Famous Japanese Scientists

Nobel Prize-winning Japanese immunologist Tasuku Honjo is known identifying the programmed cell death protein 1 and for revolutionizing cancer immunotherapy. Initially part of the University of Tokyo's faculty of medicine, he later taught genetics, immunology, and medical chemistry at several institutes. He was a foreign associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

Japanese computer scientist Yukihiro Matsumoto, better known as Matz, soared to fame for designing the Ruby programming language. He works for the open-source company Netlab.jp and has created many open-source products, such as cmail. He has also worked as a missionary for the LDS Church.

Nobel Prize-winning Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka is known for his contribution to stem cell research. He developed the induced pluripotent stem cell, a stem cell that can be created directly from a somatic cell. He is a professor at Kyoto University’s Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences and has held several senior research positions.

Nobel Prize-winning Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi is best known for his research on autophagy. A Rockefeller University alumnus, he now teaches at Tokyo Tech’s Institute of Innovative Research. He is also known for his pathbreaking contribution to topics such as the DNA, cell, and embryo.

Hideki Yukawa was a Japanese theoretical physicist who won the prestigious Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy in 1940. In 1949, Yukawa became the first Japanese to be honored with the Nobel Prize. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his prediction of the pion. The Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics was inaugurated in 1952 to honor Yukawa's achievements.

Known as the Japanese Perelman, mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki is known for his work on number theory and arithmetic geometry and for his contribution to anabelian geometry. His proof of the ABC Conjecture was met with criticism by fellow mathematicians Peter Scholze and Jakob Stix, leading to a major controversy.

Japanese-American physicist Yoichiro Nambu won the Nobel Prize for discovering spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics. He was associated with the faculty of the University of Chicago since the 1950s till his death in 2015. He also received the prestigious Wolf Prize and the Max Planck Medal.

Michiaki Takahashi was a Japanese virologist best remembered for developing the first chickenpox vaccine. He is also remembered for his association with Osaka University, where he was appointed as director of the institute's Microbial Disease Study Group. Michiaki Takahashi was the recipient of the Prince Mahidol Award and Saburo Kojima Memorial Culture Award.

Nobel Prize-winning Japanese physicist Takaaki Kajita is best known for his research on the oscillations of neutrinos. He has been associated with the faculty of the University of Tokyo and has also led the Science Council of Japan as its president. He completed his doctoral thesis under Nobel laureate Masatoshi Koshiba.

Japanese biochemist Satoshi Ōmura won the Nobel Prize for contributing to the discovery of avermectin and ivermectin, and thus helping in developing treatments for roundworm parasite infections. He has also been associated with the faculty of the Kitasato University and the Wesleyan University.

Susumu Tonegawa is a Japanese scientist known for his discovery of the genetic mechanism that produces antibody diversity. For this work, he received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987. Even though he won the coveted award for his work in immunology, he is a molecular biologist by training. He now studies neuroscience. 

Nobel Prize-winning Japanese physicist Reona Esaki, also known as Leo Esaki, is remembered for his pioneering research on superconductivity. He devised the Esaki diode, or tunnel diode, too. Initially associated with IBM’s research laboratories in the US, he later moved back to Japan and headed scientific institutions.

Ryoji Noyori is a Japanese chemist best known for winning the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with William S. Knowles. They won the award for analyzing chirally catalyzed hydrogenations. Over the course of his career, Ryoji Noyori has also received other prestigious awards like the Asahi Prize, Japan Academy Prize, Lomonosov Gold Medal, and King Faisal International Prize.

Tomonaga Shin'ichirō was a Japanese physicist whose role in the progression of quantum electrodynamics earned him the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. He won the award along with Julian Schwinger and Richard Feynman. Over the course of his career, Tomonaga Shin'ichirō was also honored with several other awards, such as the Asahi Prize and the Japan Academy Prize.

Japanese chemist Ei-ichi Negishi won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering research on using palladium as a catalyst in cross couplings in organic synthesis, now known as the Negishi coupling. He spent most of his teaching career at Purdue University and also taught at the Syracuse and Hokkaido universities.

