72 Notable alumni of
Osaka University
Updated:
Osaka University is 139th in the world, 24th in Asia, and 14th in Japan by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 72 notable alumni from Osaka University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Osamu Tezuka
- Enrolled in Osaka University
- Studied medicine
- Occupations
- artisttelevision producerfilm directorfilm producerscreenwriter
- Biography
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Osamu Tezuka was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such titles as "the Father of Manga" (マンガの父, Manga no Chichi), "the Godfather of Manga" (マンガの教父, Manga no Kyōfu) and "the god of Manga" (マンガの神様, Manga no Kami-sama). Additionally, he is often considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney, who served as a major inspiration during Tezuka's formative years. Though this phrase praises the quality of his early manga works for children and animations, it also blurs the significant influence of his later, more literary, gekiga works.
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Heizō Takenaka
- Occupations
- economistbusinesspersonpolitician
- Biography
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Heizō Takenaka is a Japanese economist, and key figure in Junichiro Koizumi's administration (2001-2006), played a significant role in Japan's structural reforms, including labor market deregulation. As Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy and later Financial Services, he advocated for policies aimed at increasing economic flexibility, such as amending the Worker Dispatching Act (also known as the Temporary Staffing Services Act). These changes, enacted in 2003 and 2004, expanded the use of temporary (dispatched) workers by relaxing restrictions. Takenaka's reforms indirectly facilitated the replacement of regular government employees with temporary staff in public sectors, such as education, administrative services, and local government offices. Takenaka's affiliation with Pasona Group, Japan's largest temporary staffing agency, has sparked allegations of embezzlement from government and private sectors, stemming from claims that he replaced permanent employees with Pasona's temporary workers. He joined Pasona as a special advisor in February 2007 (shortly after leaving government) and became chairman in August 2009, serving until 2022. Takenaka benefited from the expanded dispatch market post-deregulation, securing government and private contracts in areas like administrative support, COVID-19 measures, and the Tokyo Olympics—leading to personal profits. Takenaka serves on the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum.
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Akio Morita
- Occupations
- supervisorengineerphysicistbusinessperson
- Biography
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Akio Morita was a Japanese entrepreneur and co-founder of Sony along with Masaru Ibuka.
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Hideki Yukawa
- Enrolled in Osaka University
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- theoretical physicistphysicistuniversity teachernuclear physicist
- Biography
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Hideki Yukawa was a Japanese theoretical physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1949 "for his prediction of the existence of mesons on the basis of theoretical work on nuclear forces."
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Seishi Yokomizo
- Occupations
- novelist
- Biography
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Seishi Yokomizo was a Japanese mystery novelist, known for creating the fictional detective Kosuke Kindaichi.
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Akira Yoshino
- Enrolled in Osaka University
- In 2005 graduated with Doctor in Engineering
- Occupations
- researcherengineerinventorchemist
- Biography
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Akira Yoshino is a Japanese chemist. He is a fellow of Asahi Kasei Corporation and a professor at Meijo University in Nagoya. He created the first safe, production-viable lithium-ion battery, which became used widely in cellular phones and notebook computers. Yoshino was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2019 alongside M. Stanley Whittingham and John B. Goodenough.
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Masaru Wakasa
- Occupations
- prosecutorlawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Masaru Wakasa is a Japanese lawyer, politician and former member of the House of Representatives in Japan.
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Suzuki Osamu
- Occupations
- chief executive officerbusinesspersonentrepreneur
- Biography
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Osamu Suzuki, was a Japanese businessman and the chairman of Suzuki Motor Corporation. From 1978, Suzuki served as the CEO, president, and chairman of the company. In February 2021, Suzuki Motor Corporation announced that he would retire in June 2021 and assume the role of adviser.
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Keizo Saji
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
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Keizō Saji was a Japanese businessman and art patron.
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Tetsurō Itodani
- Occupations
- professional shogi player
- Biography
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Tetsurō Itodani is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 8-dan and former Ryūō title holder. He is also an executive director of the Japan Shogi Association.
