki fame to Paris and the page.
38 candles · 5 tributes
Masao Yora1957 – 2026 · Political journalistMainichi political voice and Nスタ commentator who cut into Nagatacho with glasses, a mustache, and an evening column.
30 candles · 8 tributes
Tetsuya Chiba1939 – 2026 · Manga artistHe drew Joe Yabuki burning down to white ash, and showed Japan that manga is culture.
10 candles · 1 tributes
Jiro Ono1953 – 2026 · Police officialPolice official, secretary to Prime Minister Koizumi and reform-minded legislator who said he was against war.
9 candles · 1 tributes
Kuroi Senji1932 – 2026 · NovelistNovelist who found quiet drama in the ordinary lives of Japan's suburbs and workplaces.
9 candles · 1 tributes
Tsuneko Okazaki1933 – 2026 · Molecular biologistShe and Reiji found the fragments that let life copy itself, and she carried their work on alone.
9 candles · 1 tributes
Naoki Bandō1957 – 2026 · Voice actor (seiyū)A versatile Japanese voice actor who gave life to villains, officials and elders for over four decades.
8 candles · 1 tributes
Saburo Yamashita1930 – 2026 · PoliticianHatsukaichi hibakusha mayor who carried A-bomb testimony to the world and led the city for 16 years.
8 candles · 2 tributes
So Kuramoto1934 – 2026 · ScreenwriterFurano's master dramatist who taught Japan to see family, forest, and time.
8 candles · 1 tributes
Admire Moon2003 – 2026 · Thoroughbred racehorseJapanese Horse of the Year who won Dubai, Takarazuka and the Japan Cup in 2007.
8 candles · 1 tributes
Akihiro Miwa1935 – 2026 · SingerNagasaki survivor, chanson singer and fearless icon who sang Yoitomake no Uta and taught Japan that love is the answer.
8 candles · 1 tributes
Nobuo Inaba1950 – 2026 · BankerBank of Japan director and Ricoh chair who led NHK through fee cuts and the NHK One era.
7 candles · 1 tributes
Futagodake Takeshi1943 – 2026 · Sumo wrestler (komusubi) and stablemasterAomori-born komusubi whose throws and twists shaped modern sumo technique.
7 candles · 1 tributes
Ryotaro Shimizu1988 – 2026 · ActorActor, singer and impressionist who followed his father Akira Shimizu into the family trade, and whose voice made every song his own.
7 candles · 1 tributes
Marcellino Daiji Tani1953 – 2026 · Catholic bishopJapanese bishop who built a church for migrants and refugees and walked with Okinawa for peace.
6 candles · 1 tributes
Tokushin Yamauchi1935 – 2026 · PoliticianYomitan mayor and Diet member who fought for base return and local autonomy in Okinawa.
6 candles · 1 tributes
Takao Jinnouchi1933 – 2026 · PoliticianSaga councillor and Obuchi-era justice minister who rose from the construction bureaucracy.
6 candles · 1 tributes
Joji Hirota1948 – 2026 · PercussionistThe Hokkaido drummer who made London's heart beat to taiko for half a century.
6 candles · 1 tributes
Keigo Higashino1958 – 2026 · Mystery novelistHe turned scientific logic and ordinary loyalty into some of Asia's most read mystery novels.
6 candles · 1 tributes
Hikaru Kurosaki1962 – 2026 · ActorThe Japan Action Club stuntman who became Jaspion, a hero to millions in Brazil, then made a quiet home in Okinawa's sea.
6 candles · 1 tributes
Kojiro Ikegaya1952 – 2026 · Baseball pitcherCarp ace who won the 1976 Sawamura Award and never backed down from a hitter.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Nobuhiko Kobayashi (小林信彦)1932 – 2026 · Novelist and criticNovelist and critic who wrote the first history of Japan's comedians and chronicled his Tokyo.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Ryū Murakami1952 – 2026 · NovelistHe wrote Japan's darkness without flinching, so that one reader, alone, might feel angry and alive.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Kazuhiko Yamaguchi1937 – 2026 · Film and television directorToei action director of Sister Street Fighter, Sonny Chiba's karate films and School Wars.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Toshitsugu Saito1944 – 2026 · PoliticianSeven terms for Shizuoka, and a steady hand at the Defense Agency.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Masako Watanabe1929 – 2026 · MangakaShojo manga pioneer whose Glass Castle and Saint Rosalind thrilled generations, still drawing at 91.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Toshio Kamo1945 – 2026 · Political scientistA scholar of cities and local self-government who championed small communities.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Asami Yaguchi (矢口アサミ)† 2026 · Voice actress and actressVoice of Kuchipatchi and young Gintoki, remembered for warmth on stage and in the booth.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Yoshimi Masaki1962 – 2026 · Judoka1985 open-weight world champion who later shaped Tenri and Japanese judo as a coach
5 candles · 1 tributes
Toshio Masuda1927 – 2026 · Film directorKobe-born Nikkatsu action hitmaker of Red Handkerchief, Tora! Tora! Tora! and Space Battleship Yamato.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Tamisuke Watanuki1927 – 2026 · PoliticianFormer Lower House Speaker who rebuilt Tonami Transport and led the postal privatization revolt.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Yukio Shimomura1932 – 2026 · Football goalkeeper and managerHiroshima survivor who built Toyo Kogyo's golden era and later managed Japan.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Chikara Sakaguchi1934 – 2026 · PoliticianA doctor in politics who told the state to stop fighting the people it had wronged.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Isamu Sonoda1946 – 2026 · JudokaFukuoka judoka who won 1976 Montreal Olympic middleweight gold, then coached Ryoko Tani to Olympic glory.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Akiko Hayashi1945 – 2026 · Picture-book author and illustratorTokyo-born illustrator of Miki's First Errand, Kon and Aki, and the first Kiki's Delivery Service novel.
5 candles · 1 tributes
Shigehisa Takada1966 – 2026 · BusinessmanThird-generation head of Takata who led the family company through the largest recall in automotive history.
5 candles · 1 tributes