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Most Famous Japanese Athletes

Sports 668
Japan 2,162
5,561 MU Morihei Ueshiba Morihei Ueshiba Japanese Martial Art 1883–1969
5,565 KH Keisuke Honda Keisuke Honda Japanese Football b. 1986
6,704 IS Ichiro Suzuki Ichiro Suzuki Japanese Baseball b. 1973
9,204 SO Shinji Okazaki Shinji Okazaki Japanese Football b. 1986
9,290 YN Yuto Nagatomo Yuto Nagatomo Japanese Football b. 1986
9,994 HK Hiroshi Kiyotake Hiroshi Kiyotake Japanese Football b. 1989
10,598 AU Atsuto Uchida Atsuto Uchida Japanese Football b. 1988
10,882 TI Takashi Inui Takashi Inui Japanese Football b. 1988
11,423 MH Makoto Hasebe Makoto Hasebe Japanese Football b. 1984
12,038 KN Kei Nishikori Kei Nishikori Japanese Player b. 1989
12,325 TU Takashi Usami Takashi Usami Japanese Football b. 1992
13,182 YŌ Yoshito Ōkubo Yoshito Ōkubo Japanese Football b. 1982
13,612 JI Junichi Inamoto Junichi Inamoto Japanese Football b. 1979
13,879 YK Yoichiro Kakitani Japanese Football b. 1990
14,215 MH Mike Havenaar Mike Havenaar Japanese Football b. 1987
14,484 SO Shinji Ono Shinji Ono Japanese Football b. 1979
15,134 YD Yu Darvish Yu Darvish Japanese Baseball b. 1986
15,519 GF Gichin Funakoshi Gichin Funakoshi Japanese Karate 1868–1957
16,260 HS Hiroki Sakai Hiroki Sakai Japanese Football b. 1990
17,332 EK Eiji Kawashima Eiji Kawashima Japanese Football b. 1983
17,498 TA Takuma Asano Takuma Asano Japanese Football b. 1994
18,893 MO Mas Oyama Mas Oyama Japanese Karate 1923–1994
19,069 YO Yuya Osako Yuya Osako Japanese Football b. 1990
19,432 MT Masahiro Tanaka Masahiro Tanaka Japanese Baseball b. 1988
19,815 YK Yuya Kubo (footballer) Yuya Kubo (footballer) Japanese Football b. 1993
19,824 MM Masakiyo Maezono Japanese Football b. 1973
20,805 NT Naohiro Takahara Naohiro Takahara Japanese Football b. 1979
21,430 HH Hajime Hosogai Hajime Hosogai Japanese Football b. 1986
21,466 KU Koji Uehara Koji Uehara Japanese Baseball b. 1975
23,923 RM Ryo Miyaichi Ryo Miyaichi Japanese Football b. 1992
24,593 SO Sadaharu Oh Sadaharu Oh Japanese Baseball b. 1940
24,775 MS Manabu Saitō Japanese Football b. 1990
25,009 GH Genki Haraguchi Genki Haraguchi Japanese Football b. 1991
25,931 HS Hiroyasu Shimizu Hiroyasu Shimizu Japanese Skater b. 1974
26,131 TM Takumi Minamino Takumi Minamino Japanese Football b. 1995
26,879 KS Keita Suzuki Japanese Football b. 1981
27,857 SK Saki Kumagai Japanese Football b. 1990
29,094 HM Hideki Matsui Japanese Baseball b. 1975
30,185 GB Giant Baba Giant Baba Japanese Baseball 1938–1999
30,550 DK Daigo Kobayashi Japanese Football b. 1983
30,974 TM Tsuneyasu Miyamoto Tsuneyasu Miyamoto Japanese Football b. 1977
31,136 SN Shusaku Nishikawa Shusaku Nishikawa Japanese Football b. 1986
31,291 MI Mana Iwabuchi Mana Iwabuchi Japanese Football b. 1993
31,316 YO Yuki Ota Japanese Fencer b. 1985
31,317 AS Aya Sameshima Japanese Football b. 1987
31,682 YE Yasuhito Endō Yasuhito Endō Japanese Football b. 1980
31,750 AY Atsushi Yanagisawa Japanese Football b. 1977
32,493 GS Gaku Shibasaki Gaku Shibasaki Japanese Football b. 1992
33,236 SH Seiko Hashimoto Seiko Hashimoto Japanese Skater b. 1964
33,842 MI Masami Ihara Japanese Football b. 1967
See all 152,953 rankings →

Ranked by cross-verified academic notability — how it works

By the numbers

Inside Japan Athletes

668 notable people in this slice of the dataset.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous japan athletes born in each.

Notable Births by Decade

Notable births among Japan Athletes peaked in the 1980s with 227 people.

What Japan Athletes Are Known For

Click any row to drill into that filter.

Football are Japan Athletes's biggest group — 24% of all notables (162).

Japan Athletes over-index on karate — 114.5× the global rate.

  1. Football162
  2. Baseball161
  3. Wrestler66
  4. Player46
  5. Judo31
  6. Skater20
  7. Athletic18
  8. Sport16
  1. Karate12114.5×
  2. Judo3138.4×
  3. Skater2021.9×
  4. Wrestler6619.9×
  5. Martial Art1119.7×
  6. Ski1118.1×
  7. Badminton1018.0×
  8. Baseball16116.8×

City Hot Spots

Cities that over-produce Japan Athletes compared to the world average — multiplier shows how much more.