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Hiroshi Ishiguro
- Occupations
- university teacherscientistroboticist
- Biography
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Hiroshi Ishiguro is a Japanese roboticist and engineer. He is the director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, part of the Department of Systems Innovation in the Graduate School of Engineering Science at Osaka University, Japan. A notable development of the laboratory is the Actroid, a humanoid robot with lifelike appearance and visible behaviour such as facial movements.
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Mitoji Yabunaka
- Years
- 1948-.. (age 78)
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Mitoji Yabunaka is a Japanese diplomat who served as Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2010. Prior to that position, Yabunaka served as Ministry of Foreign Affair's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Director-General. He has been a diplomat for nearly forty years.
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Milojko Spajić
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
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Milojko Spajić is a Montenegrin politician and financial engineer serving as Prime Minister of Montenegro since October 2023. He also served as the minister of finance and social welfare in the government of Montenegro and the cabinet of Zdravko Krivokapić from 2020 to 2022.
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Hisashi Shinma
- Occupations
- businesspersonmanager
- Biography
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Hisashi Shinma was a Japanese professional wrestling booker and professional wrestling promoter. Shinma is noted for having been an on-screen authority for the World Wrestling Federation, from 1978 to 1984, billed as the President of the promotion. He was succeeded by Jack Tunney.
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Mitsunari Musaka
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
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Mitsunari Musaka is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Japanese clubs Shimizu S-Pulse and Giravanz Kitakyushu.
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Ryōta Nagaki
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
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Ryota Nagaki is a Japanese footballer who plays as a midfielder for Iwaki FC.
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Rachmat Gobel
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Rachmad Gobel is an Indonesian businessman and politician from Gorontalo. His family controls the company, Gobel Group which is now called PT. Panasonic Gobel Indonesia, an Indonesian division of Panasonic. He is also the former Minister of Trade and the Indonesian President's Special Envoy to Japan. Currently, he is the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.
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Shizuo Kakutani
- Enrolled in Osaka University
- Studied in 1941-1941
- Occupations
- mathematicianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Shizuo Kakutani was a Japanese and American mathematician, best known for his eponymous fixed-point theorem.
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Michihiro Ishibashi
- Occupations
- trade unionistpolitician
- Biography
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Michihiro Ishibashi is a Japanese politician from the Constitutional Democratic Party and a former trade union leader. He currently serves as members of the House of Councillors being elected from the National Representation list in 2010.
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Yoshio Mochizuki
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Yoshio Mochizuki was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature), and a Minister of the Environment.
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Shizuo Akira
- Occupations
- university teacherimmunologistphysician
- Biography
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Shizuo Akira is a professor at the Department of Host Defense, Osaka University, Japan. He has made ground-breaking discoveries in the field of immunology, most significantly in the area of innate host defense mechanisms.
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Yūsuke Nakamura
- Occupations
- medical researchersurgeonbiologistgeneticistbiochemist
- Biography
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Yusuke Nakamura is a Japanese geneticist and cancer researcher best known for developing Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS). He is one of the world's pioneers in applying genetic variations (Variable Number Tandem Repeat (VNTR) and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers) and whole genome sequencing, leading the research field of personalized medicine.
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Tadamitsu Kishimoto
- Occupations
- physicianresearcherimmunologistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Tadamitsu Kishimoto is a Japanese immunologist known for research on IgM and cytokines, most famously, interleukin 6.
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Li Siguang
- Occupations
- geologistpolitician
- Biography
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Li Siguang, also known as J. S. Lee, was a Chinese geologist and politician. He was the founder of China's geomechanics. He was an ethnic Mongol. He made outstanding contributions, which changed the situation of "oil deficiency" in the country, enabling the large-scale development of oil fields to raise the country to the ranks of the world's major oil producers.
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Hori Shigeru
- Occupations
- journalistpolitician
- Biography
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Shigeru Hori was a prominent Japanese politician who served in various cabinet positions, including Chief Cabinet Secretary, and was also Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan. He was also the founder of the Liberal Party, and later served in senior positions in the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.
