List of Famous people born in Ōsaka, Japan
Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player. Osaka has been ranked No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. She is a three-time Grand Slam singles champion, and is the reigning champion at the US Open. Her six WTA titles on the WTA Tour also include two at the Premier Mandatory level. At the 2018 US Open and the 2019 Australian Open, Osaka won her first two Grand Slam singles titles in back-to-back Grand Slam tournaments, and is the first player to achieve this feat since Jennifer Capriati in 2001.
Ayami Nakajō
Ayami Nakajo is a Japanese actress and model who is affiliated with Ten Carat.
Norihiro Nakamura
Norihiro Nakamura is a Japanese former professional baseball third baseman. Nakamura spent almost all of his professional career in Japan with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes. Nakamura had a .266 career batting average, 404 home runs and 1338 RBI, and was an eight-time All-Star and four-time Golden Glove winner. Nakamura is one of only 16 players to have hit 400 or more home runs in NPB.
Nanase Aikawa
Nanase Aikawa is a Japanese rock and pop singer. She publishes her music under the Motorod label, a division of Avex Group.
Hideo Nomo
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.
Ryohei Odai
Ryohei Odai , otherwise known by his mononym Ryohei , is a Japanese actor and voice actor probably best known for providing the voice of Orga Sabnak in Gundam Seed and portraying Shuichi Kitaoka/Kamen Rider Zolda in Kamen Rider Ryuki.
Keigo Higashino
Keigo Higashino is a Japanese author chiefly known for his mystery novels. He served as the 13th President of Mystery Writers of Japan from 2009 to 2013. Higashino has won major Japanese awards for his books, almost twenty of which have been turned into films and TV series.
Gurimu Narita
Gurimu Narita is a Japanese disabled snowboarder. He won gold in Snowboarding at the 2018 Winter Paralympics – Men's banked slalom in the SB-LL2 classification and bronze in Snowboarding at the 2018 Winter Paralympics – Men's snowboard cross.
Hiroyuki Miyasako
Hiroyuki Miyasako is a Japanese comedian, television presenter, actor, voice actor and plays the boke in Ameagari Kesshitai. His partner is Tōru Hotoharu. He is represented by Yoshimoto Kogyo. Miyasako won the award for Best Supporting Actor at the 28th Hochi Film Awards for Thirteen Steps and Wild Berries.
Yutaka Fukumoto
Yutaka Fukumoto is a retired Japanese professional baseball player in Nippon Professional Baseball. An aggressive lead-off man and superior defensive centerfielder, he holds the Japanese career records in triples and stolen bases. He also hit more lead-off home runs than anyone in Japanese history, with 43. In 2002, Fukumoto was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.