Akihiro Miwa death at age 91
Akihiro Miwa, the Japanese singer, actor and drag queen whose career spanned more than seven decades, died on June 20, 2026, at age 91. Born Akihiro Maruyama in Nagasaki on…
Famous Dead People from Japan
Over 600 obituaries for famous people from Japan who died. Additional info, news, and memorial pages.
Haruhiro Yamashita death at age 87
Haruhiro Yamashita, a Japanese Olympic gymnast, died on June 19, 2026, at the age of 87. Born in Uwajima on November 11, 1938, he represented Japan at the 1964 Summer…
Harunobu Yonenaga dead at age 60
Harunobu Yonenaga, a Japanese politician, died on June 16, 2026, at the age of 60. Born on October 21, 1965, in Masuho, Yamanashi, he graduated from Sophia University and later…
Toyoji Sudo death at age 67
Toyoji Sudo died on June 15, 2026. Tags Politicians, 15 June 2026, Japan, Sudo, Toyoji, June 15, June 2026
Toyoji Sudo death at age 67
Toyoji Sudo died on June 15, 2026. Tags Politicians, 15 June 2026, Japan, Scorpio, Sudo, Toyoji, June 15, June 2026
Yōhei Kōno dies at age 89
Yōhei Kōno, a Japanese politician who served as deputy prime minister from 1994 to 1995 and as speaker of the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2009, died on June…
Tamao Nakamura passed away at age 86
Tamao Nakamura, the Japanese actress known for "The River with No Bridge," "Satan's Sword" and "The Human Condition," died on June 9, 2026, of pneumonia. She was 86. Born in…
Masahiro Futahashi passed away at age 84
Masahiro Futahashi, a Japanese politician and former bureaucrat, died June 8, 2026, at age 84. He served twice as deputy chief cabinet secretary, from 2003 to 2006 and again from…
Yoshihisa Uchida died at age 101
Yoshihisa Uchida died on June 5, 2026. Tags Politicians, 05 June 2026, Japan, Uchida, Yoshihisa, June 2026, June 5
Yoshihisa Uchida died at age 101
Yoshihisa Uchida died on June 5, 2026. He was a Japanese politician and journalist. Born on January 5, 1925, Uchida studied at Meiji University. Tags Journalists, Politicians, 05 June 2026,…
Greg James obituary: died at age 71
Greg James, an American tattoo artist known for designs and original artwork that appeared in magazines, books, documentaries and at the Hard Rock Cafe, died on June 4, 2026, at…
Guts Ishimatsu passes away at age 76
Guts Ishimatsu, the Japanese boxer and actor known for roles in Empire of the Sun and Black Rain, died on June 2, 2026, of pneumonia. He was 76. Born Yuji…
Hasegawa Katsutoshi dies at 81
Hasegawa Katsutoshi, a Japanese sumo wrestler, died on May 31, 2026, at age 81. Born on July 20, 1944, in Kurisawa, Hokkaido, now part of Iwamizawa, he entered professional sumo…
Norihiko Kitahara passes away at age 71
Norihiko Kitahara died on May 30, 2026. He was a Japanese Olympic basketball player. Tags Athletes, 30 May 2026, Japan, Kitahara, Norihiko, Sagittarius, May 2026, May 30
Yoshiharu Yamaguchi died at age 83
Yoshiharu Yamaguchi, the Japanese rugby union player who represented his national team, died on May 29, 2026, at the age of 83. Born on February 15, 1943, in Mihama, Fukui,…
Mamoru Ozaki dies at age 91
Mamoru Ozaki died on May 27, 2026. He was a Japanese bureaucrat. Tags Other, 27 May 2026, Japan, Mamoru, Ozaki, May 2026, May 27
Koji Tanaka has died at age 70
Koji Tanaka, a Japanese football player and manager, died on May 26, 2026, at the age of 70. Born in Saitama on November 2, 1955, he graduated from Meiji University…
Yoshihiro Nishimura died at age 59
Yoshihiro Nishimura, a Japanese film director, screenwriter and special effects artist, died on May 25, 2026. He was 59. Born on April 1, 1967, in Taitō-ku, Nishimura worked predominantly in…
Tadateru Konoe died at age 87
Tadateru Konoe, the Japanese humanitarian who served as president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from 2009 to 2017, died on May 23, 2026. He…
Toshifumi Suzuki dies at age 93
