- Emperor Of Japan
According to the Japanese Constitution, the is a symbol of Japan and the unity of its people. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family. Under Japan's present constitution, the emperor is a ceremonial figurehead in a constitutional monarchy (see Politics of Japan). The current emperor is His Imperial Majesty the Emperor Akihito, who has been on the Chrysanthemum Throne since his father Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) died in 1989.
- Murasaki Shikibu
Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, poet, and a maid of honor of the imperial court during the Heian period. She was born about 978 in Kyoto, Japan. "Murasaki Shikibu" was not her real name; her actual name is unknown, though some scholars have postulated that her given name might have been "Takako" (for Fujiwara Takako). Her diary states that she was nicknamed "Murasaki" ("purple wisteria blossom") at court, …
- Shinran
Shinran(親鸞) (1173-1263) was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino (now a part of Fushimi, Kyoto) at the close of the Heian Period and lived during the Kamakura Period, a time when the Shoguns lost their rule to their militaries. Shinran was a pupil of Honen and the founder of the Jodo Shinshu (or True Pure Land) sect in Japan. It was during this era that Japanese Buddhism, which had been declining into formalism for several centuries, underwent intense renewal, …
- Joi Ito
Joi Ito , an activist, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, has received much recognition for his role as an entrepreneur of Internet and technology companies. He has founded companies such as PSINet Japan, Digital Garage and Infoseek Japan and is the founder and currently the CEO of the venture capital firm, Neoteny Co., Ltd.
- Mineko Iwasaki
born Masako Tanaka on November 2 1949 in Kyoto, was Japan's number one "geiko" (geisha) until her sudden retirement at the age of 29.
- Ua
Kaori Shima, simply known by the stage name UA, is a Japanese singer. Her unusual stage name is a Swahili word that means "flower" or "kill". She is now sometimes referred as Kaori Murakami since she married the actor Jun Murakami in 1996. The couple divorced in August 2006. On 7 July 2007 UA performed at Live Earth in Kyoto.
- Tim
TIM is the name of a Japanese comedy unit ("kombi"). The unit consists of Red Yoshida (レッド吉田, born October 30, 1965) and Golgo (or Gorugo) Matsumoto (ゴルゴ松本, born April 17, 1967). They are most famous for their antics on the owarai show Uchimura Produce, as well as various children's shows such as Tensai Terebikun MAX (天才てれびくんMAX). The two are also members of the "owarai" and music group NO PLAN.
- Ashikaga Takauji
was the founder and 1st shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromachi period of Japan, and ended with his death in 1358. He was a descendant of the samurai of the {Minamoto}Seiwa Genji line, descended from Emperor Seiwa, that had settled in Ashikaga area of Shimotsuke Province which is in present day Tochigi Prefecture.
- Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
was the 3rd shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimitsu was the son of the second shogun Ashikaga Yoshiakira. In the year after the death of his father Yoshiakira in 1367, Yoshimitsu became "Seii Taishogun". He took Zeami Motokiyo as his lover in 1374. Yoshimitsu constructed his residence in the Muromachi section in the capital of Kyoto in 1378.
- Taira No Kiyomori
Taira no Kiyomori was a general of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan. After the death of his father Taira no Tadamori in 1153, Kiyomori assumed control of the Taira clan and ambitiously entered the political realm in which he had previously only held a minor post. In 1156, he and Minamoto no Yoshitomo, head of the Minamoto clan, suppressed the Hōgen Rebellion.
- Pico Iyer
Pico Iyer (born 1957) is a British-born essayist and novelist. Iyer was born in Oxford, England, to Indian parents, who were both teachers of philosophy. When he was seven, his family moved to California, and for more than a decade he moved back and forth several times a year between schools and college in England and his parents' home in California. He won academic scholarships to Eton, Oxford University and Harvard, graduating with a Congratulatory Double First at Oxford, …
- Alex Kerr
Alex Kerr (b. 1952) is an American writer and Japanologist. Originally from Bethesda, Maryland, his father, a naval officer, was posted in Yokohama from 1964-66. Kerr moved to Japan himself in 1977, and lived in Kameoka, near Kyoto, since then, maintaining homes in Bangkok and the Iya Valley of Shikoku as well. An expert on Japanese culture and art, Kerr studied Japanese Studies at Yale University and Chinese Studies at Oxford University.
- Fred L. Smith
Fred L. Smith, Jr. is the President and Founder of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank dedicated to the principles of free markets and limited government. He has long been a prominent writer and commentator on such controversial topics as antitrust law, environmental regulation, and the economic impacts of global warming.
- Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (Japanese: 近松門左衛門; real name Sugimori Nobumori, 杉森信盛, 1653–6 January 1725) was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as bunraku, and the live-actor drama, kabuki.
