60 Notable alumni of Kansai University

Soichiro Fujitaka, nicknamed So, is a Japanese professional basketball player who plays for Bambitious Nara of the B.League in Japan. He also plays for Japan men's national 3x3 team.

Kenshi Togami was a Japanese athlete. He competed in the men's long jump at the 1936 Summer Olympics. His personal best in the long jump was 7.64 meters, achieved in 1938

Masamitsu Ichiguchi is a retired Japanese wrestler. He competed in the Greco-Roman bantamweight event at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and finished in seventh and first place, respectively. Earlier in 1962 he won the world championships and Asian Games in the same event.

Tadashi Maeda was a Japanese politician who served two terms in the House of Representatives.

Shion Kokubun is a former Japanese figure skater. She won the 2009 Golden Spin of Zagreb.

Seiichiro Tsuda was a Japanese runner who won the 1500 metres event at the 1927 and 1930 Far Eastern Championship Games. He competed at the 1928 and 1932 Olympics in the marathon and finished in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

Shimpei Sakurada is a Japanese football player. He is currently playing for Yadanarbon FC.

Shu Sasaki is a Japanese professional footballer who currently plays for Hong Kong Premier League club Southern.

Kim Chae-hwa, also known by her Japanese name Ayaka Nagase (長瀬彩華), is a South Korean former competitive figure skater. She is the 2007 South Korean national champion. Her best result at an ISU Championship was seventh at the 2006 World Junior Championships.

Hideji Hōjō was the pen name of a Japanese author, novelist, and playwright in Shōwa period Japan. His real name was Iino Hideji (飯野 秀二).

Yuki Kotani is a former Japanese football player.

Emi Hirai is a Japanese former ice dancer. With skating partner Marien de la Asuncion, she is a four-time Japanese national silver medalist and has competed at four Four Continents Championships.

Kenkichi Oshima was a Japanese triple jumper who won a bronze medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He was the flag bearer for Japan at the 1936 Games in Berlin.

Shinya Wada is a visually impaired Japanese long-distance runner. Competing in the T11 classification, Shinya has represented his country at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, where he took the bronze medal in the men's 5000m T11 race. He is also a multiple World and Asian Para Games medalist, taking six medals over four tournaments.

Dale Weldeau Jorgenson was an American economist who served as the Samuel W. Morris University Professor at Harvard University. An influential econometric scholar, he was famed for his work on the relationship between productivity and economic growth, the economics of climate change, and the intersection between economics and statistics. Described as a "master" of his field, he received the John...

Tatsuo Yata is a Japanese politician who became the mayor of Kobe, the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture in Japan from 2001 until 2013. He was first elected in October 2001 and won the re-election four years later.

Ken Harada was a member of the Diet of Japan from the Liberal Democratic Party until resigning his office on 24 January 1989 following alleged involvement in the Recruit scandal, where Harada admitted Recruit had given him donations, in the form of seasonal summer gifts, for ten years. While the donations were not illegal, they raised questions of political ethics...

Shinji Yoshida is a Japanese politician. He has been a Liberal Democratic Party member of the House of Representatives since early 2023. Yoshida was previously a three-term member of the Shimonoseki city council, serving as its 15th vice-chairman.

Kansei Nakano is a retired Japanese politician. He was a member of the Democratic Party of Japan and served as the Vice-Speaker of the Lower House of the Diet.

Takae Itō is a Japanese politician who has served as a member of the House of Councillors of Japan since 2016. She represents the Hyogo at-large district and is a member of the Komeito party.

Mitsuki Sumoto is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. He is the 2017–18 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2017 JGP Latvia champion, and the 2017–18 Japanese junior national champion. He finished within the top ten at the 2018 World Junior Championships.

Shu Nakamura is a Japanese figure skater. He finished sixth at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, after placing tenth in the short program and third in the free skate. He won the bronze medal at the 2014–15 Japan Junior Championships and finished 12th at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. In February 2017, he won...