Toshifumi Suzuki, a Japanese businessman and former CEO and president of 7-Eleven, died on May 18, 2026, at the age of 93. Suzuki was a longtime executive who had been…
Obituary: Tatsuya Hori, dead at age 90
Tatsuya Hori, Japanese politician and governor of Hokkaido from 1995 to 2003, died on May 16, 2026, of cancer. He was 90. Hori was born in Tomakishi, Karafuto, on Nov.…
Shin’ichirō Tawata death at age 78
Shin'ichirō Tawata died on May 15, 2026. He was a Japanese linguist. Tags Scientists, 15 May 2026, Cancer, Japan, Tawata, May 15, May 2026, Shin'ichirō
Shinichiro Tawada death at age 78
Shinichiro Tawada, a Japanese linguist, died on May 15, 2026. Tags Scientists, 15 May 2026, Cancer, Japan, Shinichiro, Tawada, May 15, May 2026
Takahiro Fujiwara, died aged 43
Takahiro Fujiwara died on May 14, 2026. He was a Japanese voice actor known for his work on My Hero Academia, Berserk, and Captain Earth. His death was reported in…
Izo Hashimoto death at age 72
Izo Hashimoto died on May 12, 2026. He was a Japanese screenwriter. Tags Writers, 12 May 2026, Hashimoto, Izo, Japan, Pisces, May 12, May 2026
Koji Suzuki passes away at age 68
Koji Suzuki, a Japanese writer known for the Ring novels, died on May 8, 2026, at the age of 68. Born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan, on May 13, 1957, he…
Kenji Ohba death at age 71
Kenji Ohba, a Japanese actor and stuntman, died on May 6, 2026, at the age of 71. Born Kenji Takahashi in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan, he was known professionally as…
Kazuhiro Ninomiya dies at age 79
Kazuhiro Ninomiya, a Japanese judoka, died on May 4, 2026, at the age of 79. Born in Fukuoka, Japan, on November 28, 1946, he competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics…
Yuji Ohno has died at age 84
Yuji Ohno, the Japanese musician and composer known for his work on "Lupin III," died on May 4, 2026, at the age of 84. A pianist, orchestrator and keyboard player,…
Juliet Winters Carpenter death at age 77
Juliet Winters Carpenter, an American translator, died on May 1, 2026. She was a translator of modern Japanese literature whose fiction and nonfiction translations won numerous awards. Born in Ann…
Aiko Satō passes away at age 102
Aiko Satō died on April 29, 2026. She was a writer. Tags Writers, 29 April 2026, Aiko, Japan, April 2026, April 29, Satō
Kiyoshi Kitagawa, died aged 67
Kiyoshi Kitagawa died on April 28, 2026. Tags Musicians, 28 April 2026, America, Japan, Kitagawa, Kiyoshi, April 2026, April 28
Katsumi Miyaji death at age 85
Katsumi Miyaji, a Japanese rugby union player and coach, died on April 25, 2026. He was 85. Miyaji played as a prop and attended Shijonaga High School before going on…
Obituary: Hirohiko Okano, dead at age 101
Hirohiko Okano, a Japanese poet, died on April 24, 2026, at age 101. Born in Misugi, now part of Tsu in Mie Prefecture, on July 7, 1924, he published numerous…
Tatsuo Sato dies at 61
Tatsuo Sato, a Japanese anime director known for works including Cat Soup, Martian Successor Nadesico and Bodacious Space Pirates, died on April 24, 2026, at age 61. Japanese media later…
Katsu Kanai dead at age 89
Katsu Kanai died on April 22, 2026. No other details were immediately available. Tags Actors, 22 April 2026, Japan, Kanai, Katsu, April 2026, April 22
Adrienne Staples obituary: died at age 69
Adrienne Staples, a New Zealand politician and former mayor of South Wairarapa, died on April 19, 2026, aged 69–70. Born in Featherston in 1956 or 1957, she served as mayor…
Wakana Yamazaki dies at 61
Wakana Yamazaki, a Japanese voice actress known for her work in anime and video games, died on April 18, 2026, at age 61. Born in Yokohama on March 21, 1965,…
Kenji Gokenya died at age 87
Kenji Gokenya, a Japanese politician, died on April 18, 2026. Kenji Gokenya [ja], 87, Japanese politician. Tags Politicians, 18 April 2026, Gokenya, Japan, Kenji, 2026-04-18, April 18, April 2026
Kazuo Imanishi dies at 85
