Okinawa Prefecture - Notables

Notables

• Chōjun Miyagi founder of Gōjū-ryū, "hard/soft" style of famous Okinawan Karate.
• Uechi Kanbun was the founder of Uechi-ryū, one of the primary karate styles of Okinawa.
• Mitsuru Ushijima was the Japanese general at the Battle of Okinawa, during the final stages of World War II.
• Isamu Chō was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army known for his support of ultranationalist politics and involvement in a number of attempted military and right-wing coup d'etats in pre-World War II Japan.
• Ota Minoru was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, and the final commander of the Japanese naval forces defending the Oroku Peninsula during the Battle of Okinawa.
• Sato Eisaku was a Japanese politician and the 61st, 62nd and 63rd Prime Minister of Japan. While he was premier in 1972, Okinawa was returned to Japan.
• Yabu Kentsu was a prominent teacher of Shōrin-ryū karate in Okinawa from the 1910s until the 1930s, and was among the first people to demonstrate karate in Hawaii.
• Takamine Tokumei He successfully performed surgery for the grandson of King Sho Tei, Sho Eki under general anesthesia.
• Takuji Iwasaki was a Japanese meteorologist, biologist, ethnologist historian.
• Ernest Taylor Pyle was an American journalist until his death in combat during World War II. He died in Ie Shima, Okinawa.
• Lieutenant-General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. was killed during the closing days of the Battle of Okinawa by enemy artillery fire, making him the highest-ranking US military officer to have been killed by enemy fire during World War II.
• Rino Nakasone Razalan professional dancer and choreographer.
• Yukie Nakama singer, musician and actress
• Namie Amuro Japanese pop singer
• Daichi Miura Japanese pop singer, dancer and choreographer.
• Matayoshi Eiki Okinawan novel writer, winner of Akutagawa prize
• Gackt Japanese pop singer-songwriter, actor, voice actor
• Robert Griffin III American football quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner
• Dave Roberts, Major League Baseball player