Issei Kitagawa was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). A graduate of Kansai University, he was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 2004 after serving in the assembly of Osaka Prefecture for four terms.

Tomokatsu Kitagawa was a Japanese politician from the Liberal Democratic Party, and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature).

Shoya Ichihashi is a Japanese pair skater. With his skating partner, Miyu Yunoki, he was the 2022 Japanese national champion.

Takashi Tanihata is a former Japanese politician who served in the House of Councillors and the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Initiatives from Osaka party. A native of Osaka Prefecture and graduate of Kansai University he was elected for the first time in 1989 after an unsuccessful run in 1986.

Yusuke Igawa is a former Japanese football player who last played for Hong Kong Premier League club Eastern. He is currently the head coach of Hong Kong Third Division club Lansbury.

Kiyoshige Maekawa is a Japanese politician and a former member of both the House of Representatives and House of Councillors in the Diet. He joined the Japan Innovation Party in 2020, but had previously been a member of the Democratic Party of Japan.

Satsuki Muramoto is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 Triglav Trophy champion and 2009 Merano Cup silver medalist.

Tetsuzo Fuyushiba was a Japanese politician of the New Komeito Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). He served as Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport as well as Minister of State for Tourism Promotion in Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's Cabinet.

Daiya Maekawa is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for J1 League club Vissel Kobe and the Japan national team. His father is the former Japan national team goalkeeper Kazuya Maekawa.

Hiroki Kikuta is a Japanese composer and game designer. His major works are Secret of Mana, Trials of Mana, Soukaigi, and Koudelka, for which he also acted as producer and concept designer. He has composed music for seven other games, and worked as a concept designer in addition to composer for the unreleased MMORPG Chou Bukyo Taisen. He became interested...

Nobuo Satō is a Japanese figure skater and coach. He is a ten-time Japanese national champion. He represented Japan at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where he placed 14th, and at the 1964 Winter Olympics, where he placed 8th. His best finish at the World Championships was 4th in 1965.

Jitsumi Gōgen Yamaguchi, also known as Gōgen Yamaguchi, was a Japanese martial artist and student of Gōjū-ryū Karate under Chōjun Miyagi. He was one of the most well-known karate-dō masters from Japan and he founded the International Karate-dō Gōjū Kai Association.

Bird, stylized as bird, is a Japanese singer.

Toshiharu Ueda was a professional Japanese baseball player, coach, and manager. In 20 seasons as a manager, he won 1,322 games and led the Hankyu Braves to three Japan Series titles (which included their first championship in 1975) to go along with five Pacific League pennants. He is one of six managers to win the Japan Series three times in...

Tomoyuki "Yūkō" Tanaka was a Japanese film producer, best known as the creator of Godzilla. He produced most of the installments in the Godzilla series, beginning in 1954 with Godzilla and ending in 1995 with Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. He was one of the most prolific Japanese producers of all time, having worked on more than 200 films, including over 80...

Tomohiro Yamamoto is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party and a former member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature).

Tetsuro Nishida is a Japanese former professional baseball player who is currently a staff for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has played in NPB for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and Hawks.

Yuna Shiraiwa is a former Japanese figure skater. She is the 2018 CS Asian Open silver medalist, the 2017 Asian Trophy silver medalist, and the 2018 Coupe du Printemps bronze medalist. At the junior level, she is a three-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist (two gold, one silver), and two-time Japanese Junior national silver medalist. She finished within the top...

Daisuke Takahashi is a Japanese figure skater (men's singles and ice dance), ice show producer and actor. As a singles skater, he is the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2010 World champion, the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time (2008, 2011) Four Continents champion, and a five-time (2006–2008, 2010, 2012) Japanese national champion.

Minoru Murayama was a professional baseball player for the Osaka Tigers (later Hanshin Tigers) in Nippon Professional Baseball. His number 11 is retired with the Tigers. A pitcher with Hanshin from 1959 to 1972, he recorded a career 2.09 ERA and 192 career complete games to go with 222 wins. He was inducted into the Japanese Hall of Fame in...