- Liza Dalby
Liza Dalby is an anthropologist and a novelist. She is the only westerner to have become a geisha, which she did in the course of researching her book, Geisha . She has also written Kimono A Fashioning Culture, a view of Japanese culture through dress. Her first novel, The Tale of Murasaki , was published in Spring 2000.
- Emperor Kammu
(737-806) was the 50th imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.
- Nishida Kitaro
Kitaro Nishida was a prominent Japanese philosopher, founder of what has been called the Kyoto School of philosophy. He graduated from The University of Tokyo during the Meiji Era in 1894 with a degree in philosophy. He was named professor of the Fourth High School of Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1899 and later became professor of philosophy at Kyoto University. Nishida retired in 1927. Later in his retirement, in 1940, he was awarded the Cultural Medal of Honor.
- Emperor Saga Saga
Emperor Saga (786-842) was the 52nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He ruled from 809 to 823.
- Nagisa Oshima
Nagisa Oshima, born March 31, 1932 in Kyoto, is a famous Japanese film director. After graduating from Kyoto University he was hired by Shochiku Ltd. and quickly progressed to directing his own movies, making his debut feature "A Town of Love and Hope" (愛と希望の街; "Ai to kibo no machi") in 1959.
- Minamoto No Yoshitsune
Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159 - June 15,1189) was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo. Yoshitsune's older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo (the third son of Yoshitomo) founded the Kamakura shogunate. Yoshitsune's name in childhood was Ushiwakamaru. Yoshitsune was born slightly before the Heiji Rebellion of 1159 in which his father and oldest two brothers were killed.
- Sugawara No Michizane
Sugawara no Michizane, also known as Kan Shōjō (菅丞相), was a scholar, poet, and politician of the Heian Period of Japan. He is regarded as an excellent poet, particularly in Chinese poetry. He was born into a family of letters. Beginning with his grandfather, his family served the court, teaching history in the national school for future bureaucrats.
- Stomu Yamashta
Stomu Yamashta (born "Yamashita Tsutomu",, 15 March 1947, Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese percussionist, keyboardist and composer. He is sometimes credited as Stomu Yamash'ta. He has played with the Chicago Chamber Orchestra and the rock group "Come to The Edge". He studied jazz drumming at Berklee School of Jazz. He has composed for the British Royal Ballet, …
- Yosa Buson
Yosa Buson, or Yosa no Buson, was a Japanese poet and painter from the Edo period. Along with Matsuo Bashō and Kobayashi Issa, Buson is considered among the greatest poets of the Edo Period. Buson was born in the village of Kema in Settsu Province (now Kema-chō, Miyakojima Ward in the city Osaka). His real last name was Taniguchi. Around the age of 20, Buson moved to Edo (now Tokyo) and learned poetry under the tutelage of the haikai master Hayano Hajin.
- Kusunoki Masashige
Kusunoki Masashige was a 14th century samurai who fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in his attempt to wrest rulership of Japan away from the Kamakura shogunate. A brilliant tactician and strategist, Kusunoki's cunning defense of two key loyalist fortresses at Akasaka and Chihaya helped allow Go-Daigo to briefly return to power. However, one of the loyalist generals, Ashikaga Takauji, betrayed Go-Daigo and led an army against Kusunoki and the remaining loyalists.
- Midori
Midori is a prominent human sexuality writer, speaker, and sex educator based in San Francisco, California. Her writings and contributions have appeared in many books and magazines. Her field includes indepth knowledge in general sexuality as well as alternative sexual practices, including BDSM and fetish. She was born in Kyoto, Japan of Japanese and German parents, and raised in a feminist intellectual Tokyo household. Midori moved to the USA during her teens.
- Youcan
Youcan is a musician and singer song writer in Kyoto, Japan. His voice is very thin, melting into air, but it includes strong inner message. Usually he plays in solo style with his guitar. At the same time, he has some units with which he can show anothor his musical side.
- Shubun
Tensho Shubun (周文)(1414 - 1463) was a Japanese painter in the Muromachi period and a Zen Buddhist monk, and - for some time - abbot at the Shokoku-ji temple in Kyoto. A student of Josetsu, Shubun became one of the most influential painters of the suiboku style ink painting alongside with Sesshu, his pupil. Many landscape paintings in ink in varying quality and style are attributed to Shubun. Examples are in the Fujiwara collection and the Seikado Foundation.
- Tomoyuki Tanaka
is a J-pop artist/DJ, better known by his stage name of Fantastic Plastic Machine. He is considered to be part of the Shibuya-kei movement, drawing heavily from bossa nova, lounge music, house music, and '60s movie soundtracks, but he also incorporates many other types of music. Tanaka was born in Kyoto, Japan. In the late 1980s, Tanaka played as the bassist in a rock band called Margarine Strikes Back.
