Search Results Page — Contemporary Who's Who
Personal Details — Contemporary Who's Who
Yomiuri Shimbun Mini Definitions
Glossary and Reference Handbook
Enter the full name, first name or family name and click the Search button. Names of Japanese people must be written in kanji or hiragana, in the order: last name, first name. Additionally, in the case of some stage names or other assumed names, you may be able to search a Japanese name via katakana.
Names of non-Japanese may be searchable via their Western (alphabetical) spellings, but only in some cases. If a search for a non-Japanese via alphabetical spelling does not return the desired results, try searching for the name in katakana.
(1) The OR Modifier
You may type OR in the entry form or click the OR button to search for people whose names match either of the characters entered. For example, entering 田中 OR 佐藤 (Tanaka or Sato) will match all entries containing the names Tanaka or Sato, as well as (for example) 小田中 (Odanaka).
Matches may be made on real name, stage name, maiden or birth name, etc.
(2) Search by Initial Kana
Click the desired character from the grid of hiragana buttons to find all matching family names beginning with the same kana. In the case of foreigners, matches will be made on the basis of the katakana rendering of their names.
Clicking a hiragana character performs the search immediately. If you desire to combine a hiragana search with any of the conditions appearing further down the search page, select the other conditions before clicking the hiragana character.
Enter the specific name of the employer (e.g., company or organization). You may enter multiple search terms using OR and NOT.
Select the title from the list. You may choose multiple titles by clicking in the list. (Multiple titles are searched with an OR modifier: e.g., mayor OR president.)
Enter the name of any school to find people who graduated from the school. Multiple entries can be combined using OR or NOT.
Check the boxes corresponding to the field of specialization. The default is to search for All Fields.
Choose the birthplace from the list of prefectures. You may choose multiple prefectures by checking Only the selected regions and then checking the desired prefectures in the list. (Multiple prefectures are searched with an OR modifier: e.g., Chiba OR Saitama.)
The capital of the prefecture will appear in the search list if it differs from the prefecture's name. Designated cities will also appear. For example, if you select Kanagawa, then Kanagawa, Yokohama, Kawasaki, and Sagamihara will appear in the search list.
The default is to search for All prefectures.
You may choose to search by Date Range or Exact Date. You may also enter only the starting date (people born on or after the date) or only the ending date (people born on or before that date).