100 Notable alumni of Meiji University

Kosuke Kanamaru is a Japanese professional basketball player for the Saga Ballooners of the B.League.

Tomoya Hoshi is a professional Japanese baseball player. He plays pitcher for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

Yutaka Nakamura is a retired Japanese professional outfielder.

Yukihito Koga is a Japanese politician who is a member of the House of Councillors of Japan.

Itō Sachio was the pen-name of Itō Kōjirō (伊藤 幸次郎), a Japanese tanka poet and novelist active during the Meiji period of Japan.

Masaji Matsuyama is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature).

Shun Ishikawa is a Japanese former professional baseball infielder. He has played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chunichi Dragons.

Rinichi Yamamoto was a Japanese actor from Hokkaido.

Naoki Matoba, nicknamed "Matton", is a Japanese former professional baseball catcher in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He played for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks/Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in 2000, and from 2003 to 2008 and with the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2010 and 2011.

Yuichi Maruyama is a Japanese football player who plays for Kawasaki Frontale.

Fumiaki Matsumoto is a former Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, who served as and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). Matsumoto served as a vice minister for the Cabinet Office between August 2017 and January 2018. He resigned from his post after being recorded in the Diet mocking the gravity of US...

Yukio Kasaya was a Japanese ski jumper. At the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo he became the first Japanese athlete to win a gold medal and the second Japanese (after Chiharu Igaya) to win any medal at the Winter Olympics. Previously he placed second at the 1970 World Championships and won the first three jumping events at the 1971/72 Four Hills...

Masataka Morizono is a Japanese table tennis player. With doubles partner Yuya Oshima, he won the gold medal in the men's doubles event at both the 2015 and 2017 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, as well as winning a silver medal in men's doubles at the 2017 World Championships.

Ai Kume was one of the first three women in Japan to become lawyers.

Koichi Tani is a Japanese politician serving in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. A native of Muraoka, Hyōgo and graduate of Meiji University, he was elected for the first time in 2003.

Noboru Akiyama was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher, originally from Okayama, Okayama. He played with the Taiyo Whales. He is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

Masahiro Andō is a Japanese composer and guitarist from Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. From 1976 to 2021, he was the guitarist and leader of the Japanese jazz-fusion band T-Square. He was also one-third of Ottottrio, a supergroup led by three Japanese guitarists: himself, Hirokuni Korekata of Rocket Jam and Issei Noro of Casiopea.

Sō Tsutsui is a former professional baseball player from Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan.

Yūzō Kawashima was a Japanese film director and screenwriter known for his lively comedies.

Hiroki Yamada is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or a winger.

Masako Nakata was one of Japan's first female lawyers.

Daisuke Ban, born Kiyonori Saito (斎藤 清憲, Saitō Kiyonori), is a Japanese actor. He was born on May 5, 1947, in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo. He is best known for portraying several heroic roles in tokusatsu, including Jiro in Android Kikaider and Goro Watari in Inazuman.

Hiroko Suzuki, née Mizuno (水野, Mizuno), (born 1974) is a Japanese politician, professional wrestling valet, occasional professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter best known in the United States for her work with World Wrestling Entertainment on its SmackDown! brand under the ring name Hiroko. She graduated from Meiji University, and became an announcer of Fukushima Central Television. She is married...

Norio Sasaki is a Japanese football coach and former player. He is best known for leading the Japanese women's national team to their first and only FIFA Women's World Cup win in 2011 over the United States on penalty shootouts. He retired as head coach in March 2016 after eight years. Sasaki also coached the Japan women's U-20 national team...

Ryohei Michibuchi is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a winger.

Cho Man-sik, also known by his art name Godang (고당), was a Korean independence activist.

Tatsumi Yoda (依田 巽, Yoda Tatsumi; born May 27, 1940) is a Japanese business magnate.

Kenta Uehara is a professional Japanese baseball player. He plays pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

Daisuke Nakae is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist, better known by the ring name Kenoh (拳王, Ken'ō). He currently wrestles in Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former 4-time GHC Heavyweight Champion. He is also a former GHC National Champion.

