List of Famous people who died in 2017

Mototaka Kohama was a Japanese basketball Head coach for the Akita Isuzu Motors, Isuzu Motors Lynx/Giga Cats and Yokohama Giga Cats. He was known as the “Godfather of Japanese basketball,” and served as head coach of the Japan national basketball team three times. Growing up in Akita during WWII as a young boy, he was told to stop playing basketball because it was an American sport. The pioneer studied basketball coaching at the University of Kentucky.

Koichi Kishi was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet. A native of Kaneyama, Yamagata and graduate of Waseda University, he served in the town assembly of Kaneyama from 1967. He then served as mayor of the town for seven terms from 1971 until 1998 when he was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time.