List of Famous people born in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan

Uemura Miki was a Japanese female artistic gymnast and part of the national team.

Kenichi Yumoto is a Japanese freestyle wrestler. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he won the bronze medal in his category. His twin brother Shinichi is also an Olympic-medal winning wrestler.

Tatsuya Tanimoto is a Japanese politician serving in the House of Representatives in the Diet as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. A native of Wakayama, Wakayama and graduate of the University of Tokyo, he was elected for the first time in 2005 after working as a bartender and an aide to Representative Toshihiro Nikai, and serving in the Wakayama Prefectural Assembly.

Seiichi Shima was a baseball player who pitched for Kaisou Central High School and Meiji University of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League. He never got to play professionally, as he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army in 1945. He died during World War II, on March 29, 1945, off the coast of Indochina. He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

Shinji Aoto is a retired Japanese sprinter turned bobsledder who represented his country at the 1988 Summer Olympics and 1998 Winter Olympics. He is the first and only Japanese male athlete to competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games. During his athletics career he also competed at two World Indoor Championships, in 1989 and 1993. He was the former national record holder in the 100 metres and the first Japanese to run under 10.3 seconds. He is currently the deputy director of track and field club at Chukyo University.