# Kazuo

Kazuo (カズオ, かずお) is a masculine Japanese given name.

## Possible spellings

It has several written forms, and the meaning depends on the characters used (usually kanji, but sometimes hiragana). Common forms include:
* 一雄: first son, first in leadership/excellence
* 一夫: first son
* 一男: first man/male
* 和夫: harmonious/peaceful man
* 和男: harmonious/peaceful man
* かずお (hiragana)
* カズオ (katakana)

## People with the name

* Kazuo Abe (阿部 一男, born 1935), Japanese sport wrestler
* Kazuo Aichi (愛知 和男, born 1937), Japanese politician
* Kazuo Aoki (青木 一男, 1889–1982), Japanese government minister during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and into World War II
* Kazuo Azuma (東 和男, born 1955), Japanese shogi player
* Kazuo Chiba (千葉 和雄, 1940–2015), Japanese aikido teacher
* Kazuo Dan (檀 一雄, 1912–1976), Japanese novelist and poet
* Kazuo Endo, Kobe earthquake survivor
* Fukumoto Kazuo (福本 和夫, 1894–1983), Japanese Marxist
* Kazuo Funaki (舟木 一夫, born 1944), Japanese Enka singer
* Kazuo Hara (原 一男, born 1945), Japanese documentary film director
* Kazuo Harada (原田 一男, died 1998), anime producer, audio director, and sound effects director
* Kazuo Hasegawa (長谷川 一夫, 1908–1984), Japanese film and stage actor
* Kazuo Hashimoto (橋本 和芙, died 1995), late Japanese inventor of Caller ID and the telephone answering machine, including the ansafone
* Kazuo Hatoyama (鳩山 和夫, 1856–1911), patriarchal head of the prominent Japanese Hatoyama political family
* Kazuo Hayashi (林 一夫, born 1945), Japanese actor and voice actor
* Kazuo Hirai (平井 一夫, born 1964), President/CEO of Sony Computer
* Kazuo Hiramatsu (平松 一夫, 1947–2020), accounting scholar, president of Kwansei Gakuin University
* Kazuo Hirotomo (弘友 和夫, born 1944), Japanese politician
* Hirotsu Kazuo (広津 和郎, 1891–1968), Japanese novelist and literary critic active in the Shōwa period of Japan
* Kazuo Ichinohe (一戸 和男, born 1941), Japanese voice actor (stage name Shin Aomori (青森 伸))
* Kazuo Igarashi (五十嵐 和男, born 1946), Japanese aikidoka
* Kazuo Ikehiro (池広 一夫, born 1929), Japanese film director
* Kazuo Inamori (稲盛 和夫, 1932–2022), Japanese businessman
* Kazuo Inoue (井上 和郎, born 1981), Japanese cyclist
* Kazuo Ishiguro (石黒一雄, born 1954), British author
* Kazuo Iwama, multiple people
* Kazuo Kadonaga (角永 和夫, born 1946), contemporary Japanese sculptor
* Kazuo Kamimura (上村 一夫, 1940–1986), Japanese manga artist
* Kazuo Kanayama (金山 和雄, born 1952), Japanese golfer
* Kazuo Kawai (川井 一男), Japanese table tennis player
* Kazuo Kimura (木村 一夫, 1909–?), Japanese high jumper
* Kazuo Kitagawa (北側 一雄, born 1953), Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the Japanese Cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi
* Kazuo Kitamura (北村 和夫, 1927–2007), Japanese actor
* Kazuo Kobayashi (小林 一男, 1908–?), Japanese diver
* Kazuo Koike (小池 一夫, 1936–2019), manga artist
* Komizu Kazuo (小水 一男, born 1946), Japanese film director
* Kazuo Kubokawa (窪川 一雄, 1903–1943), Japanese astronomer
* Kazuo Kumakura (熊倉 一雄, 1927–2015), Japanese actor, voice actor and theatre director
* Kazuo Kuroki (黒木 和雄, 1930–2006), Japanese film director
* Kazuo Manabe (真部 一男, 1952–2007), Japanese shogi player
* Kazuo Matsuda (松田 一夫, born 1941), Japanese ice hockey player
* Kazuo Matsui (松井稼頭央, born 1975), Japanese baseball player
* Kazuo Misaki (三崎 和雄, born 1976), Japanese professional mixed martial arts fighter and former judoka