Isamu Akasaki was a Japanese physicist and engineer. Isamu, who specializes in semiconductor technology, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014 along with Shuji Nakamura and Hiroshi Amano. Isamu Akasaki also won other prestigious awards like the Kyoto Prize, IEEE Edison Medal, Charles Stark Draper Prize, and Asia Game Changer Award.

Nobel Prize-winning Japanese organic chemist and marine biologist Osamu Shimomura is remembered for discovering the green fluorescent protein, or GFP. He was also associated with Princeton University and the Marine Biological Laboratory as a researcher and faculty member. He was named to the US National Academy of Sciences, too.

Amano Hiroshi is a Japanese physicist, inventor, and engineer. Amano, who specializes in semiconductor technology, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014 alongside Shuji Nakamura and Isamu Akasaki. They received the award for inventing blue LEDs. Over the course of his career, Amano Hiroshi has also been honored with several other awards, such as the Asia Game Changer Award.

Akira Suzuki is a Japanese chemist best known for publishing the Suzuki reaction for the first time in 1979. In 2010, he was honored with the prestigious Nobel Prize for Chemistry along with Ei-ichi Negishi and Richard F. Heck. Akira Suzuki has also won other prominent awards, such as the Japan Academy Prize and Korean Chemical Society Award.

Kobayashi Makoto is a Japanese physicist who won one-fourth of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008. Kobayashi has also received other prestigious awards such as the Nishina Memorial Prize, Sakurai Prize, and Asahi Prize.

Kiyoshi Ito was a Japanese mathematician best remembered for his immense contributions to probability theory. He is credited with inventing the concept of stochastic differential equation and stochastic integral. Kiyoshi Ito is also credited with founding Itô calculus. In 2006, Kiyoshi Ito was honored with the prestigious Gauss Prize by the International Mathematical Union.

Seki Takakazu was a Japanese author and mathematician active during the Edo period. Referred to as Japan's Newton, Seki laid foundations for the ensuing development of Japanese mathematics. Seki Takakazu is also credited with creating a new algebraic notation system. 

Koshiba Masatoshi was a Japanese physicist best remembered for co-founding neutrino astronomy. He played an instrumental role in detecting solar neutrinos, for which he was honored with the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics in 2002 along with Raymond Davis Jr. Koshiba Masatoshi also won several other awards, including the Asahi Prize, Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics, and Nishina Memorial Prize.

Toru Kumon was a Japanese mathematician and mathematics educator. He is credited with creating the Kumon Method of Learning, which led to the establishment of the Kumon Institute of Education in 1958. Today, Kumon Centers can be found around the world. The Kumon Method of Learning was designed to bolster a student's fundamental language and maths skills.

Toshihide Maskawa was a Japanese theoretical physicist best remembered for his work on CP-violation. He won one-quarter of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008. He also won other prestigious awards, including the Nishina Memorial Prize. Toshihide Maskawa is also remembered for his association with the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, where he served as director from 1997 to 2003.

Heisuke Hironaka is a Japanese mathematician best known for his immense contributions to algebraic geometry, for which he received the prestigious Fields Medal in 1970. Heisuke Hironaka has also held teaching positions at Columbia University, Brandeis University, Harvard University, and Kyoto University. From 1996 to 2002, he served as the president of Yamaguchi University.

Yoshiki Sasai was a Japanese stem cell biologist best remembered for developing different techniques to guide human embryonic stem cells into forming eyes and brain cortex among other organs in tissue culture. Yoshiki Sasai was honored with the Inoue Prize for Science in 2012 and the Hans Sigrist Prize in 2013.

Shigefumi Mori is a Japanese mathematician best known for his contribution to algebraic geometry. In 1990, he was honored at the International Congress of Mathematicians with the prestigious Fields Medal. Shigefumi Mori also works as a professor at Kyoto University.

Nobel Prize-winning Japanese chemist Kenichi Fukui, best known for his research on frontier orbitals in chemical reactions, was initially hesitant to take up chemistry, as he hated memorizing equations. Following his stint at Kyoto University, where he studied engineering and earned a PhD, he developed an affinity for the subject.

Kodaira Kunihiko was a Japanese mathematician best remembered for his distinguished work on the theory of complex manifolds and algebraic geometry. In 1954, he became the first person from Japan to win a Fields Medal. Over the course of his illustrious career, Kodaira Kunihiko also won the Fujiwara Prize and the Japan Academy Prize.

