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Selected biography list
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/1
Hasekura Tsunenaga was a
Japanese samurai and retainer of
Date Masamune, the
daimyō of
Sendai. In the years 1613 through 1620, Hasekura headed a diplomatic mission to the
Vatican in Rome, traveling through
New Spain and visiting various ports-of-call in
Europe. This historic mission is called the
Keichō Embassy. On the return trip, Hasekura and his companions re-traced their route across Mexico in 1619, sailing from Acapulco for Manilla, and then sailing north to Japan in 1620. This is conventionally considered the first Japanese ambassador in the
Americas and in Europe. Although Hasekura's embassy was cordially received in Europe, it happened at a time when Japan was moving toward the
suppression of Christianity. European monarchs such as the
King of Spain thus refused the trade agreements Hasekura had been seeking. Hasekura returned to Japan in 1620 and died of illness a year later, his embassy seemingly ending with few results in an increasingly isolationist Japan.
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/2
Adolfo Farsari was an
Italian photographer based in
Yokohama,
Japan. Following a brief military career, including service in the
American Civil War, he became a successful
entrepreneur and commercial photographer. His photographic work was highly regarded, particularly his
hand-coloured portraits and landscapes, which he sold mostly to foreign residents and visitors to the country. Farsari's images were widely distributed, presented or mentioned in books and periodicals, and sometimes recreated by artists in other media; they shaped foreign perceptions of the people and places of Japan and to some degree affected how Japanese saw themselves and their country. His
studio—the last notable foreign-owned studio in Japan—was one of the country's largest and most prolific commercial photographic firms. Largely due to Farsari's exacting technical standards and his entrepreneurial abilities it had a significant influence on the development of photography in Japan.
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/3
Paul Nobuo Tatsuguchi, sometimes mistakenly referred to as Nebu Tatsuguchi, was a
surgeon in the
Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during
World War II. He was killed during the
Battle of Attu on
Attu Island,
Alaska on May 30, 1943. A devout
Seventh-day Adventist Church, Tatsuguchi studied medicine and was licensed as a
physician in the United States (US). He returned to his native
Japan to practice medicine at the
Tokyo Adventist
Sanitarium, where he received further medical training. In 1941, he was ordered to cease his medical practice and conscripted into the IJA as an acting medical officer. In late 1942 or early 1943, Tatsuguchi was sent to Attu, which had been occupied by Japanese forces in October 1942. The
United States Army landed on the island on May 11, 1943, intending to retake the island from the Japanese. Throughout the resulting battle, Tatsuguchi kept a diary in which he recorded the events of the battle and his struggle to care for the wounded in his field hospital. He was killed on the battle's final day after the remaining Japanese conducted one last, suicidal charge against the American forces.
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/4
Pierre Rossier was a pioneering
Swiss photographer whose
albumen photographs, which include
stereographs and
cartes-de-visite, comprise portraits, cityscapes, and landscapes. He was commissioned by the
London firm of
Negretti and Zambra to travel to
Asia and document the progress of the
Anglo-
French troops in the
Second Opium War and, although he failed to join that military expedition, he remained in Asia for several years, producing the first commercial photographs of
China, the
Philippines,
Japan and Siam (now
Thailand). He was the first professional photographer in Japan, where he trained
Ueno Hikoma,
Maeda Genzō,
Horie Kuwajirō, as well as lesser known members of the first generation of Japanese photographers. In Switzerland he established
photographic studios in
Fribourg and
Einsiedeln, and he also produced images elsewhere in the country. Rossier is an important figure in the early history of photography not only because of his own images, but also because of the critical impact of his teaching in the early days of Japanese photography.
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/5
Kanō Jigorō was the founder of
judo. Judo was the first
Japanese martial art to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official
Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of
dan ranking to show the relative ranking between members of a martial art style. Well-known mottoes attributed to Kanō include "Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Effort" and "Mutual Welfare and Benefit." In his professional life Kanō was an
educator. Important postings included serving as director of primary education for the
Ministry of Education from 1898 to 1901, and as president of Tokyo Higher Normal School from 1901 until 1920. He played a key role in getting judo and
kendo made part of the Japanese public school programs of the 1910s. Kanō was also a pioneer of international
sports. Accomplishments included being the first Asian member of the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) (he served from 1909 until 1938), officially representing Japan at most Olympic Games held between 1912 and 1936 and serving as a leading spokesman for Japan's bid for the 1940 Olympic Games.
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/6
Tōru Takemitsu was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Though largely self-taught, Takemitsu is recognised for his skill in the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre, drawing from a wide range of influences, including jazz, popular music, avant-garde procedures and traditional Japanese music, in a harmonic idiom largely derived from the music of Claude Debussy and Olivier Messiaen. In 1958, the international attention he drew with his Requiem for strings (1957) resulted in several commissions from across the world, and settled his reputation as the leading Japanese composer of the 20th century. He was the recipient of numerous awards, commissions and honours; he composed over one hundred film scores for ensembles of various sizes and combinations. He also found time to write a detective novel, and appeared frequently on Japanese television as a celebrity chef. In the foreword to a selection of Takemitsu's writings in English, conductor Seiji Ozawa commented: "I am very proud of my friend Tōru Takemitsu. He is the first Japanese composer to write for a world audience and achieve international recognition."