Hiroshi Ohshita, also spelled Oshita, was a Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder who began his career after World War II. Known for his trademark blue bat, he hit a record 20 home runs in a season and was home run king and leading hitter three times for the Toei Flyers. Ohshita was also a heavy hitter with the Nishitetsu...

Hiroyoshi Sasakawa is a Japanese politician and businessman. He is the member of the House of Representatives for Gunma 3rd district belonging to the Liberal Democratic Party.

Taisei Irie is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Katsuo Hirata is a former professional baseball player from Matsuura, Nagasaki, Japan.

Takashi Sasagawa is a former Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature).

Ben Nighthorse Campbell was an American politician and United States Air Force veteran who served in both chambers of the United States Congress; representing Colorado's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993 and as a member of the United States Senate from 1993 to 2005. He served as one of the 44 members...

Agata Morio is a Japanese folk rock singer-songwriter and actor. He also directed three films.

Otomo Yoshihide is a Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist. He mainly plays guitar, turntables and electronics.

Kihachi Okamoto was a Japanese film director who worked in several different genres.

Sei Muroya is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a right-back for FC Tokyo in the J1 League and for the Japan national team.

Kenzo Suzuki is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), in Mexico with Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) and in the United States with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion in the latter company. He currently performs for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW)...

Shun Takayama is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.

Yusuke Torigoe, nicknamed "Usuki", is a former Nippon Professional Baseball infielder.

Takahiro Imanami is a Japanese professional baseball player. He debuted in 2008. He had 11 runs.

Yoshitaka Shindō is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) for Saitama Prefecture 2nd District.

Shigeru Takada is a former general manager of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, and former manager of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He was previously an outfielder for the Yomiuri Giants and won the 1968 Central League Rookie of the Year award.

Yosuke Natsuki was a Japanese actor. He had participated twice in the Dakar Rally as a racing driver.

Hiroaki Shimauchi is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.

Banboku Ōno was a Japanese politician who was a powerful faction leader within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the early postwar period, serving stints as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Secretary General of the Liberal Party, and Vice President of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Sohn Kee-chung was a Korean Olympic athlete and long-distance runner. He became the first Korean to win a medal at the Olympic Games, winning gold in the marathon at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He was born in the Korean Peninsula, but he was forced to compete as a member of the Japanese delegation because Korea was under Japanese rule at...

Shogo Hama is a Japanese actor.

Shuhei Fukuda is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Takashi Uemoto is a professional Japanese baseball player. He plays infielder for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.

Shigeru Sugishita was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher and coach. Renowned for his forkball, Sugishita dominated the Central League from 1950–1955, winning more than 30 games twice (winning at least 23 games each season), and garnering three Eiji Sawamura Awards. Sugishita usually split his time between starting games and pitching in relief. He played 11 seasons, ten of them for...

Masao Koga was a Japanese composer, mandolinist, and guitarist of the Shōwa era who was dubbed "Japan's Irving Berlin" by Universal Press Syndicate. His melancholy style, based upon Nakayama Shimpei's yonanuki scale, was popularly known in Japan as "Koga melody" (古賀メロディー, Koga merodī). He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure (Fourth Class) and the People's Honor Award for...

Yōhei Sasakawa is a Japanese businessman and diplomat.

Nozomi Nishida is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Gifu Prefecture. She began her voice acting career in 2014 and played her first major role in 2016 as the character Makina Nakajima in the anime series Macross Delta. She became part of the music group Walküre, which performs songs for the Macross franchise. She is also known for her...

Miki Watanabe GCM is a Japanese entrepreneur and politician. He founded the Watami chain of izakaya restaurants and headed the company until 2011, when he resigned to run in the 2011 Tokyo gubernatorial election. Watanabe's run for the governorship of Tokyo was inspired by Michael Bloomberg's mayorship of New York City. Watanabe came in third with 16.8%, losing to incumbent...

Hiromi Oka is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Oka is known as person that he has the same name as heroine of Aim for the Ace!, Japanese animation. Oka is outfielder but he had worn No. 18, it is known as uniform number that great pitcher wear in Japanese professional...