Hideki Shirakawa is a Japanese engineer, chemist, and Professor Emeritus at Zhejiang University and the University of Tsukuba. Renowned for his discovery of intrinsically conducting polymers, Shirakawa won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000 along with Alan Heeger and Alan MacDiarmid. Hideki Shirakawa has also worked as a professor at the University of Tsukuba.

Jokichi Takamine was a Japanese chemist best remembered as the first person to isolate epinephrine in 1901. He is credited with founding the Tokyo Artificial Fertilizer Company in Japan as well as the Nippon Club of New York City in the USA. Jokichi Takamine's life and career inspired a couple of films, namely Sakura, Sakura and Takamine.

Shiga Kiyoshi was a Japanese bacteriologist and physician. He is credited for many scientific discoveries, including the discovery of the Shigella dysenteriae microorganism. He also conducted research on diseases such as trypanosomiasis and tuberculosis. Kiyoshi Shiga is also credited with making numerous advancements in immunology and bacteriology.

Mohri Mamoru is a Japanese scientist and former astronaut. He was part of two NASA Space Shuttle missions and was the first astronaut from Japan to be a part of a Japanese space program; Toyohiro Akiyama, the first Japanese in space, was trained in the Soviet Union.

Hiroshi Nakajima was a Japanese physician best remembered for his association with the World Health Organization (WHO), where he served as Director-General from 1988 to 1998. Prior to his role as Director-General of WHO, Hiroshi Nakajima served as the Chief of the organization's Drug Policies and Management Unit.  

Akira Fujishima is a Japanese chemist best known for his contributions to the research of superhydrophilic and photocatalytic properties of titanium dioxide. He is also known for his association with the Tokyo University of Science, where he is currently serving as president. Akira Fujishima is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Asahi Prize. 

Sin-Itiro Tomonaga was a Japanese physicist who played an important role in the progression of quantum electrodynamics, for which he received the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. He shared the award with Julian Schwinger and Richard Feynman.

Keiiti Aki was a Japanese-American professor, mentor, author, and seismologist. He is best remembered for teaching Geophysics at the University of Southern California and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Over the course of his career, Keiiti Aki received several prestigious awards, including the William Bowie Medal and the Thorarinsson Medal.

Satō Nobuhiro was a Japanese political scientist who is credited with founding the Greater East Asia concept. An early supporter of Japanese Westernization, Satō Nobuhiro made attempts to synthesize Western science with Japanese philosophical and political thought.

Ryuzo Yanagimachi is a Japanese-born scientist who is based in the USA. He is best known for making many important contributions to the study of fertilization. A pioneer of assisted fertilization technologies, Ryuzo Yanagimachi is also considered a pioneer in the field of cloning. He has won many prestigious awards such as the International Prize for Biology.

Kenichi Honda was a Japanese chemist best remembered for winning the Japan Prize in 2004 for his contribution to the discovery of photocatalytic properties of titanium dioxide. Kenichi Honda also worked as a lecturer and professor at prestigious institutions like Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo. From 1996 to 2004, he was the president of the Tokyo Polytechnic University.

Toyoichi Tanaka was a Japanese scientist best remembered for his discovery of smart gels, a class of materials that contract or expand when triggered by changes in light, temperature, or other stimulus. Toyoichi Tanaka is also remembered for his association with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked as a professor of Physics.

Takebe Kenkō was a Japanese cartographer and mathematician who was active during the Edo period. One of the favorite pupils of the famous mathematician Seki Takakazu, Kenkō is believed to have popularized Seki's work. Takebe Kenkō also played an important role in the progression of the Enri, a Japanese equivalent of the western calculus.

Tomio Tada was a Japanese Immunologist who served as the president of the Japanese Society for Immunology from 1985 to 1988. He founded the journal 'International Immunology' in 1989 and served as Editor-in-Chief until 2000. Tomio Tada also served as the president of the International Union of Immunological Societies from 1994 to 1997.

Oka Asajirō was a Japanese biologist best remembered for introducing the theory of evolution in Japan. His research into the morphological and taxonomical structures of freshwater jellyfish and the leech contributed to understanding of the subject. Oka Asajirō also worked as a teacher and wrote many critical essays and educational textbooks on modern civilization.