# 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)

## Science

* Yasunori Hayashi - neuroscientist
* Kinji Imanishi - ecologist, anthropologist
* Shirō Ishii, microbiologist, army medical officer
* Kiyosi Itô - mathematician
* Takura Izumi - archaeologist
* Motoo Kimura - biologist
* 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