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The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Japan

This page contains a list of the greatest Japanese Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 3,059 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 57.41, Shizo Kanakuri is the most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 26 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.

2. Naoto Tajima (1912 - 1990)

With an HPI of 53.43, Naoto Tajima is the 2nd most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 23 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 48.95, Kinue Hitomi is the 3rd most famous Japanese Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 20 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. Sueo Ōe (1914 - 1941)

With an HPI of 48.61, Sueo Ōe is the 4th most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Sueo Ōe (大江季雄, Ōe Sueo, August 2, 1914 – December 24, 1941) was a Japanese athlete who competed mainly in the pole vault. He won a bronze medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany, tying with his teammate Shuhei Nishida. When the two declined to compete against each other to decide a winner, Nishida was awarded the silver after a decision of the Japanese team, on the basis that Nishida had cleared the height in fewer attempts. The competition was featured in a scene in the documentary Olympia, filmed by Leni Riefenstahl. On their return to Japan, Nishida and Ōe had their Olympic medals cut in half, and had a jeweler splice together two new “friendship medals”, half in bronze and half in silver. In 1937 Ōe set a national record at 4 m 35 cm that stood for 21 years. In 1939 he joined the Imperial Japanese Army and was killed in action in Luzon on December 24, 1941.

5. Kōkichi Tsuburaya (1940 - 1968)

With an HPI of 48.37, Kōkichi Tsuburaya is the 5th most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 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.

6. Mikio Oda (1905 - 1998)

With an HPI of 48.33, Mikio Oda is the 6th 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.

7. Chūhei Nambu (1904 - 1997)

With an HPI of 46.29, Chūhei Nambu is the 7th 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 2020, he is the only person to have held world records in both the long jump and the triple jump.

8. Isao Okano (1944 - )

With an HPI of 46.02, Isao Okano is the 8th 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.

9. Akio Kaminaga (1936 - 1993)

With an HPI of 45.65, Akio Kaminaga is the 9th most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 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.

10. Naohiro Ikeda (1940 - 2021)

With an HPI of 45.35, Naohiro Ikeda is the 10th most famous Japanese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Naohiro Ikeda (池田尚弘, Ikeda Naohiro, later Nakano 中野, 17 January 1940 – 3 January 2021) was a Japanese volleyball player who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics and in the 1968 Summer Olympics. He was born in Saga Prefecture. In 1964 he was part of the Japanese team which won the bronze medal in the Olympic tournament. He played all nine matches. Four years later he was a squad member of the Japanese team which won the silver medal in the 1968 Olympic tournament. He died from lymphoma.

People

Pantheon has 65 people classified as athletes born between 1891 and 2008. Of these 65, 49 (75.38%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living athletes include Isao Okano, Hiroshi Suzuki, and Kim Eui-tae. The most famous deceased athletes include Shizo Kanakuri, Naoto Tajima, and Kinue Hitomi. As of April 2022, 21 new athletes have been added to Pantheon including Sueo Ōe, Kōkichi Tsuburaya, and Akio Kaminaga.