Japanese Figures who Helped Shape History
Many Japanese have contributed to shaping history, making great contributions to various fields from arts and literature to medicine. Here are just a few of the many notable people that touched our lives in one way or another.
Sakamoto Ryōma (1836–1867)—one of the figures that played an important part in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate (the Japanese military government that ruled over Japan from 1603 through 1868). He is most noted for negotiating peace between two of the powerful provinces of Japan at the time that were hostile to each other, Satsuma and Chōshū.
Portrait of Sakamoto Ryoma (坂本竜馬, 1835 – 1867).
Sakamoto Ryōma united the two provinces against the Bafuku who supported the Tokugawa shogun. Ryōma also used the alias Saitani Umetarō and was often hunted by Bafuku supporters. He was ultimately caught and killed at an inn in Kyoto.
Osamu Tezuka (1928–1989)—born in Osaka Prefecture, Osamu Tezuka was best known as the creator of the popular comics series Kimba the White Lion, Astro Boy, and Black Jack. He was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, film producer, animator, and activist.
He has earned the titles “father of manga,” “godfather of manga,” and “god of manga.”
Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645)—an expert swordsman and rōnin known for his many duels even when he was very young. Miyamoto Musashi was the author of The Book of Five Rings, about tactics, strategy, and sword fighting philosophies.
Japanese scroll depicting Miyamoto Musashi.
It is still used today. He also founded the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū or Niten-ryū style popular for its two-sword techniques. He is famous for the duel he had with Sasaki Kojirō and was a master swordsman during the Sengoku and early Edo periods.
Hideyo Noguchi (1876–1928)—also known as Seisaku Noguchi, he was a notable Japanese bacteriologist who discovered the agent of syphilis as being the cause of progressive paralytic disease in 1911.