Masatoshi Koshiba was a Japanese physicist and one of the founders of neutrino astronomy. His work with the neutrino detectors Kamiokande and Super-Kamiokande was instrumental in detecting solar neutrinos, providing experimental evidence for the solar neutrino problem.

Eijirō Tōno was a Japanese actor who, in a career lasting more than 50 years, appeared in over 400 television shows, nearly 250 films and numerous stage productions. He is best known in the West for his roles in films by Akira Kurosawa, such as Seven Samurai (1954) and Yojimbo (1961), and films by Yasujirō Ozu, such as Tokyo Story...

Katsunori Nomura also called as Katsunori (カツノリ) is currently a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) coach for the Hanshin Tigers. Before coaching, he played in NPB from 1996 to 2006, primarily as a second or third-string catcher. Nomura was drafted in 1995 by the Yakult Swallows, the team managed by his father, catching-great and long-time manager Katsuya Nomura. Over the course...

Kento Itohara is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.

Yūya Yanagi is a professional Japanese baseball player. He pitches for the Chunichi Dragons.

Seishirō Sakamoto is a Japanese professional baseball catcher for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Hidehiko Yoshida is a Japanese gold-medalist judoka and retired mixed martial artist. He is a longtime veteran of Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships, competing in the middleweight (93kg) and heavyweight divisions. He won gold at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games at ‍–‍78 kg. Yoshida also had two famous fights with MMA pioneer Royce Gracie that resulted in a win by technical...

Koki Niwa is a Japanese male table tennis player. He is the gold medalist at the 2010 Youth Olympics and he won the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in 2010 (doubles) and 2011 (singles).

Takeo Miki was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1974 to 1976.

Wakaba Higuchi is a Japanese figure skater. She is a 2022 Olympic team event silver medalist, the 2018 World silver medalist, the 2024 Skate America champion, a three-time Grand Prix silver medalist (2017 Cup of China; 2020 NHK Trophy; 2024 Grand Prix de France), a three-time Grand Prix bronze medalist (2016 and 2021 Grand Prix de France; 2017 Rostelecom Cup),...

Shinosuke Tatekawa is a rakugo performer. His real name is Teruo Takeuchi (竹内 照雄, Takeuchi Teruo). With his comic group, Rokunin-no-Kai (Group of Six), formed in 2003, he has helped to popularise rakugo among young Japanese people. He is also well known as a TV presenter, and has presented the primetime NHK General show Tameshite Gatten (ためしてガッテン) since it started...

Hiroshi Kikuchi, also known as Kan Kikuchi (which uses the same kanji as his real name), was a Japanese author and publisher. He established the publishing company Bungeishunjū, the monthly magazine of the same name, the Japan Writer's Association and both the Akutagawa and Naoki Prize for popular literature. He came to prominence for the plays Madame Pearl and Father...

Atsushi Onita is a Japanese actor, politician, and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and is credited with introducing the deathmatch style of professional wrestling to Japan. He is a former 7-time FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and 3-time All Asia Tag Team Champion alongside partners Masanobu Fuchi, Yoshitatsu, and Toy...

Naoki Inose is a Japanese politician, journalist, historian, social critic and biographer of literary figures such as Yukio Mishima and Osamu Dazai. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Tokyo from June 2007 until becoming Acting Governor on 1 November 2012 following the resignation of Shintaro Ishihara. He was elected Governor in a historical landslide victory in December 2012, but announced...

Keita Sano, nicknamed "Thanos" is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Jūrō Kara was a Japanese avant-garde playwright, theatre director, author, actor, and songwriter. He was at the forefront of the Angura ("underground") theatre movement in Japan.

Yusuke Nomura is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.

Sachiya Yamasaki is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Yoshiko Mibuchi was one of the first three women in Japan to become lawyers.

Naomi Uemura was a Japanese adventurer who was known particularly for his solo exploits. For example, he was the first person to reach the North Pole solo, the first person to raft the Amazon River solo, and the first person to climb Denali solo.

Kazufumi Miyazawa is the founder of the Japanese bands The Boom and Ganga Zumba. The former was noted in the 1990s for a fusion of rock, pop, and local Okinawan folk music. Miyazawa is responsible for virtually all lyrics and music for The Boom, who are best known for their 1993 hit song "Shima Uta".

