List of Japanese people
This is a list of notable Japanese people.
To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Japanese.
Architects
Artists
Athletes
Authors
- Kobo Abe, author of The Woman in the Dunes
- Ryunosuke Akutagawa
- Matsuo Basho, author of The Narrow Road to the Deep North
- Osamu Dazai, author of No Longer Human
- Yasunari Kawabata, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
- Yukio Mishima
- Haruki Murakami
- Kenzaburo Oe, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
- Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji
- Sei Shonagon, author of The Pillow Book
- Natsume Soseki, author of Kokoro
- Junichiro Tanizaki
- Kenko Yoshida, author of ''Essays in Idleness''
Company founders
- Yoshisuke Aikawa, founder of Nissan
- Takeo Fujisawa, co-founder of the automobile manufacturer Honda
- Hirotoshi Honda, founder of Mugen Motorsports
- Konosuke Matsushita, founder of Panasonic
- Hiroshi Mikitani, founder of Rakuten
- Mitsui Takatoshi, founder of Mitsui
- Mikimoto Kokichi, founder of Mikimoto
- Soichiro Honda, co-founder of the automobile manufacturer Honda
- Jujiro Matsuda, founder of Mazda automobile company
- Michio Suzuki, founder of Suzuki
- Eiji Toyoda, founder of luxury automobile manufacturer Lexus
- Kiichiro Toyoda, founder of automobile manufacturer Toyota in 1937
- Sakichi Toyoda, founder of Toyota Industries and Toyota Group
Educators
- Mori Arinori
- Tsunesaburō Makiguchi
- Midori Suzuki
- Fukuzawa Yukichi
- Tsuda Yukio
- Kanō Jigorō
- Imai Yone
Emperors
Historians
- Ienaga Saburō
- Kanda Nobuo
- Maruyama Masao
- Naitō Torajirō
- Ikuhiko Hata
- Shinichi Kitaoka
- Kan Kimura
- Ichirō Inaba
- Naoki Inose
Military leaders
Samurai
A
- Abe Masakatsu
- Adachi Kagemori
- Adams, William
- Akao Kiyotsuna
- Akechi Mitsuhide
- Akiyama Nobutomo
- Amago Haruhisa
- Amago Yoshihisa
- * See also Amago clan
- Ankokuji Ekei
- Aochi Shigetsuna
- Arai Hakuseki
- Araki Murashige
- Arima Kihei
- Asakura Yoshikage
- Azai Hisamasa
- Azai Nagamasa
- Azai Sukemasa
B
- Baba Nobufusa
- Bessho Nagaharu
C
- Chōsokabe Morichika
- Chōsokabe Kunichika
- Chōsokabe Motochika
- Chōsokabe Nobuchika
- Collache, Eugène
D
- Date Masamune
- * See also Date clan
- Doi Toshikatsu
E
- Endō Naotsune
- Enomoto Takeaki
F
- Fūma Kotarō
- Fuwa Mitsuharu
- Fujiwara no Hidesato
- Fukushima Masanori
G
- Gamō Katahide
- Gamō Ujisato
H
- Hasekura Tsunenaga
- Hattori Hanzō
- Hatano Hideharu
- Hirate Masahide
- Hitotsubashi Keiki
- Hōjō Masako
- Hōjō Tokimune
- Hōjō Ujiyasu
- Hōjō Ujimasa
- Honda Tadakatsu
- Honda Komatsu
- Honganji Kennyo
- Hosokawa Fujitaka
- Hosokawa Gracia
- Hosokawa Tadaoki
- Hotta Masatoshi
I
- Ii Naomasa
- Ii Naomori
- Ii Naosuke
- Ii Naotaka
- Ii Naoyuki
- Iizasa Ienao
- Ijuin Tada'aki
- Imagawa Yoshimoto
- Imai Kanehira
- Ishida Mitsunari
- Itagaki Nobukata
- Itagaki Taisuke
- Itō Hirobumi