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/7
Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese
singer-songwriter and former actress. Also called
Ayu by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of Pop" due to her popularity and widespread influence in Japan. Born and raised in
Fukuoka, she moved to
Tokyo at fourteen to pursue a career in entertainment. In 1998, under the tutelage of
Avex CEO
Max Matsuura, she released a string of modestly selling singles that concluded with her 1999 debut album
A Song for ××. The album debuted atop the
Oricon charts and stayed there for four weeks, establishing her popularity in Japan. Because of her constantly changing image and tight control over her artistry, Hamasaki's popularity extends across Asia; music and fashion trends she has started have spread to countries such as China, Singapore, and Taiwan. She has appeared in or lent her songs to many advertisements and television commercials. Though she originally supported the exploitation of her popularity for commercial purposes, she later reconsidered and eventually opposed her status as an Avex "product".
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/8
Fujiwara no Teika, also known as Fujiwara no Sadaie or Sada-ie, was a
Japanese waka poet, critic,
calligrapher, novelist,
anthologist, scribe, and scholar of the late
Heian and early
Kamakura periods. His influence was enormous, and he is even to this day counted as among the greatest of
Japanese poets, and perhaps the greatest master of the
waka form - an ancient poetic form consisting of five lines with a total of 31
syllables. His critical ideas on composing poetry were extremely influential and studied until as late as the
Meiji era. A member of a poetic clan, Teika was born to the noted poet
Fujiwara no Shunzei. After coming to the attention of the Retired Emperor
Go-Toba (1180–1239; r. 1183–1198), Teika began his long and distinguished career, spanning multiple areas of aesthetic endeavor. His relationship with Go-Toba was at first cordial and led to commissions to compile anthologies, but later resulted in his banishment from the retired emperor's court. His descendants and ideas would dominate classical Japanese poetry for centuries afterwards.
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/9
Katsuhiko Nakajima is a Japanese professional wrestler, represented as a freelancer by his mentor Kensuke Sasaki's Kensuke Office dojo and agency. He along with Sasaki and other Kensuke Office graduates currently most frequently wrestle in Pro Wrestling Noah (or simply NOAH), as well as sporadic self-produced independent shows. Prior to that Nakajima participated in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a former AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Having made his professional debut aged 15, Nakajima has already made a significant impact on puroresu, earning the nickname "Supernova" and facing Hall of Famers such as Kenta Kobashi, Satoru Sayama, Jushin Liger, and Tatsumi Fujinami. He has competed in several notable Japanese promotions, including New Japan Pro Wrestling, AJPW, Pro Wrestling ZERO1, Michinoku Pro, Dragon Gate, and currently, NOAH. He has set several age records over his short career, including being the youngest wrestler to compete in AJPW's Champion's Carnival tournament and the youngest to hold the AJPW Junior Heavyweight Championship. He won the Tokyo Sports Grand Prix "Rookie of the Year" award in 2004 and the Fighting Spirit award in 2005.
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/10
Matsuo Bashō was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as a master of brief and clear haiku. His poetry is internationally renowned, and within Japan many of his poems are reproduced on monuments and traditional sites. Bashō was introduced to poetry at a young age, and after integrating himself into the intellectual scene of Edo he quickly became well known throughout Japan. He made a living as a teacher, but renounced the social, urban life of the literary circles and was inclined to wander throughout the country, heading west, east, and far into the northern wilderness to gain inspiration for his writing and haiku. His poems are influenced by his firsthand experience of the world around him, often encapsulating the feeling of a scene in a few simple elements.
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/11
Tetsuji Takechi was a Japanese theatrical and film director, critic and author. First coming to prominence for his theatrical criticism, in the 1940s and 1950s he produced influential and popular experimental kabuki plays. Beginning in the mid-1950s, he continued his innovative theatrical work in noh, kyōgen and modern theater. In the 1960s, Takechi entered the film industry by producing controversial soft-core theatrical pornography. His 1964 film Daydream was the first big-budget, mainstream pink film released in Japan. After the release of his 1965 film Black Snow, the government arrested him on indecency charges. The trial became a public battle over censorship between Japan's intellectuals and the government. Takechi won the lawsuit, enabling the wave of softcore pink films which dominated Japan's domestic cinema during the 1960s and 1970s. In the later 1960s, Takechi produced three more pink films. Takechi did not work in film during most of the 1970s, instead serving as the host of a popular TV program, The Tetsuji Takechi Hour. In the 1980s, he remade Daydream twice, starring actress Kyōko Aizome in both films. The first Daydream remake (1981) is considered the first theatrical hardcore pornographic film in Japan.