Kazuo Imanishi, a Japanese football player and manager, died on April 16, 2026, of pneumonia. He was 85. Imanishi played for Toyo Industries, later Mazda, after graduating from Tokyo University…
Masayoshi Tsuchida dead at age 82
Masayoshi Tsuchida, a Japanese politician, died on April 16, 2026. Masayoshi Tsuchida [ja], 82, Japanese politician. Tags Politicians, 16 April 2026, Japan, Masayoshi, Tsuchida, 2026-04-16, April 16, April 2026
Obituary: Seigō Tsuchida, dead at age 82
Seigō Tsuchida, Japanese politician and mayor of Higashine since 1998, died on April 16, 2026, at the age of 82. He served as mayor of Higashine, Yamagata Prefecture, for seven…
Izumi Okamoto dead at age 95
Izumi Okamoto died on April 15, 2026. He was a Japanese baseball player with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and later worked as a coach. His death was announced on that…
Isami Okamoto, died aged 95
Isami Okamoto died on April 15, 2026. He was a Japanese baseball player with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and later served as a coach. His career was linked to Japanese…
Hiroshi Shiono passed away at age 94
Hiroshi Shiono, a Japanese legal scholar and academic, died on April 15, 2026, at the age of 94. He specialized in administrative law and served as an honorary professor at…
Kazuo Ebisawa death at age 72
Kazuo Ebisawa died on April 14, 2026. Tags Other, 14 April 2026, Ebisawa, Japan, Kazuo, April 14, April 2026
Death of Takao Fujii at age 83
Takao Fujii, a Japanese politician, died on April 13, 2026, of a heart attack. He was 83. Fujii was a former member of Japan’s House of Councillors in the Diet,…
Yōsuke Tamori died at age 74
Yōsuke Tamori, the Japanese mangaka and writer behind the PopoloCrois fantasy media franchise, died on April 10, 2026. PopoloCrois began as a manga series in 1977 in the Asahi Student…
Bae Myeong-in, died aged 93
Bae Myeong-in, a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as minister of justice from 1982 to 1985, died on April 6, 2026, at the age of 93. He was…
Obituary: Yataro Tsuda, dead at age 73
Yataro Tsuda, a Japanese politician and former member of the House of Councillors, died on April 6, 2026. He was a member of the Democratic Party of Japan and served…
Yoshihisa Kishimoto, died aged 64
Yoshihisa Kishimoto, a Japanese video game developer, died on April 2, 2026. Yoshihisa Kishimoto, 64, Japanese video game developer. Tags Other, 02 April 2026, Japan, Kishimoto, Yoshihisa, 2026-04-02, April 2,…
Shozin Fukui dies at age 64
Shozin Fukui, a Japanese film director and screenwriter, died on April 2, 2026, at the age of 64–65. He was best known for his work in the cyberpunk genre and…
Obituary: The Pillows, dead at age 61
The Pillows, a Japanese rock drummer with the band The Pillows, died on March 22, 2026, of esophageal cancer. The Pillows were a Japanese alternative rock band formed in Hokkaido…
Jun Matsumoto obituary: died at age 75
Jun Matsumoto, a Japanese politician and twice a member of the House of Representatives, died on March 19, 2026, at the age of 75 in Tokyo. A member of the…
Heisuke Hironaka dead at age 94
Heisuke Hironaka, a Japanese mathematician and 1970 Fields Medal winner, died on March 18, 2026, at age 94. Born in Yamaguchi, Japan, on April 9, 1931, he was recognized for…
Obituary: Taneaki Tanami, dead at age 93
Taneaki Tanami, a Japanese politician and former member of the House of Representatives, died on March 18, 2026, of multiple organ failure. He was 93. Tanami served in the House…
Wakashimazu Mutsuo obituary: died at age 69
Wakashimazu Mutsuo, a Japanese sumo wrestler, died on March 15, 2026. Born Mutsuo Hidaka on January 12, 1957, in Nakatane, Kagoshima, he reached the rank of ōzeki and won two…
Shigeaki Mori dies at age 88
Shigeaki Mori, a Japanese historian and atomic bomb survivor, died on March 14, 2026. He was 88. Born in Hiroshima on March 29, 1937, Mori was known for his research…
Chaos UK obituary: died at age -1
