62 Notable alumni of Hitotsubashi University

Tsunei Kusunose was the Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture from October 1945 to 1950.

Kizo Yasui was a Japanese corporate executive. He held the positions of the chairman of the board of directors of Toray Industries, vice-president of Mitsui Bank, president of Mitsui Petrochemicals Industries, vice-chairman of Nihon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), chairman of Japan Chemical Fibers Association and others. He was also general manager of Tokyo Metropolis of Ise Shrine Revered Board. He...

Shinpei Mykawa was a Japanese rice farmer who introduced the cultivation of rice in parts of southeast Texas. The community of Mykawa and Mykawa Road in Houston are named after him.

Zenjiro Kaneko is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Yamagata Prefecture and graduate of Hitotsubashi University, he worked at the Ministry of Home Affairs. He was elected for the first time in 2000 as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)...

Yoshitake Kimata is a former Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan and a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). He represented the Aichi at-large district. A native of Toyohashi, Aichi and a graduate of Hitotsubashi University and the George Washington University School of Public Policy and Public Administration, he ran unsuccessfully for the...

Kōichirō Asakai was a Japanese diplomat who served as ambassador to the United States and ambassador to the Philippines.

Naoki Minezaki is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan and a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Kure, Hiroshima and graduate of Hitotsubashi University, he was elected for the first time in 1992.

Seiichiro Kashio was a tennis player from Japan, and with Ichiya Kumagae was one of the first Japanese Olympic medalists. He won the 1919 Canadian Open by defeating United States player Walter Wesbrook 3–6, 6–3, 6–1, 11–9.

Shōzō Murata was a Japanese entrepreneur, cabinet minister and diplomat before, during and after World War II.

Kenkichi Kagami was a Japanese businessman.

Shinya Ishikawa is a retired Japanese professional wrestler best known for his tenure with the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW).

Koji Miyamoto is a Japanese professional wrestling historian and writer, best known for his work on Lou Thesz. He has authored sixteen books.

Paik Too-chin or Baek Du-jin was a South Korean politician. He was acting prime minister until confirmed in office by the National Assembly on April 24, 1953, when he became the prime minister of South Korea.

Masaji Kiyokawa was a Japanese businessman, sports administrator and backstroke swimmer who won two medals at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics. During his swimming career Kiyokawa set one world record, in the 400-metre backstroke.

Hiroshi Mizuta was a Japanese economist, historian of social thought and activist. An emeritus professor of Nagoya University and a member of the Japan Academy, he is best known as a leading scholar of Adam Smith.

Shigeyuki Tomita is a Japanese politician serving in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the New Komeito Party. A native of Choshi, Chiba and graduate of Hitotsubashi University, he was elected for the first time in 1990.

Kotaro Suzumura was a Japanese economist and professor emeritus of Hitotsubashi University and Waseda University. He graduated from Hitotsubashi University in 1966. His research interests were in social choice theory and welfare economics. He was also a Fellow of the Econometric Society. He was named a Person of Cultural Merit in 2017.

Ichiro Nakayama was a Japanese economist. He graduated from The Tokyo University of Commerce (now Hitotsubashi University) in 1926, and then studied under Joseph Schumpeter in Germany. He was a pioneer of mathematical economics in Japan. After serving as assistant at The Tokyo University of Commerce, he became an assistant professor in 1933, a professor in 1937 and president in...

Trần Văn Thọ is a Vietnamese former economic advisor to the Japanese government, head of a major Japanese bank’s ODA assessment committee, and a professor of economics at the faculty of Social Sciences of Waseda University in Japan.

Tokuzō Fukuda was a pioneer of modern Japanese economics.

Asako Okai is a Japanese diplomat and UN official currently serving as the ambassador of Japan in Bahrain. She started her career at the UN as assistant administrator at the United Nations Development Programme, and director for the UNDP Crisis Bureau, and became United Nations Assistant Secretary-General in 2018. During her time at the USDP, she was in charge of...

Baron Kumakichi Nakajima was an entrepreneur, politician and cabinet minister in the pre-war Empire of Japan.

Tetsuo Kondo was a Japanese politician who served as Japan's Minister of Labour from 1991 until 1992.

Ichirō Komatsu was a Japanese diplomat, civil servant and politician.

Aziz Abdukhakimov is an Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Minister of Tourism and Cultural Heritage.

Mami Mizutori is a Japanese diplomat. She has been the Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction in the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR, formerly UNISDR) since March 2018.

Paek Nam-un was a Korean economist, educator, and political activist during the Japanese colonial period and later a politician in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Koichiro Ichimura is a Japanese politician of the Japan Innovation Party, who serves as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Fukuoka, Fukuoka and graduate of Hitotsubashi University, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2003 after an unsuccessful run in 2000.

Kenji Kanasugi is the current Japanese ambassador to China. He is known for his extensive contributions to Japan's foreign relations in East Asia, particularly with China and the broader Asia–Pacific region. Joining Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983, he has held numerous significant roles in Japanese government and foreign affairs throughout his career.

Mitsujirō Ishii was a Japanese politician, cabinet minister, and Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1946 to 1947 and from 1952 to 1972. In 1955, he played a major role in the merger of Japan's conservative parties into the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and, in 1956, led a delegation to...

Naotake Satō was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as President of the House of Councillors from 1949 to 1953.

Takatoshi Ito was a Japanese economist. He was a professor of the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University and a senior professor of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.

Zentarō Kosaka was a Japanese politician who served two terms as foreign minister and as labour minister.

