51 Notable alumni of
Sophia University
Updated:
Sophia University is 130th in the world, 22nd in Asia, and 13th in Japan by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 51 notable alumni from Sophia 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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George Takei
- Occupations
- singeropinion journalistwritercomedianactor
- Biography
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George Takei, born Hosato Takei (Japanese: 武井 穂郷, Hepburn: Takei Hosato), is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the Star Trek franchise.
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Sumire Uesaka
- Enrolled in Sophia University
- 2010-2014 studied Russian
- Occupations
- tarentosingerradio personalitydraftspersonseiyū
- Biography
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Sumire Uesaka is a Japanese voice actress and singer associated with Voice Kit. She won the Best Rookie Actress at the 10th Seiyu Awards. She made her singing debut in April 2013 under King Records.
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Seiko Noda
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Seiko Noda is a Japanese politician who served as Minister-in-charge of Measures against Declining Birthrate from October 2021 to August 2022. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, she previously served as Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications from 2017 to 2018 under Shinzo Abe. Noda also serves in the House of Representatives, serving her fifth term for the 1st District of Gifu Prefecture. She is a self-described conservative and was a candidate in the 2021 Liberal Democratic Party Leadership Election, however she was eliminated in a run-off, placing fourth in the first round.
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Hassan Jameel
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
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Hassan Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel is a Saudi Arabian businessman and philanthropist. He is deputy president and vice chairman of Saudi Arabia operations at the international conglomerate Abdul Latif Jameel.
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Carrie Ann Inaba
- Occupations
- singeractorchoreographertelevision actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Carrie Ann Inaba is an American television personality, dancer, choreographer, actress, and singer. She is best known for her work on ABC's Dancing with the Stars for which she has served as a judge since 2005. She co-hosted and moderated the CBS Daytime talk show The Talk from 2019 to 2021. She started her career as a singer in Japan, but became best known for her dancing, introducing herself to American audiences as one of the original Fly Girls on the Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color from 1990 to 1992.
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Morihiro Hosokawa
- Occupations
- politicianceramicistjournalistpotter
- Biography
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Morihiro Hosokawa is a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994. He led an eight-party coalition government which was the first Japanese government not headed by a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) premier since 1955.
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Beni
- Occupations
- actorsingersongwriter
- Biography
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Beni Arashiro is a Japanese R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Nayutawave Records under Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni (stylized as BENI).
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Crystal Kay
- Occupations
- seiyūsingeractor
- Biography
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Crystal Kay Williams is a Japanese singer, songwriter, actress and radio host.
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Judy Ongg
- Enrolled in Sophia University
- Graduated with bachelor's degree
- Occupations
- writerprintmakerchild actorfilm actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Judy Ongg is a Taiwanese-Japanese singer, actress, author, and woodblock-print artist. Born in Taipei, she graduated from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, and after which, she became a naturalized Japanese citizen. Her career has spanned more than four decades.
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Hideto Tomabechi
- Occupations
- computer scientistcognitive scientist
- Biography
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Hideto Tomabechi is a Japanese cognitive scientist (computational linguistics, functional brain science, cognitive psychology, cognitive warfare, analytic philosophy) computer scientist (distributed processing, discrete mathematics, artificial intelligence, cyber security).
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Takuya Hirai
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Takuya Hirai is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Takamatsu, Kagawa and graduate of Sophia University he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2000 as a member of the New Frontier Party after running unsuccessfully as an independent in 1996. He later joined LDP.
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Dave Spector
- Occupations
- journalistactortelevision producer
- Biography
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Dave Spector is an American gaijin tarento, television producer, author, and actor based in Japan. Originally from Chicago, he moved to Japan in 1983 after visiting as a producer with the American television program Ripley's Believe It or Not!. He appears regularly as a commentator on several different Japanese television programs, including a Wednesday spot on Fuji TV's daily morning news program Tokudane!, and TBS's weekly Sunday Japon.
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Tina Chow
- Occupations
- jewelry designermodel
- Biography
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Tina Chow was an American model and jewelry designer who was considered an influential fashion icon of the 1970s and 1980s. She was the second wife of restaurateur Michael Chow, the founder and owner of the Mr. Chow restaurant chain.
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Yukari Satō
- Occupations
- politicianeconomist
- Biography
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Yukari Satō is a Japanese economist and former politician of the Liberal Democratic Party.
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Mitsuko Ishii
- Occupations
- politicianactornurse
- Biography
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Mitsuko Ishii is a Japanese politician who has served as a member of the House of Councillors of Japan since 2016. She represents the National proportional representation block and is a member of the Japan Innovation Party.
