List of Famous people born in Japan

Hideo Nomo is a retired Japanese baseball pitcher who played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He achieved early success in his native country, where he played with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from 1990 to 1994. He then exploited a loophole to free himself from his contract, and became the first Japanese major leaguer to permanently relocate to MLB in the United States, debuting with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995. Although he was not the first Japanese player in American professional baseball, Nomo is often credited with opening the door for Japanese players in MLB, due to his star status.

Noriko Sakai is a Japanese singer and actress. Under her former stage name Nori-P , Sakai released her first single, "Otoko no Ko ni Naritai" on February 5, 1987, nine days short of her sixteenth birthday. Over 40,000 copies of the single were sold. She is particularly popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Her best-selling single to date is "Aoi Usagi" .

Shintaro Morimoto , is a Japanese singer and actor. He is currently a member of SixTONES.

Hollywood Zakoshisyoh is a Japanese comedian from Shimizu-shi, Shizuoka Prefecture who has appeared in many television variety shows, as well as television dramas, radio and web series. His real name is Shigeki Nakazawa . After going through Yoshimoto Kogyo and Watanabe Entertainment, he currently belongs to the SMA NEET Project. His stage name during his kombi years was Zakoshisyoh . His is nicknamed "Zakoshi," (ザコシ) "Zakoshisyoh". Martial artist Shinya Aoki is his cousin.

Rinko Kikuchi is a Japanese actress. She was the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years, for her work in Babel (2006). Kikuchi's other notable films include Norwegian Wood (2010), which screened in competition at the 67th Venice Film Festival and Guillermo del Toro's science fiction action film Pacific Rim (2013). For her role in the drama film Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014), Kikuchi received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead.

Ryo Ishikawa , also known by the nickname "Hanikami Ōji" , is a Japanese professional golfer.

Kozue Akimoto is a Japanese fashion model represented by LesPros entertainment. Her father is 58th sumo grand champion Chiyonofuji Mitsugu.

Minami Takayama is a Japanese voice actress, narrator, singer and composer. Minami is also a member of the pop group Two-Mix and a part of DoCo when it was active.

Aleksandr Vasilyevich Novikov is a Soviet and Russian author and performer of songs in the genre of Russian chanson, artistic director of the Yekaterinburg Variety Theatre.

Hiroki Ito is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a defender for German club VfB Stuttgart II, on loan from Júbilo Iwata.