List of Kyoto University people

This is a list of people associated with Kyoto University in Japan. Several notable individuals have either studied or worked on the faculty of Kyoto University.

Nobel laureates

• Hideki Yukawa - winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1949; first Japanese to win the Nobel Prize
• Shinichiro Tomonaga - winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965
• Kenichi Fukui - winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1981
• Susumu Tonegawa - winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1987
• Ryōji Noyori - winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001
• Makoto Kobayashi - winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008
• Toshihide Masukawa - winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008
• Shinya Yamanaka - winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012
• Isamu Akasaki - winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014
• Tasuku Honjo - winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2018
• Akira Yoshino - winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2019

Fields Medalists

• Heisuke Hironaka - mathematician, Fields Medalist in 1970
• Shigefumi Mori - mathematician, Fields Medalist in 1990

Literature

• Keiichiro Hirano
• Yasushi Inoue
• Motojirō Kajii
• Kan Kikuchi - author
• Akiko Kiso - classical scholar
• Sakyo Komatsu
• Tatsuji Miyoshi
• Shohei Ooka
• Akimitsu Takagi - crime fiction writer

Politicians

• Osachi Hamaguchi - Prime Minister of Japan
• Frank Hsieh (aka Hsieh Chang-Ting) - former mayor of Kaohsiung City and Premier of Taiwan; 2008 Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate for the Republic of China (Taiwan)
• Hayato Ikeda - Prime Minister of Japan
• Tetsu Katayama - Prime Minister of Japan
• Fumimaro Konoe - Prime Minister of Japan
• Tadahiro Matsushita - five-time member of the House of Representatives of Japan
• Peng Ming-min - Taiwan's DPP candidate for the 1996 Taiwan presidential elections
• Kijuro Shidehara - Prime Minister of Japan
• Lee Teng-hui - former President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
• Mai Ohara – Japanese Representative from Kyoto 5th electoral district (DPJ, 2009–12) ^[1]

Science

• Yasunori Hayashi - neuroscientist
• Kinji Imanishi - ecologist, anthropologist
• Shirō Ishii, microbiologist, army medical officer
• Kiyosi Itô - mathematician
• Takura Izumi - archaeologist
• Motoo Kimura - biologist
• Ushitaro Matsuura - dermatologist
• Tetsuro Matsuzawa - primatologist
• Makoto Nagao - computer scientist; 21st president of Kyoto University
• Yasutomi Nishizuka - biochemist
• Kiyoshi Oka - mathematician
• Ri Sung-gi - North Korean chemist; inventor of Vinalon
• Teiji Takagi - mathematician
• Shinya Yamanaka - physician
• Takao Umemoto- psychology
• Atsuhiro Osuka - chemist
• Kento Sasano - sustainability scientist, social entrepreneur
• Radenka Maric - materials science and engineering, 17th president of the University of Connecticut (2022– )

Other

• Diwakar Acharya - Nepali scholar of South Asia
• Umeda Mikio - agricultural roboticist and Asian agricultural development's strategist
• Akira Asada - philosopher
• Takeo Kanade - roboticist and one of the world's foremost researchers in computer vision
• Kazoh Kitamori
• Junya Kondo - founder of Hatena Co., Ltd.
• Kiyoshi Miki - philosopher
• Michio Morishima - economist
• Ayappanpillai Madhavan Nair - revolutionary of Indian Independence
• Masakazu Nakai - philosopher, activist, librarian
• Nagisa Oshima - film director
• Ito Sekisui V - potter
• Tetsuji Takechi - kabuki and film director and author
• Takeshi Umehara - philosopher
• Akira Yamada - philosopher
• Takahisa Zeze - film director
• Fengbo Zhang - Chinese economist

References

1. "おはら　舞". Archived from the original on 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2025-09-19.

See also

• List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Kyoto University
• Category:Kyoto University alumni
• Category:Academic staff of Kyoto University