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Shoichi Sakata
- Occupations
- physicistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Shoichi Sakata was a Japanese physicist and Marxist who was internationally known for theoretical work on subatomic particles. He proposed the two meson theory, the Sakata model (an early precursor to the quark model), and the Pontecorvo–Maki–Nakagawa–Sakata neutrino mixing matrix.
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Sadao Yamahana
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Sadao Yamahana was a Japanese politician who served as chairman of the Japan Socialist Party from January 1993 to September 1993.
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Pratiwi Sudarmono
- Occupations
- biologistcivil servantastronaut
- Biography
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Pratiwi Pujilestari Sudarmono is an Indonesian scientist. She is currently a professor of microbiology at the University of Indonesia, Jakarta.
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Yoshio Kimura
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Yoshio Kimura is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party and a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature).
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Norihiko Hibino
- Occupations
- composerjazz musician
- Biography
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Norihiko Hibino is a Japanese video game composer and saxophonist.
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Osamu Hayaishi
- Occupations
- university teacherchemistphysiologistbiochemistphysician
- Biography
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Osamu Hayaishi MJA, was a Japanese biochemist, physiologist, and military physician. He discovered Oxygenases at the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, National Institutes of Health in 1955.
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Hiroshi Imazu
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Hiroshi Imazu is a former Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Asahikawa on Hokkaido and graduate of Chuo University, he was elected to the first of his two terms in the city assembly of Asahikawa in 1975, to the first of his two terms in the Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly in 1983 and finally to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1990. Imazu is affiliated to the revisionist lobby Nippon Kaigi. After failing to win a seat in the 2017 Japanese general election he retired from politics. His son is Hirosuke Imazu, who became the mayor of Asahikawa in 2021.
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Tanigawa Shūzen
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Shuzen Tanigawa is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature).
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Masatoşi Gündüz İkeda
- Years
- 1926-2003 (aged 77)
- Enrolled in Osaka University
- Studied in 1948-1953
- Occupations
- mathematicianprofessor
- Biography
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Masatoşi Gündüz İkeda, was a Japanese-born Turkish mathematician known for his contributions to the field of algebraic number theory.
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Ryūmo Ono
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Ryumo Ono is a Japanese professional basketball player for the Shinshu Brave Warriors club of the B.League in Japan.
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Matsuji Nakaizumi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Matsuji Nakaizumi is a Japanese politician from the Liberal Democratic Party. As of 2014 he served as member of the House of Councillors for Akita At-large district.
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Toshio Hirano
- Occupations
- university teacherimmunologistphysician
- Biography
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Toshio Hirano is a Japanese immunologist and academic, best known for his discovery of interleukin-6. Since August 2011, he has served as the 17th President of Osaka University.
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Kohei Murakoso
- Occupations
- long-distance runnerathletics competitor
- Biography
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Kohei Murakoso was a Japanese runner. He competed at the 1936 Olympics in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres events and finished fourth on both occasions.
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Wataru Ito
- Enrolled in Osaka University
- In 1994 studied graduate school
- Occupations
- bus driverpolitician
- Biography
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Wataru Itō is a Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives in the Diet as a member of the Komeito Party. A native of Nagoya, Aichi, he attended Osaka University as both an undergraduate and graduate student. Itō worked for JR Central from 1994 to 2005 and acquired a Shinkansen train operator license. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2005.
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Wakamatsu Kaneshige
- Occupations
- administrative scrivenercertified public accountanttax advisorpolitician
- Biography
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Kaneshige Wakamatsu is a Japanese politician and accountant who served as a member of the House of Councillors of Japan from 2013 to 2025. He previously served as a member of the House of Representatives of Japan from 1993 to 2003. He represents the National proportional representation block as a member of Komeito.
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Kaoru Ōta
- Occupations
- politicianactivist
- Biography
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Kaoru Ōta was a Japanese trade union leader. He served as chairman of the General Council of Trade Unions of Japan (Sōhyō) from 1958 to 1966. Known for his cheerful demeanor and energetic activism, Ōta's many forceful statements in defense of the Japanese workers were affectionately known as the "Ōta Trumpet" (Ōta rappa).