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Mukhriz Mahathir
- Occupations
- businesspersonpolitician
- Biography
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Mukhriz bin Mahathir is a Malaysian politician and businessman served as the 11th and 13th Menteri Besar of Kedah from May 2013 to February 2016 and again from May 2018 to May 2020, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Ministers Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak as well as former Minister Mustapa Mohamed from March 2008 to May 2013, Member of Parliament (MP) for Jerlun from March 2008 to May 2013 and again from May 2018 to November 2022 as well as Member of the Kedah State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Jitra from May 2018 to August 2023 and for Ayer Hitam from May 2013 to May 2018. He is the third son of Mahathir Mohamad, the 4th, 7th and former Prime Minister of Malaysia. He has been the 1st and founding President of the Homeland Fighters Party (PEJUANG) since party foundation in August 2020. He was the 1st and founding Deputy President and State Chairman of Kedah of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) from party foundation in September 2016 to his membership termination in May 2020 and was also the State Chairman of Kedah of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition. He was also a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the BN coalition. He left UMNO with Mahathir and they founded BERSATU in 2016. Mahathir and his BERSATU memberships were terminated and they founded PEJUANG in 2020. He is one of the two Menteris Besar of Malaysia who represented two different political parties and coalitions.
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Kōichirō Genba
- Enrolled in Sophia University
- In 1987 graduated with Bachelor of Laws in law school
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Kōichirō Genba is a Japanese politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2012. He is a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet, and was a member to the Democratic Party of Japan and its successor Democratic Party until its merger in 2018. He left the party briefly before the merger, and joined the Group of Independents House of Representatives caucus of other former Democrats a few days later. A native of Tamura, Fukushima and graduate of Sophia University, he was later accepted into the prestigious Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, an institution founded by Panasonic founder Konosuke Matsushita which grooms future civic leaders of Japan. Genba was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1993 after serving in the assembly of Fukushima Prefecture for one term. In September 2011 he was chosen as Minister for Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.
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Adolfo Nicolás
- Occupations
- Catholic priestuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Adolfo Nicolás Pachón SJ was a Spanish Jesuit priest of the Catholic Church. He was the 30th Superior General of the Society of Jesus from 2008 to 2016. Before being elected Superior General, he worked primarily in Japan; he taught at Sophia University in Tokyo for twenty years and then headed educational institutions in Manila from 1978 to 1984 and in Tokyo from 1991 to 1993. He led the Jesuits in Japan from 1993 to 1996 and, after four years of pastoral work in Tokyo, led the Jesuits in Asia from 2004 to 2008.
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Jin Akiyama
- Occupations
- mathematician
- Biography
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Jin Akiyama is a Japanese mathematician, known for his appearances on Japanese prime-time television (NHK) presenting magic tricks with mathematical explanations. He is director of the Mathematical Education Research Center at the Tokyo University of Science, and professor emeritus at Tokai University.
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Masato Imai
- Occupations
- politicianforeign currency trader
- Biography
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Imai Masato is a Japanese politician of the Constitutional Democratic Party, serving as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature).
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Aiko Shimajiri
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Aiko Shimajiri is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, who has served as a member of the House of Councillors and the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). Shimajiri was elected for the first time in 2007 and re-elected in 2010 in Okinawa Prefecture constituency. Shimajiri was appointed the Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs in the cabinet reshuffle on October 7, 2015, and is one of 3 women serving in Shinzo Abe's cabinet.
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Alan Merrill
- Occupations
- film actorsongwriterrhythm guitaristsinger
- Biography
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Alan Merrill was an American vocalist, guitarist and songwriter. In the early 1970s, he was one of the few resident foreigners in Japan to achieve pop star status there. He wrote the song "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", and was the lead singer on the original recording of it, made by the band the Arrows in 1975. The song became a breakthrough hit for Joan Jett in 1982.
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Fumiaki Kobayashi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Fumiaki Kobayashi is a Japanese politician representing Hiroshima 7th district in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet, for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
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Kuniko Inoguchi
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticiandiplomatpolitical scientist
- Biography
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Kuniko Inoguchi is a Japanese political scientist and politician. She served as Japan's first Minister of State for Gender Equality and Social Affairs from 2005 to 2006, and is currently a member of the House of Councillors representing Chiba Prefecture for the Liberal Democratic Party.
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Carlos Holmes Trujillo
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Carlos Holmes Trujillo García was a Colombian dynasty politician, diplomat, scholar, and attorney who served as minister of defense, foreign affairs, interior, and education. He also served as the mayor of Cali and as ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Union, and a number of nations.