Tatsuki Machida is a Japanese retired figure skater. He is the 2014 World silver medalist, the 2010 Four Continents silver medalist, and the 2013–14 Japanese national silver medalist. Machida is the winner of four Grand Prix events — the 2012 Cup of China, 2013 Skate America, 2013 Rostelecom Cup, and 2014 Skate America.

Minoru Iwata is a Japanese baseball pitcher from Moriguchi, Osaka, Japan and he currently plays for the Hanshin Tigers. He was a member of the Japan team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Kiyou Shimizu is a Japanese karateka competing in the women's kata event. She won the silver medal in the women's kata event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Shimizu is also a two-time gold medalist at the World Karate Championships and a three-time gold medalist at the Asian Games.

Kana Muramoto is a Japanese former figure skater (women's singles and ice dance). With her skating partner, Daisuke Takahashi, she is the 2022 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2022–23 Japanese national champion and the 2022 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge champion.

Eiichi Ono, better known by his stage name Kōji Tsuruta (鶴田 浩二, Tsuruta Kōji), was a Japanese actor and singer. He appeared in almost 260 feature films and had a unique style of singing. His daughter, Sayaka Tsuruta, is an actress.

Satoko Miyahara is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 2015 World silver medalist, the 2018 World bronze medalist, the 2016 Four Continents champion, a two-time Four Continents silver medalist (2014, 2015), a two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist (2015, 2016), a two-time Skate America champion (2017, 2018), the 2015 NHK Trophy champion, a four-time CS U.S. Classic champion...

Nobunari Oda is a Japanese retired competitive figure skater. He is the 2006 Four Continents champion, a four-time Grand Prix Final medalist (silver in 2009 and 2010; bronze in 2006 and 2013), the 2005 World Junior champion and the 2008 Japanese national champion.

Shizuya Kawamura, known by his stage name Katsura Bunshi VI (六代 桂 文枝, Rokudai Katsura Bunshi), is a Japanese TV presenter and rakugo artist.

Takashi Shimura was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1934 and 1981. He appeared in 21 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films (more than any other actor), including as a lead actor in Drunken Angel (1948), Rashomon (1950), Ikiru (1952) and Seven Samurai (1954). He played Professor Kyohei Yamane in Ishirō Honda's original Godzilla (1954) and its...

Francis Yoshihiro Fukuyama is an American political scientist, political economist, and international relations scholar. He is best known for his book The End of History and the Last Man (1992), which controversially argued that the worldwide spread of liberal democracies and Western free-market capitalism may represent the final step in humanity's sociocultural evolution and political struggle and the final form...

Ryota Yamasato, also known as Yama-chan (山ちゃん), is a Japanese comedian and television and radio personality. He rose to fame in the 2000s as one half of the manzai comedy duo Nankai Candies. Outside Japan he is best known as one of the commentators on the reality television series Terrace House.

Sohei Kamiya is a Japanese politician who is the founder and leader of the right-wing populist political party Sanseitō. Kamiya has been serving as a member of the House of Councillors since 2022 through the Proportional Representation Block. He advocates "Japanese first" and anti-globalism.

Rika Kihira is a Japanese figure skater.

Naoki Matayoshi is a Japanese comedian, screenwriter, and novelist who won the Akutagawa Prize in 2015 for his book Hibana (火花, Spark), which was adapted into the Netflix series Hibana: Spark.

Marin Honda is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 2016 World Junior champion, the 2017 World Junior silver medalist, the 2015–16 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, and the 2016–17 Japanese Junior National bronze medalist. She is the former junior world record holder for the free program.

Akira Nishino is a Japanese football manager and former player.

Norio Wakamoto is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with the Sigma Seven talent agency. He was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and was raised in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. He graduated from Waseda University.