The Most Famous
ENGINEERS from Japan
Top 5
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Japanese Engineers of all time. This list of famous Japanese Engineers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Tsutomu Yamaguchi (1916 - 2010)
With an HPI of 64.73, Tsutomu Yamaguchi is the most famous Japanese Engineer. His biography has been translated into 38 different languages on wikipedia.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi (山口 彊, Yamaguchi Tsutomu) (16 March 1916 – 4 January 2010) was a Japanese marine engineer who survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings during World War II. Although at least 160 people are known to have been affected by both bombings, he is the only person to have been officially recognized by the government of Japan as surviving both explosions. A resident of Nagasaki, Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on business for his employer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries when the city was bombed at 8:15 AM, on 6 August 1945. He returned to Nagasaki the following day and, despite his wounds, returned to work on 9 August, the day of the second atomic bombing. That morning, while he was being told by his supervisor that he was "crazy" after describing how one bomb had destroyed the city, the Nagasaki bomb detonated. In 1957, he was recognized as a hibakusha ("explosion-affected person") of the Nagasaki bombing, but was not officially recognized as a survivor of Hiroshima by the Japanese government until 24 March 2009. He died of stomach cancer on 4 January 2010, at the age of 93.
2. Jiro Horikoshi (1903 - 1982)
With an HPI of 62.81, Jiro Horikoshi is the 2nd most famous Japanese Engineer. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.
Jiro Horikoshi (堀越 二郎, Horikoshi Jirō, 22 June 1903 – 11 January 1982) was the chief engineer of many Japanese fighter designs of World War II, including the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter.
3. Masaru Ibuka (1908 - 1997)
With an HPI of 59.50, Masaru Ibuka is the 3rd most famous Japanese Engineer. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.
Masaru Ibuka (井深 大 Ibuka Masaru; April 11, 1908 – December 19, 1997) was a Japanese electronics industrialist and co-founder of Sony, along with Akio Morita.
4. Hidetsugu Yagi (1886 - 1976)
With an HPI of 49.29, Hidetsugu Yagi is the 4th most famous Japanese Engineer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Hidetsugu Yagi (八木 秀次, Yagi Hidetsugu, January 28, 1886 – January 19, 1976) was a Japanese electrical engineer from Osaka, Japan. When working at Tohoku Imperial University, he wrote several articles that introduced a new antenna designed by his assistant Shintaro Uda to the English-speaking world. The Yagi-Uda antenna, patented in 1926, allows directional communication using electromagnetic waves, and is now installed on millions of houses throughout the world for radio and television reception. He also tried, unsuccessfully, to introduce a wireless power transmission system. He participated in establishing the Chiba Institute of Technology. He was the fourth president of Osaka University from February 1946 to December 1946. In 1942, he became the President of Tokyo Institute of Technology, in 1944 he became the President of the Technical Institution, and in 1946 also the President of the Osaka Imperial University. He was decorated with the Medal of Honor with Blue Ribbon Award in 1951, with the Order of Culture in 1956, and posthumously with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun in 1976.
5. Naoki Hattori (1966 - )
With an HPI of 36.91, Naoki Hattori is the 5th most famous Japanese Engineer. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Naoki Hattori (服部 尚貴, born 13 June 1966) is a motoring journalist and racing driver from Japan. After he won the Japanese Formula 3 championship in 1990, he failed to pre-qualify for two Formula One Grands Prix with Coloni in 1991 as a late-season replacement for Pedro Chaves. He raced in Indy Lights in the mid-90s, and in CART briefly in 1999 for Walker Racing with a best finish of 14th. In 1997, he tested a Formula One prototype, the F105, for Dome F1 at Suzuka and other Japanese race tracks, but Dome F1 never entered a Formula One Grand Prix. Hattori competed regularly at the Japanese Touring Car Championship, winning the 1996 title with a Mooncraft Honda Accord after collecting five wins and three second-place finishes in 12 starts. In 1991 driving a Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R for Nismo, Hattori, David Brabham and Anders Olofsson won the Spa 24 Hours. He is not related to compatriot and fellow racer Shigeaki Hattori. He has been one of the presenters of the Best Motoring video series.
Pantheon has 5 people classified as engineers born between 1886 and 1966. Of these 5, 1 (20.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living engineers include Naoki Hattori. The most famous deceased engineers include Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Jiro Horikoshi, and Masaru Ibuka.
Living Engineers
Go to all RankingsDeceased Engineers
Go to all Rankings
Tsutomu Yamaguchi
1916 - 2010
HPI: 64.73
Jiro Horikoshi
1903 - 1982
HPI: 62.81
Masaru Ibuka
1908 - 1997
HPI: 59.50
Hidetsugu Yagi
1886 - 1976
HPI: 49.29
Which Engineers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Engineers since 1700.
