34.6910° N, 135.1826° E
KOBE
Most Famous People Born in Kobe, Japan
- Notable people
- 742
- Peak decade
- 1980s
- Median birth year
- 1963
- Most distinctive
- Rikishi 71.1×
Kobe was Japan's most foreign-facing port long before the 1995 earthquake, and the old Kitano settlements still show in an unusual density of bilingual Novelists. The real surprises are the voice-acting studios and manga houses that clustered here postwar — Seiyū and Manga counts running at seventy and sixty-plus times their global baselines — and a Judo bench that traces back to Kanō Jigorō founding the sport down the road.
One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Kobe during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 110 notable births.
What Kobe Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Football is Kobe's biggest profession — 17% of all notables (129).
Kobe over-indexes on rikishi — 71.1× the global rate.
Kobe under-produces writer — only 0.4× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Kobe's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Film & TV
- Music
- Art & Design
- Politics & Law
- Writing
- Other
- Field: Novelist Clear ×
Seishi Yokomizo
1902 - 1981
Teru Miyamoto
Born 1947
Chin Shunshin
1924 - 2015
Hiroyuki Morioka
Born 1962
Rinzō Shiina
1911 - 1973
Takami Itō
Born 1971
Sumito Yamashita
Born 1966
Atsuko Anzai
Born 1927
Kazuko Saegusa
1929 - 2003
Musashi Kanbe
Born 1948
Ramo Nakajima
1952 - 2004
Hitoshi Yasuda
Born 1950
Sayuri Ueda
Born 1964