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Motome Takisawa
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Motome Takisawa is a Japanese politician from the Liberal Democratic Party. He served as member of the House of Councillors for Aomori at-large district.
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Kōsaku Yosida
- Enrolled in Osaka University
- Studied in 1933-1939
- Occupations
- mathematicianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Kōsaku Yosida was a Japanese mathematician who worked in the field of functional analysis. He is known for the Hille-Yosida theorem concerning C0-semigroups. Yosida studied mathematics at the University of Tokyo, and held posts at Osaka and Nagoya Universities. In 1955, Yosida returned to the University of Tokyo.
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Kilnam Chon
- Enrolled in Osaka University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Science
- Occupations
- computer scientistteacher
- Biography
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Kilnam Chon is a South Korean computer scientist widely recognized for his pioneering contributions to the development of the internet in South Korea. His work led to South Korea becoming the second country in the world, after the United States, to establish an IPv4 network connection. Often referred to as the father of the Korean Internet, Chon played a key role in connecting Seoul National University and the Korea Institute of Electronics Technology in May 1982, marking a significant milestone in the country's technological advancement.
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Yohei Hayashi
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
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Yohei Hayashi is a Japanese football player for Blaublitz Akita.
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Kazuaki Shimoji
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Kazuaki Shimoji is the former Head coach of the Toyama Grouses in the Japanese Bj League.
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Yamato Inaba
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Yamato Inaba is a former Japanese politician, who was a member of House of Representatives and the Liberal Democratic Party.
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Mitsuo Mitani
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Mitsuo Mitani is a former Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Kure, Hiroshima and graduate of Osaka University, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in September 2005 after unsuccessful runs in 2003 and April 2005.
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Yoshiaki Arata
- Occupations
- engineermetallurgist
- Biography
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Yoshiaki Arata was a Japanese physicist. Arata was one of the pioneering researchers into nuclear fusion in Japan and a former professor at Osaka University. He was reported to be a strong nationalist, speaking only Japanese in public. He received the Order of Culture in 2006.
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Hidesaburō Hanafusa
- Occupations
- geneticistvirologistmolecular biologistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Hidesaburo Hanafusa was a Japanese virologist. He shared the 1982 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research with Harold E. Varmus and J. Michael Bishop for demonstrating how RNA tumor viruses cause cancer, and elucidating their role in combining, rescuing and maintaining oncogenes in the viral genome.
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Kenkichi Sonogashira
- Occupations
- university teacherchemist
- Biography
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Kenkichi Sonogashira is a Japanese chemist and was a professor of chemistry at Osaka University in Japan. He discovered the Sonogashira coupling in 1975. Sonogashira was later a professor at Osaka City University and retired in 2004.
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Mamoru Morimoto
- Years
- 1939-2021 (aged 82)
- Occupations
- athletics competitortrack and field coachmiddle-distance runner
- Biography
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Mamoru Morimoto was a Japanese middle distance runner who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics. His daughter Tsuru Morimoto is a former footballer who played for the Japanese national team.
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Toshio Yanagida
- Occupations
- biochemistbiophysicistphysiologist
- Biography
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Toshio Yanagida is a Japanese biophysicist famous for his pioneer research in single molecule biology, and made important contributions to single molecule fluorescence microscopy.
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Toshihiro Goto
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Toshihiro Goto is the former Head coach of the Sendai 89ers in the Japanese B.League.
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Akira Hasegawa
- Enrolled in Osaka University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Engineering in telecommunications engineering
- Occupations
- physicistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Akira Hasegawa was a Japanese theoretical physicist and engineer who worked in the U.S. and Japan. He is known for his work in the derivation of the Hasegawa–Mima equation, which describes fundamental plasma turbulence and the consequent generation of zonal flow that controls plasma diffusion. Hasegawa also made the discovery of optical solitons in glass fibers, a concept that is essential for high speed optical communications.
