Notable Deaths in 2024

February 6

Ozawa Seiji (88): Conductor

Ozawa Seiji served as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 29 years, starting in 1973. In 2002, he became music director of the Vienna State Opera, a position he held until 2010, making a spectacular mark on the global stage. In Japan, he played a central role as conductor of the New Japan Philharmonic. Born in 1935 in Mukden of former Manchuria, Ozawa initially aspired to be a pianist but abandoned this dream after breaking a finger during a rugby match. He entered the Tōhō School of Music, where he studied under Saitō Hideo, and pursued a career as a conductor. In 1959, he went to France and won first prize at the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors. Under the guidance of such legends as Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein, his talent flourished. He is also known for his work with the Saitō Kinen Orchestra, comprised mainly of musicians from Saitō’s tutelage.

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February 12

Yano Hirotake (80): Businessman

Born Kurihara Gorō in Beijing in 1943, he moved back to Japan after the war, failing to get into more than a dozen universities before entering Chūō University, where he studied engineering. While at school he met his wife, Yano Katsuyo, taking her family name and embarking on a series of jobs before finally settling on retail sales via his Yano Shōten in 1972. In 1977 he changed his company’s name to Daisō Industries and settled on the business model of selling all products for ¥100. His Daisō empire would grow to thousands of stores, across Japan and worldwide, making him a billionaire and touching off the ¥100 store model in the Japanese retail space.

March 1

Toriyama Akira (68): Manga creator

Toriyama Akira is renowned for creating popular works featuring iconic characters, such as Son Gokū from Dragon Ball and Arale-chan from Dr. Slump. He is highly regarded as a pioneer who contributed to the global recognition of Japanese manga. Born in 1955 in Aichi Prefecture, Toriyama worked in graphic design at a local advertising agency after high school. After resigning three years later, he began submitting entries for newcomer awards in weekly Shōnen Jump. His first work, Wonder Island, was published in the magazine in 1978. His massive hits, Dr. Slump (serialized in 1980) and Dragon Ball (serialized in 1984), were both adapted into TV anime series that aired in Japan and in over 80 countries worldwide. Toriyama also designed characters for the Dragon Quest video game series. He was awarded the Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

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Toriyama Akira in 1982. (© Jiji)

April 6

Akebono Tarō (54): Former yokozuna

Akebono Tarō became the first foreign-born yokozuna (the sixty-fourth in the modern era) in sumo history, achieving 11 top-division championships. After retiring, he left the sumō world and ventured into mixed martial arts and professional wrestling. Born in 1969 on Oahu, Hawaii, his given name was Chad Rowan. He excelled in basketball during high school but dropped out of college. In 1988, he was scouted by the former Takamiyama and debuted in sumō. Standing at 2.03 meters and weighing 233 kilograms (figures from the Japan Sumō Association’s profiles), Akebono climbed the rankings with his thrusting and pushing techniques, reaching ōzeki at the Nagoya Tournament in 1992 and yokozuna after the New Year Tournament in 1993. Together with the yokozuna brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana, he defined an era of sumō. However, from 1994 onward, knee injuries led to frequent absences, and he announced his retirement in 2001. While coaching as Akebono Oyakata, he left the Sumō Association in 2003 and made a sudden switch to K-1, debuting in a highly publicized match against Bob Sapp on New Year’s Eve (losing by KO). He acquired Japanese citizenship in 1996.

Akebono appears as yokozuna to perform ceremonial rites at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine in April 1999. (© Reuters)

June 6

Maki Fumihiko (95): Architect

Maki Fumihiko was a master of Japanese architecture, known for designing iconic structures such as Hillside Terrace in Tokyo’s Daikanyama, the Spiral in the capital’s Minami-Aoyama district, the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, and the Keiō University Shōnan Fujisawa Campus. He was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1993. Internationally, he completed 4 World Trade Center in New York in 2013 on the site of the Twin Towers destroyed in the 9/11 attacks. Born in Tokyo in 1928, Maki was the grandson of Takenaka Tōemon on his mother’s side, a chairman of Takenaka Corporation. He studied under Tange Kenzō at the University of Tokyo’s Department of Architecture, honing his skills alongside contemporaries such as Kurokawa Kishō and Isozaki Arata. After studying at Harvard University and serving as an associate professor there, he founded Maki and Associates in 1965. He was a professor at the University of Tokyo from 1979 to 1989. In 2013, he publicly criticized the initial design proposal by Zaha Hadid Architects for the new National Stadium, set to be the main venue for the Tokyo Olympics, calling it “too massive,” sparking widespread debate.

September 29

Ōyama Nobuyo (90): Voice actress/actress

Ōyama Nobuyo was best known as the voice of Doraemon in the television anime adaptation of Fujiko Fujio’s manga masterpiece, bringing life to the beloved character with her distinctive voice. Born in Tokyo in 1933, she joined the Haiyūza Theatre Company’s training school after graduating from high school and debuted as an actress in the 1956 NHK drama Kono Hitomi. Her husky voice led to increasing opportunities as a voice actress. She voiced Doraemon from the show’s debut in 1979 until March 2005, a span of 26 years. In 2008, she suffered a stroke, and she lived with foster care in her later years.

