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Shapers of Japanese History

Look back on the lives of the people who have influenced Japan and its culture over the years.

LATEST
Tanizaki Jun’ichirō: A Writer in Pursuit of Transcendent BeautyCULTURE | Jul 14, 2026
Takayanagi Kenjirō: Pioneering Engineer and “Japan’s Father of Television”CULTURE | Jul 2, 2026
Saruhashi Katsuko: A Pioneering Scientist Shedding Light on the Dangers of RadiationCULTURE | Dec 23, 2025
Yanagita Kunio: Master of Japanese Folklore and LegendsCULTURE | Dec 11, 2025
Yosano Akiko: Passionate Poet and Prescient JournalistCULTURE | Aug 8, 2025
Okamoto Tarō: Creating New Human Values for a Troubled AgeCULTURE | Jun 3, 2025
Abe Kōbō: An Avant-Garde Writer for a Time of TurmoilCULTURE | Dec 6, 2024
Yosa Buson: A Master of Haiku and PaintingCULTURE | Oct 21, 2024
Tsuda Umeko: A Life Dedicated to Women’s Higher EducationJAPAN LIFE | Oct 4, 2022
Mori Ōgai: The Polymath Intellectual Who Made Literary HistoryCULTURE | Jul 8, 2022
Nagayo Sensai: Father of Japan’s Medical and Hygienic SystemsJAPAN LIFE | Jul 4, 2022
Higuchi Ichiyō: A Pioneer of Modern Japanese LiteratureCULTURE | May 2, 2022
Takemitsu Tōru: New Possibilities for Modern Music in the Sounds of NatureCULTURE | Apr 11, 2022
Kurosawa Akira: Films of Love and JusticeCULTURE | Apr 8, 2022
Matsuo Bashō: A Literary WandererCULTURE | Mar 18, 2022
Hara Takashi: The Outsider Who Became Leader of JapanINSIGHT | Nov 30, 2021
Tea and Aesthetics: Kawabata Yasunari’s Nobel LectureCULTURE | Oct 13, 2021
The Unflinching Eye of Domon Ken, Japan’s “Demon of Photography” CULTURE | Oct 13, 2021