- Abe No Seimei
(921?-1005?) was an "onmyōji", a leading specialist of "onmyōdō" during the middle of the Heian Period in Japan. In addition to his prominence in history, he is a legendary figure in Japanese folklore and has been portrayed in a number of stories and films. Seimei worked as an "onmyōji" for emperors and the Heian government, making calendars and advising on the spiritually correct way to deal with issues.
- Ashikaga Yoshiaki
was the 15th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate in Japan who reigned from 1568 to 1573. His father, Ashikaga Yoshiharu was the twelfth shogun, and his brother, Ashikaga Yoshiteru was the thirteenth shogun. The absence of a "de facto" central authority in the capital of Japan had lasted until the warlord Oda Nobunaga's armies entered Kyoto in 1568, re-establishing the Muromachi Shogunate under the puppet shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki to begin the Azuchi-Momoyama period.
- Josetsu
Josetsu (如拙)(1405-1423) was one of the first "suiboku" style Zen Japanese painters in the Muromachi Period (15th century). He was probably also a teacher of Shubun at the Shokoku-ji monastery in Kyoto. A Chinese immigrant, he was naturalised in 1370 and is known as 'the father of Japanese ink painting'. The best known of his paintings belongs to Taizo-in, a subtemple of Myoshinji in Kyoto, which is entitled 'Catching a Catfish with a Gourd' (c.1413).
- Ki No Tsurayuki
was a Japanese author, poet and courtier of the Heian period. Tsurayuki was a son of Ki no Mochiyuki. He became a waka poet in the 890s. In 905, under the imperial order of Emperor Daigo, he was one of four poets selected to compile the Kokin Wakashū, an anthology of poetry. After holding a few offices in Kyoto, he was appointed the provincial governor of Tosa province and stayed there from 930 until 935. Later he was presumably appointed the privincial governor of Suo province, …
- Burton Watson
Burton Watson is a translator of Chinese and Japanese literature. Watson was born in New York City, United States. He has taught at Columbia, Stanford, and Kyoto universities. His translations include "The Lotus Sutra", "The Vimalakirti Sutra", "Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings", "Mo Tzu: Basic Writings", "Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings", "Ryōkan: Zen Monk-Poet of Japan", "Saigyo: Poems of a Mountain Home", …
- Taira No Masakado
Taira no Masakado was a member of the Kammu Taira clan of Japan. He was the son of Taira no Yoshimasa, "Chinjufu-shogun". His childhood name was "Souma Kojiro". Taira no Masakado was a powerful landowner in the Kanto region. He is regarded as the first bushi because he was the first to lead a self-governing party. In other words, a first daimyo.
- Ogata Kenzan
Ogata Kenzan, originally Ogata Shinsei, and also known by the pseudonym Shisui, was a Japanese potter and painter, the brother of Ogata Korin. He was born in Kyoto and died in Edo (now Tokyo). He was one of the greatest ceramicists of the Tokugawa era.
- Izumo No Okuni
(1572?-1613) was the main founder of kabuki theater. She was believed to be a "miko" at the Grand Shrine of Izumo who began a new style of dance in the dry riverbeds of Kyoto.
- Saichō
(767-822) was a Japanese Buddhist monk credited with founding the Tendai school in Japan, based around the Chinese Tiantai tradition he was exposed to during his trip to China beginning in 804. He founded the temple and headquarters of Tendai at Enryakuji on Mt. Hiei near Kyoto. He is also said to have been the first to bring tea to Japan. After his death, he was awarded the posthumous title of Dengyō Daishi
- Savanna
Savanna are a Japanese comedy duo consisting of and. Both attended Ritsumeikan University High School and created the manzai team as a joke during their years at Ritsumeikan University, having first met in the school's judo club. They then decided to join Yoshimoto Kogyo as a professional kombi. Their act is heavily based on observational humor, and Yagi frequently being confused as the boke of the group.
- Hiroshi Ishii
is a Japanese computer programmer and scientist. He is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ishii most recently founded Tangible Media. Hiroshi Ishii started the Tangible Media research group and their ongoing Tangible Bits project in 1995, when he joined the MIT Media Laboratory as a professor of Media Arts and Sciences. Ishii relocated from Japan's NTT Human Interface Laboratories in Kyoto, …
- Sakanoue No Tamuramaro
Sakanoue no Tamuramaro was a general and shogun of the early Heian Period of Japan. Serving Emperor Kammu, he was appointed shogun and given the task of conquering the Emishi (蝦夷征伐 "Emishi Seibatsu"), a people native to the north of Honshū, which he subjugated. Recent evidence suggests that a migration of Emishi from northern Honshū to Hokkaidō took place sometime between the seventh and eighth centuries, …