Chaos UK, the British guitarist associated with the punk band Chaos UK, died on March 12, 2026. Chaos UK was an English punk rock band formed in 1979 in Portishead,…
Death of Richard Bozulich at age 90
Richard Bozulich, an American Go player, author, publisher and college math instructor, died on March 9, 2026, at age 90. He co-founded Ishi Press and was the founding publisher of…
Tsutomu Shibayama dies at 84
Tsutomu Shibayama, a Japanese anime director of film and television, died on March 6, 2026, at the age of 84. Born in Asakusa, Taitō, Tokyo, on March 9, 1941, he…
Death of Yonehiko Kitagawa at age 94
Yonehiko Kitagawa, a Japanese voice actor known for work on Kinnikuman, Tiger Mask and Sally the Witch, died on March 5, 2026, of pneumonia. He was 94. Born Kunihiko Takeda…
Masaru Urata passes away at age 100
Masaru Urata, a Japanese politician, died on March 5, 2026. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he served in the House of Councillors from 1983 to 1989 and again…
Toshikazu Kawasaki passed away at age 70
Toshikazu Kawasaki, a Japanese paperfolder and origami theorist, died on March 3, 2026. He was known for geometrically innovative models, especially his series of fourfold symmetry "roses," which used a…
Masako Ikeda dies at 87
Masako Ikeda, a Japanese voice actress and narrator, died on March 3, 2026, in Tokyo at the age of 87. Born in Tokyo on January 1, 1939, she worked from…
Yoshiharu Tsuge death at age 88
Yoshiharu Tsuge, the Japanese manga artist and essayist known for "Nejishiki," died on March 3, 2026, in Tokyo, Japan, of aspiration pneumonia. Born in Katsushika, Tokyo, on October 30, 1937,…
Kazumasa Nagai death at age 96
Kazumasa Nagai, a Japanese printmaker and graphic designer, died on March 2, 2026. Born in Osaka on April 20, 1929, he attended the Tokyo University of the Arts to study…
Death of Kohei Otsuka at age 66
Kohei Otsuka, a Japanese politician and former leader of the Democratic Party for the People and the Democratic Party, died on March 2, 2026. A native of Nagoya, Aichi, he…
Takeshi Amemiya passes away at age 90
Takeshi Amemiya, a Japanese economist, died on February 25, 2026. Born in Tokyo on March 29, 1935, he specialized in econometrics and the economy of ancient Greece. Amemiya was the…
Hidé Ishiguro has died at age 94
Hidé Ishiguro, a Japanese analytic philosopher and emeritus professor at Keio University in Tokyo, died on February 20, 2026. Born in Tokyo in August 1931, she studied at Tokyo University…
Kazue Sawai passed away at age 85
Kazue Sawai, a Japanese koto player and musician, died on February 17, 2026. Born in Kyoto on January 1, 1941, she began studying the koto at age eight with Michio…
Shinya Japanese dead at age 56
Shinya Yamada, the Japanese musician best known as the drummer of Luna Sea, died on February 17, 2026, at age 56 of cancer. Born in Hadano, Kanagawa, on January 13,…
Sega dies at 75
Sega, a Japanese businessman and engineer, died on February 14, 2026. Sega Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo and a subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings, is a Japanese video game company known…
Obituary: Toshio Motoya, dead at age 82
Toshio Motoya, a Japanese hospitality executive, died on February 13, 2026. He was the president of APA Group, which included APA Hotels & Resorts, one of Japan’s largest hotel chains.…
Shutaro Iida died at age 52
Shutaro Iida, a Japanese video game programmer, died on February 10, 2026, at the age of 52. He was born on March 11, 1973, and worked at Konami from 1996…
Takamitsu Muraoka passed away at age 88
Takamitsu Muraoka, a Japanese linguist and Semitist, died on February 10, 2026, at the age of 88. He was Chair of Hebrew, Israelite Antiquities, and Ugaritic at Leiden University in…
Obituary: Tadao Yasuda, dead at age 62
Tadao Yasuda, a Japanese rikishi and professional wrestler who competed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, died on February 8, 2026, at age 62. Born in Tokyo on October 9, 1963, he…