* Kazuo Miyagawa (宮川 一夫, 1908–1999), Japanese cinematographer
* Kazuo Mizutani (水谷 一生, 1899–1949), Chief of Staff of Japanese Imperial Guard during the close of World War II
* Kazuo Mori (森 一生, 1911–1989), Japanese film director
* Kazuo Nagano (永野 一男, 1952–1985), Japanese fraudster
* Kazuo Nakamura (1926–2002), Japanese-Canadian painter and sculptor
* Kazuo Nakamura (basketball) (中村 和雄, born 1940), Japanese basketball coach
* Kazuo Nakanishi (中西 一男, 1922–2003), briefly the leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza syndicate in the chaotic years of the Yama-Ichi War
* Kazuo Nishii (西井 一夫, 1946–2001), Japanese magazine editor and photography critic
* Kazuo Noda (野田 一雄, 1908–?), Japanese swimmer
* Kazuo Oga (男鹿 和雄, born 1952), Japanese art director
* Kazuo Ohno (大野 一雄, 1906–2010), Japanese dancer associated with Butoh
* Kazuo Oka (岡 和男, 1948–2021), Japanese voice actor
* Kazuo Okada (岡田 和生, born 1942), Japanese billionaire businessman, and art collector
* Kazuo Okamatsu (岡松 和夫, 1931–2012), Japanese philologist and novelist
* Kazuo Okamura (岡村 一夫, 1911–1973), Japanese-American professional wrestler
* Kazuo Ozaki (尾崎 加寿夫, born 1960), Japanese footballer
* Kazuo Saito (斉藤 和夫, born 1951), Japanese footballer and manager
* Kazuo Saito (athlete) (斎藤 和夫, born 1942), Japanese racewalker
* Kazuo Sakamaki (酒巻和男, 1918–1999), first prisoner of war held by the US in World War II
* Kazuo Sakurada (桜田 一男, 1948–2020), known as Mr. Sakurada, retired Japanese professional wrestler
* Kazuo Sato (disambiguation), multiple people
* Kazuo Shii (志位 和夫, born 1954), Japanese politician
* Kazuo Shimizu (清水 和男, born 1975), Japanese footballer
* Kazuo Shimizu (wrestler) (清水 一夫, born 1954), Japanese sport wrestler
* Kazuo Shinohara (篠原 一男, 1925–2006), Japanese architect
* Kazuo Shiraga (白髪 一雄, 1924–2008), Japanese abstract painter
* Kazuo Sugimoto (杉本 和陽, born 1991), Japanese shogi player
* Kazuo Takahashi (高橋 和生, born 1969), Japanese mixed martial artist
* Kazuo Taoka (田岡 一雄, 1913–1981), Godfather of the Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza syndicate
* Kazuo Tokumitsu (徳光 和夫, born 1941), Japanese TV presenter and announcer
* Kazuo Tsukuda (佃 和夫, born 1943), chairman of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
* Kazuo Umezu (楳図 かずお, 1936–2024), Japanese manga artist
* Kazuo Wada (和田 一夫, 1929–2019), Japanese businessman
* Kazuo Yamada (山田 一雄, 1912–1991), Japanese conductor
* Kazuo Yamaguchi (山口 一男, born 1946), Japanese sociologist
* Kazuo Chaed , Film Director

### Fictional characters

* Kazuo Tengan, the antagonist of Danganronpa
* Kazuo Nakano, character in Yudetamago's manga series Kinnikuman
* Kazuo Saki, brother of the Shredder from the 1987–1996 animated TV series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
* Kazuo Uzuki, fictional baseball player that Topps created as an April Fools' Day hoax
* Kazuo Kiriyama, the primary antagonist of Battle Royale
* Kazuo Makunoichi, fictional character in Hajime no Ippo

### Video games

* Kazuo or Go! Sudoku, is the name for the Japanese release of the PlayStation Portable puzzle game
* Kazuo Sawa is the name of a video game composer. Notable works include the soundtracks for The Battle of Olympus and Rivercity Ransom
* Kazuo Akuji is the leader of the Ronin in the Saints Row 2
* Kazuo Hoshiro is the leader of the Investigation Team of Sweet Home (video game)