The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Japan

This page contains a list of the greatest Japanese Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 65 of which were born in Japan. This makes Japan the birth place of the 18th most number of Athletes behind Ukraine, and Jamaica.

Top 10

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. Shizo Kanakuri (1891 - 1983)

With an HPI of 56.17, Shizo Kanakuri is the most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages on wikipedia.

Shizo Kanakuri (金栗四三, Kanaguri Shisō, 20 August 1891 – 13 November 1983) was a Japanese marathon runner celebrated as the "father of marathon" in Japan. He holds the Guinness World Record for the longest time to complete a marathon with a time of 54 years 8 months 6 days 5 hours 32 minutes 20.3 seconds—Kanakuri retired from the men's marathon event at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics without informing the authorities, but Sveriges Television gave him the opportunity to complete his marathon in 1967.

2. Naoto Tajima (1912 - 1990)

With an HPI of 53.47, Naoto Tajima is the 2nd most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Naoto Tajima (田島直人, Tajima Naoto, August 15, 1912 – December 4, 1990) was a Japanese athlete who competed at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics. In 1932 he finished sixth in the long jump, while in 1936 he finished third in the long jump, behind Jesse Owens and Luz Long, and won the triple jump event, setting a world record at 16.00 m. This record stood until 1951, when Adhemar da Silva improved it by one centimeter. Raised in Iwakuni, Tajima graduated in economics from Kyoto Imperial University just prior to competing in the Olympics. His gold medal was Japan's last Olympic track and field gold medal until Naoko Takahashi won the women's marathon at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Tajima retired from competitive athletics in 1938 but maintained an administrative role as managing director of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations. He was also a member of the Japanese Olympic Committee, coached the Japanese athletics teams at the 1956 and 1964 Olympics, and worked as a lecturer at Chukyo University.

3. Kinue Hitomi (1907 - 1931)

With an HPI of 48.87, Kinue Hitomi is the 3rd most famous Japanese Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Kinue Hitomi (人見絹枝, Hitomi Kinue, January 1, 1907 – August 2, 1931) was a Japanese track and field athlete. She was the world record holder in several events in the 1920s – 1930s and was the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic medal. She was also the first woman to represent Japan at the Olympics.

4. Mikio Oda (1905 - 1998)

With an HPI of 48.86, Mikio Oda is the 4th most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Mikio Oda (織田幹雄, Oda Mikio, 30 March 1905 – 2 December 1998) was a Japanese athlete and the first Japanese Olympic gold medalist. He was the first Asian Olympic champion in an individual event.

5. Isao Okano (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 48.15, Isao Okano is the 5th most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Isao Okano (岡野功, Okano Isao, born 20 January 1944) is a retired judoka who competed in the middleweight division (‍–‍80 kg) in the 1964 Summer Olympics.

6. Chūhei Nambu (1904 - 1997)

With an HPI of 47.66, Chūhei Nambu is the 6th most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Chūhei Nambu (南部忠平, Nanbu Chūhei, May 27, 1904 – July 23, 1997) was a Japanese track and field athlete. As of 2024, he is the only person to have held world records in both the long jump and the triple jump.

7. Akio Kaminaga (1936 - 1993)

With an HPI of 47.50, Akio Kaminaga is the 7th most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Akio Kaminaga (神永昭夫, Kaminaga Akio, December 22, 1936 – March 21, 1993) was a Japanese judoka who won a silver medal in the open weight category at the 1964 Summer Olympics.

8. Kōkichi Tsuburaya (1940 - 1968)

With an HPI of 46.99, Kōkichi Tsuburaya is the 8th most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Kōkichi Tsuburaya (円谷幸吉, Tsuburaya Kōkichi) (born Kokichi Tsumuraya (円谷幸吉, Tsumuraya Kōkichi); May 13, 1940 – January 9, 1968) was a Japanese athlete who competed mainly as a marathoner. Kokichi was also a 1st lieutenant in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

9. Noboru Terada (1917 - 1986)

With an HPI of 46.88, Noboru Terada is the 9th most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Noboru Terada (寺田登, Terada Noboru, November 25, 1917 – September 26, 1986) was a Japanese freestyle swimmer. At the 1936 Olympics he won the gold medal in the 1500 m event with a margin of 10 seconds. In 1994 he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

10. Masao Harada (1912 - 2000)

With an HPI of 46.06, Masao Harada is the 10th most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Masao Harada (原田正夫, Harada Masao, September 22, 1912 – January 22, 2000) was a Japanese athlete who competed mainly in the triple jump. In this event he won a silver medal at the 1936 Olympics. He won two more silver medals, in the long jump and triple jump, at the 1934 Far Eastern Championship Games.

People

Pantheon has 228 people classified as Japanese athletes born between 1891 and 2008. Of these 228, 202 (88.60%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Japanese athletes include Isao Okano, Hiroshi Suzuki, and Yoshinobu Miyake. The most famous deceased Japanese athletes include Shizo Kanakuri, Naoto Tajima, and Kinue Hitomi. As of April 2024, 163 new Japanese athletes have been added to Pantheon including Masao Harada, Masaru Furukawa, and Shuhei Nishida.