Death of Tadamasa Goto at age 83
Tadamasa Goto, a Japanese crime boss and yakuza, died on February 8, 2026. He was the founding head of the Goto-gumi, a Fujinomiya-based affiliate of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest yakuza…
Masashi Furukawa has died at age 90
Masashi Furukawa, a Japanese politician, died on February 7, 2026. A member of Komeito, he served in the House of Representatives from 1969 to 1990. Born in Hiroshima Prefecture on…
Obituary: Tōsha Meishō, dead at age 84
Tōsha Meishō, a Japanese hayashi musician, died on February 4, 2026. Born Isao Nakagawa in Tokyo in 1941, he was one of a long line of Tōsha school musicians specializing…
Death of Morishige Naruse at age 92
Morishige Naruse, a Japanese politician, died on February 4, 2026, in Okazaki, Japan, two days before his 93rd birthday. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he served in the…
Seiichirō Dōkyū dead at age 72
Seiichirō Dōkyū, a Japanese politician, died on February 3, 2026, at the age of 72. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the House of Representatives from 2009…
Nobuhiko Ochiai has died at age 84
Nobuhiko Ochiai, a Japanese journalist and novelist, died on February 1, 2026. He was born in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan, on January 8, 1942. Ochiai wrote works reporting on international affairs…
Masaru Ikeda, died aged 83
Masaru Ikeda, a Japanese actor and voice actor known for his work in Yatterman, Sakura Wars and One Piece, died on January 31, 2026, of a heart attack. Born in…
Death of Kazuhiko Hasegawa at age 80
Kazuhiko Hasegawa, a Japanese film director and screenwriter, died on January 31, 2026, at the age of 80. Born in Kamo District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, on January 5, 1946, he…
Kikuo Arakawa passed away at age 96
Kikuo Arakawa, a Japanese medical scientist and internist, died on January 23, 2026. He specialized in hypertension and cardiovascular medicine and was a Professor Emeritus at Fukuoka University. Arakawa also…
Obituary: Homare Suguro, dead at age 85
Homare Suguro, a Japanese actor and singer, died on January 23, 2026, at the age of 85. Born in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, on June 1, 1940, he worked for Shochiku…
Toshikatsu Yamamoto dies at age 96
Toshikatsu Yamamoto, a Japanese physician who worked in the field of acupuncture, died on January 20, 2026. Born on December 15, 1929, he graduated in 1956 from Nippon Medical School…
David Rosen dead at age 95
David M. Rosen, an American businessman and co-founder of Sega, died on December 25, 2025, at age 95. Born on January 22, 1930, in Brooklyn, New York, he served in…
Uichiro Niwa obituary: died at age 86
Uichiro Niwa, a Japanese businessman and diplomat who served as ambassador to China from 2010 to 2012, died on December 24, 2025, at the age of 86. Born in Nagoya,…
Ike Schab dead at age 105
Ike Schab, an American Navy sailor and World War II veteran, died on December 20, 2025, at age 105. Born Ira Schab in Chicago on July 4, 1920, he joined…
Seiichi Motohashi has died at age 85
Seiichi Motohashi died on December 20, 2025. He was a Japanese photographer and film director. Seiichi Motohashi (本橋 成一, Motohashi Seiichi; 1940 – December 20, 2025) was a Japanese photographer…
Takahiro Shiraishi passes away at age 34
Japanese convicted serial killer Died on Friday June 27th 2025
Chisako Kakehi has died at age 78
Japanese serial killer Died on Thursday December 26th 2024
Tsutomu Shirosaki death at age 77
Japanese terrorist Died on Sunday July 21st 2024
Miyuki Ueta obituary: died at age 49
Japanese murderer Died on Sunday January 15th 2023
Issei Sagawa death at age 73
Japanese murderer and cannibal Died on Thursday December 1st 2022
Obituary: Tomohiro Katō, dead at age 39
Japanese mass murderer (Akihabara massacre) Died on Tuesday July 26th 2022
Koichi Shoji died at age 64
Japanese murderer Died on Friday August 2nd 2019