Kōichi Hagiuda is a Japanese politician of Liberal Democratic Party, known for his advocacy of constitutional revision and a more assertive Japanese foreign policy. Hagiuda currently serves as executive acting secretary-general of the LDP and secretary-general of the Japan-ROC Diet Members' Consultative Council, a cross-party group promoting relations between Japan and Taiwan. He previously served as Minister of Economy, Trade...

Asami Imai is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Early Wing. She debuted as a voice actress in 1997 and as singer in 2009 by releasing her first single "Day by Day / Shining Blue Rain" under the 5pb. Records label. She is also well known for giving voices to Chihaya Kisaragi in The Idolmaster (all related productions,...

Yoshitaka Sakurada is a former Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. He formerly served as Minister of State for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in the Fourth Abe Cabinet.

Senichi Hoshino was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball player and manager.

Jun Mizutani is a retired Japanese table tennis player and Olympic champion. He became the youngest Japanese national champion at the age of 17. He has the distinction of being the first male singles titlist to achieve five consecutive national championships: 2007 to 2011.

Tomiichi Murayama was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1996. He was the country's first socialist premier since Tetsu Katayama in 1948, and is best remembered for the Murayama Statement on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, in which he officially apologized for Japan's past colonial wars and aggression.

Toshiyuki Nishida was a Japanese actor. He won two Japanese Academy Awards for best actor, for The Silk Road (1988) and Tsuribaka Nisshi 6 (1993). He also won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor for Get Up! and Tsuribaka Nisshi 14 (2003). Outside Japan he was best known for his role as Pigsy (Cho Hakkai) in the TV series...

Tatsurō Yamashita, occasionally referred to as Tatsu Yamashita or Tats Yamashita, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer, who is known for pioneering the city pop style of music.

Mizuki Yamamoto is a Japanese actress and model.

Yutaka Matsushige is a Japanese actor.

Yūto Nagatomo is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a full back for J1 League club FC Tokyo and the Japan national team.

Mao Inoue is a Japanese actress known for her roles as Akane Imai in the Kids War series, Tsukushi Makino in the Boys Over Flowers series, and as Sugi Fumi (ja) in the 54th taiga drama Burning Flower. She has also appeared in several films, including I Give My First Love to You, Rebirth, and The Snow White Murder Case.

Ken Takakura, born Takeichi Oda (小田 剛一, Oda Takeichi; February 16, 1931 – November 10, 2014), was a Japanese actor and singer who appeared in over 200 films. Affectionately referred to as "Ken-san" by audiences, he was best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brought to his roles. He won the Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding...

Ren Osugi, born Takashi Osugi (大杉 孝, Ōsugi Takashi; September 27, 1951 in Komatsushima, Tokushima, Japan – February 21, 2018) was a Japanese actor. For his work in Cure, Hana-bi and other films, Osugi was given the Best Supporting Actor award at the 1999 Yokohama Film Festival. He often worked alongside Takeshi Kitano and Susumu Terajima. In the DVD commentary...

Mone Kamishiraishi, is a Japanese actress and singer. She is the older sister of actress Moka Kamishiraishi.

Takeshi Kitano, also known as Beat Takeshi (ビートたけし, Bīto Takeshi) in Japan, is a Japanese comedian, actor, and filmmaker. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host.

Kenjiro Tsuda is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and film director, affiliated with the talent agency ANDSTIR.

Tomohisa Yamashita, also widely known as Yamapi (山P, YamaP), or Tomo, is a Japanese singer, actor, and TV host.

Keiko Kitagawa is a Japanese actress. She was an exclusive model for the Japanese Seventeen magazine from late 2003 to mid-2006, and quit modeling when she left the magazine. Her first acting role was Sailor Mars in the Sailor Moon live action show Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (2003–2004), and after her role in the film Mamiya Kyōdai, she left modeling...

Hideo Fujimoto is a retired Greco-Roman wrestler from Japan. He competed at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics and won a silver medal in 1968, placing fourth in 1972. At the world championships he won a gold medal in 1970 and bronze medals in 1967 and 1971.