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/12
Toyohara Kunichika was a Japanese woodblock print artist. Talented as a child, at about thirteen he became a student of Tokyo's then-leading print maker,
Utagawa Kunisada. His deep appreciation and knowledge of
kabuki drama led to his production primarily of
ukiyo-e actor-prints, which are woodblock prints of kabuki actors and scenes from popular plays of the time. An alcoholic and womanizer, Kunichika also portrayed women deemed beautiful (
bijinga), contemporary social life, and a few landscapes and historical scenes. He worked successfully in the
Edo era, and carried those traditions into the
Meiji era. To his contemporaries and now to some modern art historians, this has been seen as a significant achievement during a transitional period of great social and political change in Japan's history. The artist who became known as Toyohara Kunichika was born Ōshima Yasohachi on June 5, 1835, in the
Kyōbashi district, a merchant and artisan area of
Edo (present-day
Tokyo). His father, Ōshima Kyujū, was the proprietor of a
sentō (public bathhouse), the
Ōshūya.
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/13
Kumiko Koda better known by her stage name
Kumi Koda, is a Japanese singer and songwriter from
Kyoto, known for her
Japanese Urban and
R&B songs. Having debuted in 2000 with the single "
Take Back", Koda gained fame for her seventh single, "
Real Emotion / 1000 no Kotoba", the songs of which were used as themes for the video game
Final Fantasy X-2. Her popularity grew with the release of her fourth
studio album Secret (2005), her sixteenth single "
Butterfly" (2005), and her first
greatest hits album
Best: First Things (2005), reaching the number-three, number-two and number-one spot respectively. Though her early releases presented a conservative, quiet image, since as early as 2003 Koda has adopted a sexier and more provocative style. Because of this image, she has become a fashion leader among young women, setting trends such as the ero-kakkoii style. She has also won many fashion awards such as, the "Best Jeanist Award" and the title of "Nail Queen" three times since 2006. Since the rise in her popularity, Koda has lent her face and songs to many advertisements.
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/14
Felice Beato, sometimes known as Felix Beato, was a
Corfiote photographer. He was one of the first photographers to take pictures in
East Asia and one of the first
war photographers. He is noted for his
genre works,
portraits, and views and
panoramas of the architecture and landscapes of
Asia and the
Mediterranean region. Beato's travels to many lands gave him the opportunity to create powerful and lasting images of countries, people and events that were unfamiliar and remote to most people in
Europe and
North America. To this day his work provides the key images of such events as the
Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the
Second Opium War. His photographs represent the first substantial oeuvre of what came to be called
photojournalism. He had a significant impact on other photographers, and Beato's influence in
Japan, where he worked with and taught numerous other photographers and artists, was particularly deep and lasting. The origins and identity of Felice Beato have been problematic issues, but the confusion over his birth date and birthplace seems now to have been substantially cleared up. Based on an application for a travel permit that he made in 1858, Beato was born in 1833 or 1834 on the island of
Corfu.
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/15
Masako Katsura was a carom billiards player most active in the 1950s who trailblazed a path for women in the sport by competing and placing among the best in the male-dominated world of professional billiards. First learning the game from her brother-in-law and then under the tutelage of Japanese champion Kinrey Matsuyama, Katsura finished second in Japan's national three-cushion billiards championship three times. In exhibition she was noted for running 10,000 points at the game of straight rail. After marrying a U.S. army officer in 1950, Katsura emigrated with him to the United States in 1951, where she was invited to play in the 1952 U.S.-sponsored World Three-Cushion Championship, ultimately taking seventh place at that competition. Katsura was the first woman ever to be included in any world billiards tournament. Her fame cemented, Katsura went on an exhibition tour of the United States with 8-time world champion Welker Cochran, and later with 51-time world champion, Willie Hoppe. In 1953 and 1954 she again competed for the world three-cushion crown, taking fifth and fourth places respectively.
Portal:Japan/Selected biography/16
Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist,
poet and
lady-in-waiting at the
Imperial court during the
Heian period. She is best known as the author of
The Tale of Genji, written in
Japanese between about 1000 and 1012. In about 1005, Murasaki was invited to serve as a lady-in-waiting to
Empress Shōshi at the Imperial court, probably because of her reputation as a writer. She continued to write during her service, adding scenes from court life to her work. After five or six years, she left court and retired with Shōshi to the
Lake Biwa region. Murasaki wrote
The Diary of Lady Murasaki, a volume of poetry, and
The Tale of Genji. Within a decade of its completion,
Genji was distributed throughout the provinces; within a century it was recognized as a classic of
Japanese literature, and had become a subject of scholarly criticism. Early in the 20th century her work was translated; a six-volume English translation was completed in 1933. Scholars continue to recognize the importance of her work, which reflects Heian court society at its peak.
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