21 Notable alumni of Japan Women’s University
Updated: June 07, 2026 EliteDegrees
Japan Women’s University is ranked #2,072 in the world and #133 in Japan by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 21 notable alumni from Japan Women’s University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Japan Women’s University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Tano Jōdai
1886-1982 (aged 96)
university president
peace activist
Tano Jōdai was a professor of English literature, peace activist, and the sixth president of the Japan Women's University.
2. Shina Inoue Kan
1899-1982 (aged 83)
feminist
Shina Inoue Kan, also seen as "Shina Inouye", "Shina Kan", and "Shinako Kan", was a Japanese college professor.
3. Setsu Tanino
1903-1999 (aged 96)
textile worker
economist
Tanino Setsu was a textile worker who graduated from Japan Women's University's Department of Social Work in 1925, and became the first female factory supervisor in 1928. She aided in organizing women's strikes for higher wages, and wrote prolifically about her observances of female factory worker's struggles.
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4. Tomi Kōra
1896-1993 (aged 97)
psychologist
politician
Tomi Kōra was a Japanese psychologist, peace activist, and politician. She published under the name Tomiko Kōra (高良 とみ, Kōra Tomiko).
5. Hideko Inouye
1875-1963 (aged 88)
university teacher
Hideko Inoue was a Japanese educator and peace activist. She taught home economics at Japan Women's University and served as the first woman president of the school from 1931–1946. Active in the peace movement she led the Japanese affiliate of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and was one of the leading feminists supporting internationalism in the interwar...
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6. Kiku Amino
1900-1978 (aged 78)
prose writer
novelist
writer
Kiku Amino was a Japanese writer and translator of English and Russian literature. She was a recipient of the Women's Literature Prize, the Yomiuri Prize, and Japan Academy of the Arts prize.
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7. Tsuruko Haraguchi
1886-1915 (aged 29)
translator
psychologist
Tsuruko Haraguchi was a Japanese psychologist and the first Japanese woman to receive a Doctor of Philosophy.
8. Tsuruyo Kondō
1901-1970 (aged 69)
politician
Tsuruyo Kondo was a Japanese politician who served as Director General of the Science and Technology Agency from 1962 to 1963, in the cabinet of Hayato Ikeda.
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9. Oku Mumeo
1895-1997 (aged 102)
politician
Mumeo Oku was an important Japanese feminist and politician who served three terms in Japan's Imperial Diet after having been a leader in the early modern women's suffrage movement in Japan. She played an important role in various early Japanese women's rights movements, and she was a crucial part of Japan's consumer movement. She was a renowned activist in the...
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10. Yumie Hiraiwa
1932-2023 (aged 91)
novelist
screenwriter
writer
Yumie Hiraiwa was a Japanese Naoki Award-winning author.
11. Yuriko Miyamoto
1899-1951 (aged 52)
literary critic
novelist
writer
critic
essayist
Miyamoto Yuriko was a Japanese novelist, short-story writer, social activist, and literary critic active during the Taishō and early Shōwa eras of Japan. She is best known for her autobiographical fiction and involvement in proletarian and women's liberation movements.
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12. Fumiko Enchi
1905-1986 (aged 81)
novelist
playwright
writer
Fumiko Ueda, known by her pen name Fumiko Enchi (円地 文子, Enchi Fumiko), was a Japanese writer and playwright known for her explorations into the ideas of sexuality, gender, human identity, and spirituality. She is considered one of the most prominent women writers of Shōwa period Japan.
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13. Momoko Ishii
1907-2008 (aged 101)
writer
translator
literary scholar
children's writer
novelist
Momoko Ishii was a Japanese writer and translator of children's books. She was the first member of the Japan Art Academy from the field of children's literature.
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14. Satoko Shinohara
1958-. (aged 68)
architect
Satoko Shinohara is a Japanese architect, architectural educator, and architectural researcher. She became the president of Japan Women's University in 2020. She presides over Spatial Design Studio and is a published author and editor. In a career that has addressed daily life, housing, and relationships, one of Shinohara's key design tenets is that housing is inherently a social space—one that...
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15. Toshiko Tamura
1884-1945 (aged 61)
writer
novelist
Toshiko Tamura was an early modern feminist novelist who wrote during the late Meiji era, Taishō era, and early Shōwa era. She wrote under the pen-names Roei (露英), Child Bird (鳥の子, Tori no ko), Toshiko Suzuki (鈴木 俊子, Suzuki Toshiko), Yukari (優香里, Yukari), Jun-Sheng (俊生), and Zuo Jun-zhi (佐俊芝), as well as under her maiden name Toshiko Satō (佐藤 俊子,...
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16. Raicho Hiratsuka
1886-1971 (aged 85)
novelist
writer
critic
journalist
anarchist
Hiratsuka Raichō was a Japanese writer, journalist, political activist, anarchist, and pioneering feminist in Japan.
17. Kazuyo Sejima
1956-. (aged 70)
architect
Kazuyo Sejima is a Japanese architect and director of her own firm, Kazuyo Sejima & Associates. In 1995, she co-founded the firm SANAA (Sejima + Nishizawa & Associates). In 2010, Sejima was the second woman to receive the Pritzker Prize, which was awarded jointly with Nishizawa. They were only the second partnership to be honored with this prize.
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18. Sadako Sawamura
1908-1996 (aged 88)
actor
Sadako Sawamura was a Japanese stage and film actress who appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1976.
19. Chieko Takamura
1886-1938 (aged 52)
writer
poet
Yōga painter
papercut artist
Chieko Takamura was a Japanese artist.
20. He Xiangning
1878-1972 (aged 94)
politician
He Xiangning was a Chinese revolutionary, feminist, politician, painter, and poet. Together with her husband Liao Zhongkai, she was one of the earliest members of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary movement Tongmenghui. As Minister for Women's Affairs in Sun's Nationalist government in Guangzhou (Canton), she advocated equal rights for women and organized China's first rally for International Women's Day in 1924. After...
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21. Rumiko Takahashi
1957-. (aged 69)
screenwriter
character designer
animator
mangaka
Rumiko Takahashi is a Japanese manga artist. With a career of several commercially successful works, beginning with Urusei Yatsura in 1978, she is one of Japan's best-known and wealthiest manga artists. Her works are known worldwide, where they have been translated into a variety of languages, with over 230 million copies in circulation; making Takahashi one of the best-selling authors...
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