Athletes from Japan

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Japanese Athletes of all time. This list of famous Japanese Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Japanese Athletes.

1. #1

   

   Shizo Kanakuri

   1891 - 1983

   HPI 62.1831 langs

   Japanese marathon runner

2. #2

   

   Naoto Tajima

   1912 - 1990

   HPI 61.2226 langs

   Japanese triple jumper, long jumper (track and field) (1912–1990)

3. #3

   

   Mikio Oda

   1905 - 1998

   HPI 57.3227 langs

   Japanese athlete

4. #4

   

   Sueo Ōe

   1914 - 1941

   HPI 57.0819 langs

   Japanese pole vaulter (1914–1941)

5. #5

   

   Chūhei Nambu

   1904 - 1997

   HPI 56.9123 langs

   Japanese triple jumper, long jumper (track and field), coach, journalist　(1904-1997)

6. #6

   

   Noboru Terada

   1917 - 1986

   HPI 56.6921 langs

   Japanese swimmer

7. #7

   

   Isao Okano

   b. 1944

   HPI 56.0721 langs

   Japanese judoka

8. #8

   

   Shuhei Nishida

   1910 - 1997

   HPI 55.6916 langs

   Japanese pole vaulter (1910-1997)

9. #9

   

   Kinue Hitomi

   1907 - 1931

   HPI 55.6822 langs

   Japanese athlete

10. #10

    

    Hiroshi Suzuki

    b. 1933

    HPI 55.5918 langs

    Japanese swimmer