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The Most Famous

INVENTORS from Japan

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This page contains a list of the greatest Japanese Inventors. The pantheon dataset contains 354 Inventors, 5 of which were born in Japan. This makes Japan the birth place of the 11th most number of Inventors behind Belgium and Sweden.

Top 5

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Japanese Inventors of all time. This list of famous Japanese Inventors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Kōnosuke Matsushita

1. Kōnosuke Matsushita (1894 - 1989)

With an HPI of 63.26, Kōnosuke Matsushita is the most famous Japanese Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 49 different languages on wikipedia.

Kōnosuke Matsushita (松下 幸之助, Matsushita Kōnosuke, 27 November 1894 – 27 April 1989) was a Japanese industrialist who founded Panasonic, the largest Japanese consumer electronics company. Matsushita is referred to as the "God of Management" in Japan.

Photo of Momofuku Ando

2. Momofuku Ando (1910 - 2007)

With an HPI of 62.67, Momofuku Ando is the 2nd most famous Japanese Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Momofuku Ando (Japanese: 安藤 百福, Hepburn: Andō Momofuku, March 5, 1910 – January 5, 2007), born Go Pek-Hok (Chinese: 吳百福; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Gô͘ Pek-hok), was an inventor and businessman who founded Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. He is known as the inventor of Nissin Chikin Ramen (instant noodles) and the creator of the brands Top Ramen and Cup Noodles.

Photo of Sakichi Toyoda

3. Sakichi Toyoda (1867 - 1930)

With an HPI of 62.56, Sakichi Toyoda is the 3rd most famous Japanese Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Sakichi Toyoda (豊田 佐吉, Toyoda Sakichi, March 19(the 14th of the 2nd month in East Asian Lunar Calendar), 1867 – October 30, 1930) was a Japanese inventor and industrialist. He was born in Kosai, Shizuoka. The son of a farmer and sought-after carpenter, he started the Toyoda family companies. His son, Kiichiro Toyoda, would later establish Japan's largest automaker, Toyota. Toyoda is referred to as the "King of Japanese Inventors".

Photo of Shigeo Shingo

4. Shigeo Shingo (1909 - 1990)

With an HPI of 55.53, Shigeo Shingo is the 4th most famous Japanese Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Shigeo Shingo (新郷 重夫, Shingō Shigeo, 1909–1990) was a Japanese industrial engineer who was considered as the world’s leading expert on manufacturing practices and the Toyota Production System.

Photo of Yoshiro Nakamatsu

5. Yoshiro Nakamatsu (1928 - )

With an HPI of 50.42, Yoshiro Nakamatsu is the 5th most famous Japanese Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Yoshiro Nakamatsu (中松 義郎, Nakamatsu Yoshirō, born June 26, 1928), also known as Dr. NakaMats (ドクター中松, Dokutā Nakamatsu), is a Japanese inventor. He regularly appears on Japanese talk shows demonstrating his inventions.

Pantheon has 5 people classified as inventors born between 1867 and 1928. Of these 5, 1 (20.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living inventors include Yoshiro Nakamatsu. The most famous deceased inventors include Kōnosuke Matsushita, Momofuku Ando, and Sakichi Toyoda.

Living Inventors

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Deceased Inventors

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Which Inventors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Inventors since 1700.