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Ōsama
- Occupations
- musicianguitarist
- Biography
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Ōsama is a Japanese musician and guitarist. He is from Nishinomiya in Hyōgo Prefecture.
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Yūki Yamato
- Years
- 1989-.. (age 36)
- Occupations
- film directorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Yūki Yamato is a Japanese screenwriter and director. She has adapted and directed film versions of Hot Gimmick and Drowning Love, and was named Best New Director at the 24th Japan Film Professional Awards. She has also directed music videos for Nogizaka46, Momoiro Clover Z, and Radwimps.
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Mitsuhide Iwaki
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Mitsuhide Iwaki is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the National Diet (national legislature). A native of Iwaki, Fukushima and graduate of Sophia University with a B.L., he worked at Suntory and served in the city assembly of Iwaki for two terms since 1980, in the assembly of Fukushima Prefecture for two terms from 1986 and as mayor of Iwaki for two terms from 1990. He was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 1998.
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Pak Song-chol
- Occupations
- politicianresistance fighter
- Biography
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Pak Song-chol or Park Sung-chul was a North Korean politician who served as Premier of North Korea from 1976 to 1977. He succeeded Kim Il. He also served as foreign minister from 1959 to 1970.
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Stephen Kim Sou-hwan
- Occupations
- Catholic priestCatholic bishop
- Biography
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Stephen Kim Sou-hwan (Korean: 김수환; Hanja: 金壽煥; May 8, 1922 – February 16, 2009) was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and the former archbishop of Seoul, South Korea. Having been an iconic figure in South Korea's bloody and tumultuous transition from military rule to democracy, he was widely respected across all sections in South Korean society.
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Hideo Saito
- Occupations
- composermusic educatormusic arrangerconductorcellist
- Biography
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Hideo Saito was a Japanese cellist, conductor, and music lecturer.
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Shoichi Kondo
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Shoichi Kondo is a Japanese politician of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature).
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Tadashi Tokieda
- Occupations
- mathematicianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Tadashi Tokieda is a Japanese mathematician, working in mathematics and physics. He is a professor of mathematics at Stanford University; previously he was a fellow and Director of Studies of Mathematics at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He is also very active in inventing, collecting, and studying toys that uniquely reveal and explore real-world surprises of mathematics and physics. In comparison with most mathematicians, he had an unusual path in life: he started as a painter, and then became a classical philologist, before switching to mathematics. Tokieda is known for his outstanding public lectures where he shows mathematical phenomena and teaches how to use mathematical concepts in a simple, entertaining and beautiful way.
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Kosaburo Nishime
- Enrolled in Sophia University
- Studied faculty of economics
- Occupations
- politiciansecretarycashier
- Biography
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Kosaburo Nishime, born August 7, 1954, is a Japanese politician who has served in the House of Representatives representing Okinawa since 2012. He is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.
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Yasushi Watanabe
- Occupations
- anthropologist
- Biography
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Yasushi Watanabe is a Japanese anthropologist and a full professor at Keio University. He earned a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology at Harvard University in 1997 with a dissertation on "Nurturing A Context: The Logic of Individualism and the Negotiation of the Familial Sphere in the United States." After post-doctoral fellowships at Cambridge and Oxford Universities, he joined Keio University's Graduate School of Media and Governance as well as Faculty of Environment and Information Studies in 1999. He attained the rank of full professor in 2005, and is one of Japan's most prominent experts on cultural policy, public diplomacy, and American Studies.
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Koichi Kato
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Koichi Kato is a Japanese politician from Tokyo and a member of the Democratic Party of Japan. A native of Chiyoda, Tokyo and graduate of Sophia University, he worked at Recruit from 1988 to 1996. Kato was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2000 and served until 2012.
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Yoshio Maki
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Yoshio Maki is a Japanese politician of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ).
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Toshitsugu Saito
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Toshitsugu Saito is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet from 1986 to 2009. A native of Fuji, Shizuoka and graduate of Sophia University, he attended Waseda University for graduate study and business school at the University of Washington in the United States.
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Kiyoshi Adachi
- Years
- 1969-.. (age 56)
- Occupations
- businesspersonpolitician
- Biography
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Kiyoshi Adachi is a Japanese politician who served as a member of the House of Councillors of Japan from 2019 until his resignation in 2023 to run for Governor of Ōita Prefecture. He represented the Ōita at-large district as an independent.
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Masayuki Fujio
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Masayuki Fujio was the Japanese Minister of Education, under the government of Yasuhiro Nakasone until 1986. He was a member of the right-wing Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai faction of the Liberal Democratic Party, where he was described as being a "loyal vassal" to Takeo Fukuda, the founder of the faction.