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Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed is a Maldivian diplomat and politician who served as the Secretary-General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). She was the first woman to hold this post since the organization's inception in 1985. She was appointed Secretary-General at the Thirty-third Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers in February 2011, and assumed office in Kathmandu on 1 March 2011. She succeeded India's Sheel Kant Sharma, whose term ended in February.
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Shōichi Watanabe
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Shōichi Watanabe was a Japanese politician. He served in the House of Representatives of Japan as part of the multi-member constituency Hokkaido's 4th district alongside Yukio Hatoyama and Tadamasa Kodaira. He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.
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Toshio Kojima
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Toshio Kojima is a retired Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Kumagaya, Saitama and graduate of Chuo University, he had served in the city assembly of Kumagaya for three terms since 1971 and in the assembly of Saitama Prefecture for four terms since 1983. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1999.
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Eikō Kaneta
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Eiko Kaneta was a Japanese politician. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he served in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2005.
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Park Nam-su
- Occupations
- poet
- Biography
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Park Nam-su was a South Korean poet.
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Seizō Wakaizumi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Seizō Wakaizumi is a former Japanese politician. He attended Chuo University. He served as a member of the House of Representatives of Japan from 2003 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2012. He also served as mayor of Imatachi. In 2012, Wakaizumi was appointed as the Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Finance.
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Yasuo Tanaka
- Occupations
- university teacherastronomer
- Biography
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Yasuo Tanaka was a Japanese astrophysicist and a member of the Japan Academy. He was professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) (part of JAXA) in Kanagawa, Japan and guest scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany.
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Sonia Antoranz Contera
- Enrolled in Osaka University
- 1997-2000 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- university teachernanotechnologistphysicist
- Biography
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Sonia Antoranz Contera is a Spanish physicist. She serves as Professor of Biological Physics at the University of Oxford, a senior fellow at the Oxford Martin School, and a senior research fellow at Green Templeton College.
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Kazuo Katsuramoto
- Occupations
- baseball playeramateur wrestler
- Biography
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Kazuo Katsuramoto is a retired Japanese freestyle wrestler. In 1954 he won the −79 kg event at the Asian Games and finished third at the world championships. He shared fifth place at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
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Kōji Sekimizu
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Koji Sekimizu is a Japanese official who was Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization between 2012 and 2015, as well as Chancellor of the World Maritime University.
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Jun-iti Nagata
- Occupations
- university teachermathematiciantopologist
- Biography
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Jun-iti Nagata was a Japanese mathematician specializing in topology.
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Kiyoshi Nagai
- Occupations
- biochemistbiologist
- Biography
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Kiyoshi Nagai FRS was a Japanese structural biologist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology Cambridge, UK. He was known for his work on the mechanism of RNA splicing and structures of the spliceosome.
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Noboru Uchiyama
- Occupations
- boxer
- Biography
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Noboru Uchiyama is a retired Japanese amateur boxer. He won a bronze medal at the 1974 Asian Games and competed at the 1976 Olympics, where he was eliminated in the first bout.
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Shigeo Satomura
- Occupations
- physicist
- Biography
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Shigeo Satomura was a Japanese physicist credited with introducing the ultrasonic Doppler techniques to practical medical diagnostics in the 1950s. These techniques made possible non-invasive monitoring of blood flow in the human body.
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Kintarō Yokoyama
- Years
- 1868-1945 (aged 77)
- Occupations
- lawyerjudgepolitician
- Biography
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Kintarō Yokoyama was the mayor of Hiroshima from 1935 to 1939.
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Kinjirō Nagai
- Years
- 1874-1927 (aged 53)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Kinjiro Nagai was the director of the Karafuto Agency (April 17, 1919 – June 11, 1924). He was also the mayor of Otaru and Governor of Kōchi Prefecture (1913–1914).
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Wahid Shams Kolahi
- Occupations
- scientist
- Biography
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Wahid Shams-Kolahi is a scientist and an electrical engineer who is known for his research in photovoltaic-related technologies.
