20 Notable alumni of
Yokohama National University
Updated:
Yokohama National University is 511th in the world, 100th in Asia, and 39th in Japan by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 20 notable alumni from Yokohama National University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
-
Hidetoshi Nishijima
- Occupations
- seiyūtelevision actornarratoractor
- Biography
-
Hidetoshi Nishijima is a Japanese actor and model. He is widely regarded as one of Japan's leading actors, having appeared in a wide range of films from science fiction films such as Shin Ultraman (2022) to small-scale art films such as Dolls (2002). He gained international recognition for his critically acclaimed leading role in the 2021 film Drive My Car, for which he received the Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Actor.
-
Koshi Inaba
- Occupations
- singersinger-songwriterDJ producerlyricistcomposer
- Biography
-
Koshi Inaba is a Japanese singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock duo B'z, the best-selling music act in their native Japan. He also has a successful solo career, with six studio albums and five singles topping the Japanese music charts. Inaba collaborated with Slash on the latter's 2009 single "Sahara", and with Stevie Salas on the albums Chubby Groove (2017) and Maximum Huavo (2020).
-
Shunji Iwai
- Occupations
- composerfilm producerlyricistfilm directorfilm editor
- Biography
-
Shunji Iwai is a Japanese filmmaker, video artist, editor, and composer.
-
Kaori Manabe
- Occupations
- bloggertarentoactorgravure idol
- Biography
-
Kaori Manabe is a Japanese talent, gravure idol and actress. She was born on May 31, 1980, in Ehime Prefecture, Japan.
-
Hironobu Sakaguchi
- Occupations
- computer scientistauthorfilm directorvideo game producer
- Biography
-
Hironobu Sakaguchi is a Japanese game designer, director, producer, and writer. Originally working for Square (later Square Enix) from 1983 to 2003, he departed the company and founded independent studio Mistwalker in 2004. He is known as the creator of the Final Fantasy franchise, in addition to other titles during his time at Square. At Mistwalker, he is known for creating the Blue Dragon and Terra Battle series among several standalone titles, moving away from home consoles and creating titles for mobile platforms.
-
Masaya Katō
- Occupations
- actormartial artistmodelstunt performerfilm actor
- Biography
-
Masaya Kato is a Japanese actor from Nara in the Kansai region.
-
Sumio Mabuchi
- Occupations
- civil engineerengineerpolitician
- Biography
-
Sumio Mabuchi is a Japanese politician and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature).
-
Junji Sakamoto
- Occupations
- film directorscreenwriter
- Biography
-
Junji Sakamoto is a Japanese film director.
-
Ayako Kimura
- Occupations
- hurdlerlong jumpersprintertrack and field coachathletics competitor
- Biography
-
Ayako Kimura is a Japanese hurdler. She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 100 meter hurdles, and failed to reach the final. She won a gold, a bronze and a silver medal in this event at the Asian championships in 2013, 2015 and 2017, respectively.
-
Hiromichi Tanaka
- Occupations
- game designer
- Biography
-
Hiromichi Tanaka is a Japanese video game developer, game producer, game director and game designer. He was Senior Vice President of Software Development at Square Enix (formerly Square) and the head of the company's Product Development Division-3.
-
Shinichiro Sakurai
- Occupations
- engineer
- Biography
-
Shinichiro Sakurai was a Japanese engineer inducted into the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame who originally worked for Prince Motor Company then later moved to Nissan. After graduating from Yokohama National University, Sakurai worked for the Shimizu Corporation before he was given the opportunity to work in the Japanese automotive industry, which was his first intent. He later joined Prince as a chassis engineer in 1952, and was heavily involved in the development of the first generation Nissan Skyline (also called the Prince Skyline). He continued to head the Nissan Skyline project long after the Nissan takeover, headed the Nissan MID4 project, and was appointed President of Autech (a Nissan subsidiary) in 1986. He continued to work in the automotive field up until his death.
-
Akira Fujishima
- Occupations
- university teacherchemist
- Biography
-
Akira Fujishima is a Japanese chemist and president of Tokyo University of Science. He is known for significant contributions to the discovery and research of photocatalytic and superhydrophilic properties of titanium dioxide (TiO2), which is also known as the Honda-Fujishima effect.
-
Ryō Kurusu
- Occupations
- military flight engineer
- Biography
-
Ryō Kurusu was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. He is noted for being the only Eurasian (American-Japanese Hāfu) person to be commemorated in Japan's Yasukuni Shrine.
-
Kihachirō Kawamoto
- Enrolled in Yokohama National University
- Studied architecture
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorpuppet designeranimatoranimated film maker
- Biography
-
Kihachirō Kawamoto was a Japanese puppet designer, independent film director, screenwriter, animator and the second president of the Japan Animation Association, succeeding founder Osamu Tezuka in 1989 and serving until his own death. He is best-remembered in Japan as designer of the puppets for the long-running NHK live action television series of the Puppet theater, the Three Kingdoms in the early 1980s and The Tale of the Heike in the 1990s but better-known internationally for his own animated short films, the majority of which are model animation but which also include the cutout animation Tabi and Shijin no Shōgai and mixed media, French-language Farce anthropo-cynique.
-
Jūkichi Yagi
- Occupations
- poetwriter
- Biography
-
Jūkichi Yagi was a Japanese poet active in the late Taishō period and for the first few years of the Shōwa period, who focused on modern religious themes.
-
Kimie Hatano
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Kimie Hatano is a member of the Japanese Communist Party who served in both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. In the House of Representatives, she represented the 10th District of Kanagawa prefecture, while in the House of Councillors she represented the second seat of the Kanagawa at-large district. Hatano is opposed to the Technical Intern Training Program, saying that the workers in the program are being subordinated. She is also opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Hatano supports having more classes available in the evenings at junior high schools and is opposed to stopping state grants to national universities, saying that tuition would increase dramatically.
-
Takako Ebata
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Takako Ebata is a Japanese politician. She was a Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo's 10th district from 2009 to 2012.
-
Takuzo Aida
- Occupations
- polymer chemistchemist
- Biography
-
Takuzo Aida is a Japanese polymer chemist specializing in supramolecular chemistry and materials science. He is deputy director of the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and a distinguished professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology at the University of Tokyo.
-
Masayoshi Nataniya
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Masayoshi Nataniya is a Japanese politician of the Constitutional Democratic Party and a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Yokohama, Kanagawa and graduate of Yokohama National University, he was elected for the first time in 2004.
-
Tatsuo Itoh
- Years
- 1940-2021 (aged 81)
- Occupations
- engineer
- Biography
-
Tatsuo Itoh, was an electrical engineer who was professor and holder of the Northrop Grumman Chair in Microwave and Millimeter Wave Electronics in the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he taught and conducted research on microwave and millimeter wave electronics, guided wave structures, low power wireless electronics, and integrated passive components and antennas.