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Morshed Khan
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Morshed Khan is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the minister of foreign affairs of Bangladesh from 2001 until 2006. He served as a Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Chittagong-10 constituency in the 6th, 7th and 8th parliaments.
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Cara Black
- Occupations
- novelist
- Biography
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Cara Black is an American mystery writer. She is best known for the twenty-one novel mystery series featuring Aimée Leduc a female Paris-based private investigator, as well as the thrillers Three Hours in Paris, a national bestseller, and Night Flight to Paris. Black is included in the Great Women Mystery Writers by Elizabeth Lindsay 2nd edition. Her first novel Murder in the Marais was nominated for an Anthony Award for best first novel and the third novel in the series, Murder in the Sentier, was Anthony-nominated for Best Novel. Her books have been translated into German, Norwegian, Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, and Hebrew.
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Li Linsi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Li Linsi; birth name Li Jiaxiang (厉家祥), was a modern Chinese educator, diplomat and scholar, who has been recognized as one of the key figures in modern Chinese cultural and diplomatic history. Hailed as China's Mahatma Gandhi, Li was the leader of China's nonviolent resistance against Japanese aggression. His military research contributed to China in the Second Sino-Japanese War. He was known for his efforts to save hundreds of Jews fleeing to Shanghai during World War II. A diplomatic consultant to Chiang Kai-shek, Li was a key facilitator of the China-Germany relationship during the 1930s, and a major proponent of China's League of Nations diplomacy. He was a co-founder of some of China's most influential organizations, including the China branch of the United Nations and China Institute of World Cultural Cooperation at the League of Nations. Being reputed as a human bridge connecting Chinese and European cultures, Li made a great contribution to helping the West comprehend ancient Chinese philosophies, and introduced many Western progressive thoughts to China. A descendant of Jiang Ziya, the Chinese legendary founding prime minister during the Zhou dynasty, Li was the fourth great-grandson of Li E, a leader of the Qing dynasty poetry. His eldest son is Li Shengjiao, a noted Chinese diplomat and jurist. Li died in Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution.
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Armand Mauss
- Occupations
- sociologist
- Biography
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Armand Lind Mauss was an American sociologist specializing in the sociology of religion. He was Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Religious Studies at Washington State University and was the most frequently published author of Sociology works on Mormons during his long career. A special conference on his work in Mormon studies was held in 2013 at California's Claremont Graduate University (CGU), the papers from which were subsequently published by the University of Utah Press in the format of a Festschrift, where he was honored as "one of the most prominent Mormon intellectuals of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries."
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Tetsuo Kogawa
- Occupations
- artistuniversity teacherfilm criticphilosopherradio technician
- Biography
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Tetsuo Kogawa is a Japanese performance artist, activist and media theorist who works extensively with radio art and microbroadcasting. Until 2012, he worked as a professor in Department of Communication Studies at Tokyo Keizai University, and has written extensively on media philosophy, information technology and film in both Japanese and English.
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James Bregman
- Occupations
- judoka
- Biography
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James Steven Bregman was a member of the first American team to compete in judo at the Summer Olympics. A founding member and President of the United States Judo Federation, in his competitive career he was a bronze Olympic medalist (1964), a World Championships bronze medalist (1965), a Pan American Championships gold medalist, and a Maccabiah Games gold medalist (1965).
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Lydia Yu-Jose
- Occupations
- scientist
- Biography
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Lydia N. Yu-Jose was a Filipino professor of political science and Japanese Studies at the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. A graduate of Sophia University, she was best known for her research into the history of Japan–Philippines relations, as well as aiding in the development of Japanese studies in the Philippines as a separate academic discipline.
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Michiyoshi Doi
- Years
- 1926-1975 (aged 49)
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorimpresario
- Biography
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Michiyoshi Doi was a Japanese film director. He directed films from the 1950s to the 1970s.
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Joe Gersten
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Joseph Morris Gersten was an American politician in the state of Florida.
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Eli Lancman
- Occupations
- art historian
- Biography
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Eli Lancman was an Israeli historian of Japanese and East Asian art. Developer and director of the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art in Haifa from 1966 to 1992, he was also one of the founders of the Israel-Japan Friendship Society.
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Roger Lee Steele
- Occupations
- printmaker
- Biography
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Roger Lee Steele. Raised in Wichita Falls, Texas, Steele was an American-born graphic artist/printmaker living in South Carolina best known for his lithography, an artistic process also known as relief printing. He was a printmaker specializing in the color-blend or split fountain technique, often incorporating traditional chine-collé gold leaf techniques in his work. His abstract color graphics are frequently suggestive of an artistic link between mid-late Japanese motifs and the modern world.