- Iwanari Tomomichi
K
- Kaneko Ietada
- Katagiri Katsumoto
- Katō Kiyomasa
- Kawakami Gensai
- Kido Takayoshi
- Kikkawa Hiroie
- Kimotsuki Kanetsugu
- Kobayakawa Hideaki
- Kobayakawa Hidekane
- Kobayakawa Takakage
- Kojima Toyoharu
- Kuroda Denta
- Kuroda Kanbei Don Simon Josui Yoshitaka
- Kuroda Kiyotaka
- Kusunoki Masashige
- Kumagai Naozane
M
- Maeda Keiji
- Maeda Nagatane
- Maeda Toshiie
- Maeda Toshinaga
- Maeda Toshitsune
- Manabe Akifusa
- Matsudaira Nobutsuna
- Matsudaira Nobuyasu
- Matsudaira Higo no Kami Katamori
- Matsudaira Sadanobu
- Matsudaira Tadayoshi
- Matsudaira Teru
- Matsunaga Hisahide
- Matsuo Bashō
- Matsudaira Motoyasu
- Minamoto no Mitsunaka
- Minamoto no Yoshiie
- Minamoto no Yoshimitsu
- Minamoto no Yoshinaka
- Minamoto no Yoshitomo
- Minamoto no Yoshitsune
- Minamoto no Tameyoshi
- Minamoto no Yorimasa
- Minamoto no Yorimitsu
- Minamoto no Yoritomo
- Minamoto no Noriyori
- Mirei Kiritani
- Miura Anjin
- Miura Yoshimoto
- Miyamoto Musashi
- Miyoshi Chōkei
- Miyoshi Yoshitsugu
- Mizuno Tadakuni
- Mōri Motonari
- Mori Nagayoshi
- Mōri Okimoto
- Mori Ranmaru
- Mōri Takamoto
- Mōri Terumoto
- Mori Yoshinari
N
- Nagakura Shinpachi
- Nagao Harukage
- Nagao Masakage
- Nagao Tamekage
- Naoe Kanetsugu
- Nakagawa Kiyohide
- Naoe Kagetsuna
- Naoe Kanetsugu
- Nihonmatsu Yoshitsugu
- Niimi Nishiki
- Niiro Tadamoto
- Niwa Nagahide
- Niwa Nagashige
O
- Oda Nobuhide
- Oda Nobunaga
- Oda Nobutada
- Oda Nobutomo
- Oda Nobukatsu
- Ogasawara Shōsai
- Ōishi Kuranosuke
- Okada Izō
- Judge Ōoka
- Ōta Dōkan
- Ōtomo Sōrin
- Okita Sōji
- Ōkubo Toshimichi
- Ōuchi Yoshitaka
R
- Rokkaku Yoshitaka
- Rusu Masakage
- Ryūzōji Takanobu
- * See also Ryūzōji clan
S
- Saigo Kiyokazu
- Sagara Taketō
- Saigō Takamori
- Saigō Yoshikatsu
- Saitō Dōsan
- Saitō Hajime
- Saitō Yoshitatsu
- Sakai Tadakiyo
- Sakai Tadashige
- Sakai Tadayo
- Sakamoto Ryōma
- Sakuma Morimasa
- Sakuma Nobumori
- Sanada Masayuki
- Sanada Nobuyuki
- Sanada Yukimura
- Sasaki Kojirō
- Sasaki Yoshikiyo
- Serizawa Kamo
- Shibata Katsuie
- Shima Sakon
- Shimada Ichirō
- Shimazu Katsuhisa
- Shimazu Tadahisa
- Shimazu Tadatsune
- Shimazu Tadayoshi
- Shimazu Takahisa
- Shimazu Yoshihiro
- Shimazu Yoshihisa
- Sue Yoshitaka
T
- Tachibana Muneshige
- Tachibana Dōsetsu
- Tachibana Ginchiyo
- Taigen Sessai
- Taira no Kiyomori
- Taira no Masakado
- Takahashi Shigetane
- Takenaka Shigeharu
- Takaoka Muneyasu
- Takasugi Shinsaku
- Takayama Justo
- Takayama Ukon
- Takechi Hanpeita
- Takeda Katsuyori
- Takeda Nobushige
- Takeda Shingen
- Tani Tateki
- Toki Yorinari
- Tokugawa Ieyasu
- Tokugawa Hidetada
- Tokugawa Nariaki
- Tokugawa Yoshinobu
- Toyotomi Hideyoshi
- Toyotomi Hideyori
- Tozuka Tadaharu
- Tsukahara Bokuden
U
- Uesugi Kagekatsu
- Uesugi Kagetora
- Uesugi Kenshin
- Ukita Naoie
- Umezawa Michiharu
- Usami Sadamitsu
W
- Watanabe Kazan
- Watanabe no Tsuna
Y
- Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi
- Yamada Arinaga
- Yamada Arinobu
- Yamada Nagamasa
- Yamagata Masakage
- Yamanami Keisuke
- Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu
- Yonekura Shigetsugu
- Yagyū Munenori
- Yamauchi Kazutoyo
- Yūki Hideyasu
Kamakura ''shōguns''
- Minamoto no Yoritomo, r. 1192–1199
- Minamoto no Yoriie, r. 1202–1203
- Minamoto no Sanetomo, r. 1203–1219
- Kujō Yoritsune, r. 1226–1244
- Kujō Yoritsugu, r. 1244–1252
- Prince Munetaka, r. 1252–1266
- Prince Koreyasu, r. 1266–1289
- Prince Hisaakira, r. 1289–1308
- Prince Morikuni, r. 1308–1333
- Prince Morinaga, r.1333–1334
- Prince Norinaga, r. 1334–1338
Kamakura shikken
- Hōjō Tokimasa, r. 1203–1205
- Hōjō Yoshitoki, r. 1205–1224
- Hōjō Yasutoki, r. 1224–1242
- Hōjō Tsunetoki, r. 1242–1246
- Hōjō Tokiyori, r. 1246–1256
- Hōjō Tokimune, r. 1268–1284
- Hōjō Sadatoki, r. 1284–1301
- Hōjō Morotoki, r. 1301–1311
- Hōjō Takatoki, r. 1316–1326
Ashikaga ''shōguns''
- Ashikaga Takauji, ruled 1338–1358
- Ashikaga Yoshiakira, r. 1359–1368
- Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, r. 1368–1394
- Ashikaga Yoshimochi, r. 1395–1423
- Ashikaga Yoshikazu, r. 1423–1425
- Ashikaga Yoshinori, r. 1429–1441
- Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, r. 1442–1443
- Ashikaga Yoshimasa, r. 1449–1473
- Ashikaga Yoshihisa, r. 1474–1489
- Ashikaga Yoshitane, r. 1490–1493, 1508–1521
- Ashikaga Yoshizumi, r. 1494–1508
- Ashikaga Yoshiharu, r. 1521–1546
- Ashikaga Yoshiteru, r. 1546–1565
- Ashikaga Yoshihide, r. 1568
- Ashikaga Yoshiaki, r. 1568–1573
Tokugawa ''shōguns''
- Tokugawa Mitsukuni of the Mito domain
- Tokugawa Nariaki of the Mito domain
- Tokugawa Mochiharu of the Hitotsubashi branch
- Tokugawa Munetake of the Tayasu branch.
- Matsudaira Katamori of the Aizu branch.
- Matsudaira Sadanobu, born into the Tayasu branch, adopted into the Hisamatsu-Matsudaira of Shirakawa.
Pre-modern
Emperors
- Emperor Jinmu
- Emperor Kōbun
- Emperor Tenmu
- Emperor Go-Toba
- Emperor Go-Daigo
Commanders from loyal family
- Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto
- Yamato Takeru
- Empress Jingū
Commanders in [Thirty-Eight Years' War]
- Ōtomo no Otomaro
- Sakanoue no Tamuramaro
- Aterui
Modern
- Anami Korechika
- Doihara Kenji
- Enomoto Takeaki
- Kuroki Itei
- Matsui Iwane
- Ōta Minoru
- Suzuki Kantarō
- Tōgō Heihachirō
- Tōjō Hideki
- Yamamoto Isoroku
- Shiro Kawase
- Ishiwara Kanji
Musicians
Personalities
Comedians
Idols (male)
Idols (female)
Models
Musicians and singers (male)
Musicians and singers (female)
Tarento
- Aya Ueto
- Becky
- Kazushige Nagashima
- Kano sisters
- Matt Kuwata
- Mina Fukui
- Momoiro Clover Z
- Naomi Watanabe
- Roland
Actors
Actresses
TV and radio personalities
- Iijima Ai
- Mao Inoue
- Kano sisters
- Sugita Kaoru
- Mino Monta
- Shinohara Tomoe
Others
- Kurihara Harumi
- Ghib Ojisan
- Papaya Suzuki
- Rina Gonoi