List of Famous people born in Japan

Nana Shirai , better known under her stage name Nābō Dōfu @ Nana or naaboudoufu@nana is a Japanese former actress and model. She was a member of the idol duo Nananon (ななのん).

Akihisa Makida is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder and currently second squad coach for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played for the Golden Eagles from 2005 to 2007 and from 2009 to 2016.

Kazunori Itō is a Japanese anime screenwriter and artist who is well known for his work in the .hack franchise and his writing for the 1995 Ghost in the Shell movie. Itō supervised the writing for the novel, .hack//Another Birth which was written by his student, Miu Kawasaki. He is a member of the artist group known as Headgear. Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies calls him "one of the best screenwriters in anime".

Natsuo Kirino is the pen name of Mariko Hashioka, a Japanese novelist and a leading figure in the recent boom of female writers of Japanese detective fiction.

Keiichiro Nuno is a former Japanese football player and manager.

Hiroto Goya is a Japanese football player. He currently plays for Kashiwa Reysol in J1 League. He previously had a loan spell at fellow J2 League side Tokushima Vortis. His regular playing position is forward.

Masaharu Funaki is a Japanese actor, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler known professionally as Masakatsu Funaki , who has previously wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG), Newborn UWF (UWF), and Wrestle-1 (W-1). He is also the co-founder of Pancrase, one of the first mixed martial arts organizations and non-rehearsed shoot wrestling promotions. Funaki was also Pancrase's biggest star; Josh Barnett described him as the "symbol of Japan", Frank Shamrock labeled Funaki "the golden boy" of Pancrase, and Guy Mezger called Funaki "hands down the smartest and most skilled fighter in Pancrase next to Ken Shamrock".

Seiji Tomashino is a Japanese former Nippon Professional Baseball infielder/outfielder.

Kosuge Mari is a Japanese artistic gymnast. She placed 17th in the individual all-around at the 1992 Summer Olympics. At the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, she won silver with her team.

Shinobu Ohno is a Japanese footballer who plays as a forward for Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara. She formerly played for the Japan women's national football team.