This ranking is based on an algorithm that combines various factors, including the votes of our users and search trends on the internet.
Takuya Kimura is a Japanese actor, radio personality, and singer. He is best known for his association with SMAP, one of East Asia's best-selling boy bands. After starting his career as a singer, Kimura found considerable success as an actor, which catapulted him to stardom and turned him into a Japanese icon. His acting skills have earned him several awards.
Japanese singer-actor Sakura Miyawaki initially gained fame as part of groups such as HKT48 and Iz*One. The J-pop and K-pop icon apparently signed a deal with BTS’s agency HYBE in 2021. She was also the runner-up on the reality show Produce 48 and has a popular YouTube video gaming channel, too.
Japanese cultural icon and J-pop star Kyary Pamyu Pamyu soared to fame with singles such as PonPonPon and Candy Candy. She now promotes everything from soft drinks to fashion and make-up. Also dubbed as the Harajuku Girl, she is also known for her love for blonde wigs.
Tomohisa Yamashita is a Japanese singer, TV host, and actor. After joining talent agency Johnny & Associates at the age of 11, Yamashita has been active on TV ever since. He is best known for his portrayal of Kusano Akira in the 2005 TV drama Nobuta Wo Produce. Over the years, he has won several Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix awards.
Award-winning Japanese manga artist Naoki Urasawa is best known for his thriller Monster and the sci-fi 20th Century Boys. Fans love his intricate and psychologically complicated plots. He also teaches at the Nagoya Zokei University and is a skilled rock musician who once performed as Bob Lennon.
With his Billboard number one track Sukiyaki, Kyu Sakamoto became the first to score a pop number one with a song entirely sung in Japanese. Born to a restaurateur, he had started his career singing in jazz clubs. He died in a 1985 plane crash that killed over 500 people.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a Japanese film director and film critic. He is also a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. Interested in filmmaking from a young age,he received his training under prominent film critic Shigehiko Hasumi before beginning his career. He has worked in numerous genres and is best known for his many contributions to the Japanese horror genre.
One of the co-founders of the Japanese Communist Party, Sanzō Nosaka had stepped into politics as a university student and had later traveled to the U.S. to work on plans such as smuggling Communists into Japan. He also campaigned against the Japanese occupation of China.
Okumura Masanobu was a Japanese painter, print designer, and book publisher. He is considered a key figure in the era of ukiyo-e. Not much is known about his early years, and it is believed he was a self-taught painter. He also wrote some fiction and illustrated books. He was held in esteem by Japanese and Western collectors alike.
