List of Famous people born in Japan

Ryuji Sato is an international football referee from Japan. He has refereed many matches in the AFC Champions League and FIFA World Cup qualifiers at the international level. He is also a referee in J. League Division 1 in Japan.

Shigeo Omae is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet. A native of Kawanishi, Hyōgo and graduate of Kyoto University, he was elected to the Hyōgo Prefectural Assembly for the first time in 1979 and served six terms. After running unsuccessfully for mayor of Nishinomiya, Hyōgo in 2000, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2003.

Hiroyuki Kakudō is a Japanese anime director. He is best known for directing the first two Digimon series.

Kazuo Hara is a Japanese documentary film director. After dropping out of university to work at a special education school, he made his 1972 debut work Goodbye CP about a group of individuals with cerebral palsy. He won the award for Best Director at the 12th Hochi Film Award and at the 9th Yokohama Film Festival for The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On. That film also earned him the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award. In 2017 he released the documentary Sennan Asbestos Disaster which received the 2017 Audience Award at the Tokyo Filmex International Film Festival and the 2017 BIFF Mecenat Award at the Busan International Film Festival. His documentary works often depict people who push against the boundaries of propriety and obedience in Japanese society.

Reimy Horikawa , better known by her stage name Reimy, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and composer. She has collaborated with Japanese movie producer Shunji Iwai on several soundtracks.

Daisuke Usami is a Japanese volleyball player. He played as a setter and was one of the key players in the Men's National Team in the 2000s. Usami was named Most Spectacular Player at the 2003 FIVB World Cup, where Japan ended in ninth place.

Yumi Adachi is a Japanese synchronised swimmer.

Shigeru Kasamatsu is a retired Japanese artistic gymnast. He competed at the 1972 Olympics and won a gold medal with the Japanese team. Individually he won a silver on parallel bars and bronze medals on the floor and horizontal bar. Kasamatsu won six world titles in 1974 and 1978. The Kasamatsu vault is named after him. In 2006, he was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. His wife Kazue Hanyu and son Akihiro Kasamatsu are also retired Olympic gymnasts.

Manabu Kubota is a former Japanese football player.