Zenzo Shimizu, also spelt Zenzo Shimidzu, was a Japanese tennis player.

Hiroko Ōta is a Japanese politician, university president and a researcher of economics. Her academic specialties are national public finance and economic policy. She is a noted lecturer of public finance and is a senior professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo.

Saburo Tokura is a Japanese jurist who served as the 20th Chief Justice of Japan from 2022 to 2024, having previously served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of Japan from 2017 to 2022.

Yoshinori Suematsu is a Japanese politician of the Constitutional Democratic Party, who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature).

Masaru Hayami was a Japanese businessman, central banker, the 28th Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and a Director of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

Shinzō Ōya was an entrepreneur and politician, who served as Minister of Commerce and Industry in post-war Japan.

Fusanosuke Kuhara was a Japanese entrepreneur, politician and cabinet minister in the pre-war Empire of Japan.

Masatsugu Nagato is a Japanese businessman who has been the president and CEO of Japan Post Holdings since April 2016, when he succeeded Taizo Nishimuro, following his hospitalization, having previously been president and CEO of Japan Post Bank.

Risaburo Toyoda was a Japanese entrepreneur. He was the son-in-law of Toyota Industries Co., Ltd founder Sakichi Toyoda, and brother-in-law of Toyota Motor Corporation founder, Kiichiro Toyoda (豊田 喜一郎, Toyoda Kiichirō; June 11, 1894 – March 27, 1952) His original surname was Kodama (児玉).

Ken Ishii is a Japanese DJ and record producer from Sapporo. He graduated from Hitotsubashi University. He has released work under his own name as well as under the pseudonyms FLR, Flare, UTU, Yoga, and Rising Sun.

Hachiro Nitta is a Japanese politician who has served as governor of Toyama Prefecture since 2020.

Toshikazu Kase was a Japanese civil servant and career diplomat. During World War II he was a high-ranking Foreign Ministry official. Hideaki Kase (1936–2022) was his son and Yoko Ono is his niece.

Michio Watanabe was a Japanese political figure. He was born in Ōtawara, Tochigi and graduated from the Tokyo College of Commerce (now Hitotsubashi University) in 1942. He worked as a reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun, a certified tax accountant, and a member of Tochigi prefectural assembly before serving as a member of House of Representatives of Japan.

Taizo Mikazuki is a Japanese politician and the current governor of Shiga Prefecture, having been elected to the position in July 2014. He previously served in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan.

Saburō Shiroyama was a Japanese novelist.

Saburō Kurusu was a Japanese diplomat. He is remembered now (in the United States) as an envoy who tried to negotiate peace and understanding with the United States while the Japanese government under Emperor Hirohito was secretly preparing the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Kōji Omi was a Japanese politician most notable for serving as Minister of Finance in the first Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Hiroshi Okuda is a Japanese businessman who served as president of the Toyota Motor Corporation from 1995 to 1999 and as its chairman from 1999 to 2006.

Kafū Nagai was a Japanese writer, editor and translator. His novels Geisha in Rivalry and A Strange Tale from East of the River are noted for their depictions of life of the demimonde in early 20th-century Tokyo.

Yukio Okamoto was a Japanese diplomat, diplomatic analyst, and proponent of strong economic and political Japan–United States relations. Okamoto guided Japanese and American diplomatic relations throughout the 1980s, during an era when both countries simultaneously competed for economic influence on the global stage. He served as a diplomatic advisor and analyst for several Japanese prime ministers, including Ryutaro Hashimoto from...

Katsutoshi Kaneda is a Japanese politician who served as the Minister of Justice from 2016 to 2017. He studied at and graduated from Hitotsubashi University.

Futabatei Shimei was a Japanese writer, translator, and literary critic. His writings are in the realist style popular in the mid to late 19th century. His work The Drifting Cloud (Ukigumo, 1887) is widely regarded as Japan's first modern novel.

Harumi Takahashi is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party and currently a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature).

Hiroshi Mikitani is a Japanese billionaire business magnate and writer. He is the founder and CEO of Rakuten, Inc. He is also the president of Crimson Group, chairman of the football club Vissel Kobe, chairman of Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and a board member of Lyft.

Takashi Kawamura is a Japanese politician who has served as a member of the House of Representatives representing Aichi 1st since October 2024, a position he had previously held from 1993 to 2009. Prior to this, he served as the 35th mayor of Nagoya from 2009 to 2024. Kawamura was the Deputy Leader of the far-right Conservative Party of Japan,...

Masabumi Hosono was a Japanese civil servant. He survived the sinking of the Titanic on 15 April 1912 but found himself condemned and ostracized by the Japanese public, press, and government because of a misconception that he decided to save himself rather than go down with the ship. Hosono's grandson is Haruomi Hosono, leading member of the Japanese band Yellow...

Riko Muranaka is a medical doctor, journalist and recipient of the 2017 John Maddox Prize for fighting to reduce cervical cancer and countering misinformation about the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine dominating the Japanese media, despite facing safety threats. Despite the lack of evidence, the HPV vaccine is infamous in Japan due to misattributed adverse effects, with government suspending promotion...

Heizō Takenaka is a Japanese economist, and key figure in Junichiro Koizumi's administration (2001-2006), played a significant role in Japan's structural reforms, including labor market deregulation. As Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy and later Financial Services, he advocated for policies aimed at increasing economic flexibility, such as amending the Worker Dispatching Act (also known as the Temporary...