October 14

Nakagawa Rieko (89): Children’s book author

Nakagawa Rieko was a leading Japanese children’s author best known for the popular picture book Guri and Gura (1963), featuring twin field mice. The Guri and Gura series expanded to 22 volumes, with total sales exceeding 22 million copies. The books have been translated into multiple languages, including English, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Khmer, Danish, and French, becoming a long-standing favorite among children worldwide. Born in Sapporo in 1935, Nakagawa worked as a nursery-school teacher in Setagaya, Tokyo, after graduating from high school. While working, she began writing stories, debuting in 1962 with the children’s book Iya Iya En, inspired by her nursery students. Guri and Gura followed in the next year, with illustrations by her younger sister, Yamawaki Yuriko (who passed away in 2022). Other notable works include The Sky-Blue Seed and The Pink Giraffe. Nakagawa also wrote the lyrics for “Sanpo,” the theme song of the animated film My Neighbor Totoro. In 2013, she was awarded the Kikuchi Kan Prize.

October 17

Nishida Toshiyuki (76): Actor

Actor Nishida Toshiyuki in July 2009. (© Jiji)

Nishida gave a remarkable performance in the popular fishing-themed comedy film series Tsuribaka nisshi as the protagonist “Hama-chan,” Hamasaki Densuke. In NHK’s historical dramas, he portrayed many prominent historical figures, such as Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Onna taikōki, 1981), Saigō Takamori (Tobu ga gotoku, 1990), Tokugawa Yoshimune (Hachidai shōgun Yoshimune, 1995), and Tokugawa Ieyasu (Kōmyō ga tsuji, 2006). With his warm, friendly smile, he captivated audiences as a popular Japanese actor. Born in 1947 in Kōriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, he dropped out of Meiji University before attending the Japan Acting Academy and joining the Seinenza Theater Company. In 1971, he landed the leading role in the stage play Sharaku kō. His popularity was solidified when he played the lead cameraman role in the 1980 television drama Ikenaka Genta 80 kiro. Other notable works include the film Uemura Naomi monogatari (1986), his role as Tevye in the musical Fiddler on the Roof, and the Doctor-X: Gekai Daimon Michiko TV drama series, among many others. While living a healthy daily life and working with gusto, he collapsed at home due to ischemic heart disease.

November 13

Tanikawa Shuntarō (92): Poet, translator

Tanikawa Shuntarō was one of Japan’s most beloved and well-known contemporary poets. He began writing poetry in his teens and published his first collection, Two Billion Light-Years of Solitude, in 1952. His lifelong creative output was translated into numerous languages, including English, French, German, Chinese, and Danish. Born in Tokyo in 1931, Tanikawa was the son of Tanikawa Tetsuzō, a philosopher and president of Hōsei University. After graduating from high school, Tanikawa did not attend university, instead spending his time idly until his father, concerned about his future, read his notebooks of poetry. Deeply moved, his father sent the notebooks to the poet Miyoshi Tatsuji, leading to their publication in a literary magazine and bringing Tanikawa into the spotlight. Tanikawa also wrote the screenplay for Ichikawa Kon’s 1964 documentary Tokyo Olympiad. His versatility extended to translating works such as the British nursery rhyme collection Mother Goose Rhymes, the American comic strip Peanuts, and Leo Lionni’s picture book Swimmy. He also penned the lyrics for the theme song of the anime Astro Boy. Following the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, his poem “To Live,” from a 1971 collection, regained widespread attention.

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Tanikawa Shuntarō in December 2017. (© Jiji)

December 6

Nakayama Miho (54): Actress, Singer

Nakayama Miho rose to fame as a top idol in the 1980s and 1990s, affectionately nicknamed “Miporin.” She was scouted in Harajuku, Tokyo, and made her debut at 14 in the 1985 TV drama Maido osawagase shimasu. As a singer, she released hits like “Waku waku sasete” (1986) and “Sekai-jū no dare yori kitto” (1992), in collaboration with the group Wands. In film, her notable works include the 1995 movie Love Letter, in which she starred alongside Toyokawa Etsushi. She married writer Tsuji Hitonari in 2002 and moved to Paris, temporarily stepping away from her career, but resumed professionally after their divorce in 2014. She was scheduled to hold a concert in Osaka on the day of her passing. After becoming unreachable, she was found deceased in her Tokyo home. Her official website stated that her death was due to “an accident while bathing” and confirmed there was no foul play involved.

December 19

Watanabe Tsuneo (98): Journalist and media mogul

Born in 1926, Watanabe entered the media world as a journalist for the Yomiuri Shimbun in 1950. He rose through the ranks there to eventually become editor in chief of the paper in 1991, a position he would hold for more than 30 years, and head of the entire Yomiuri media empire. A close confidant of politicians including Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro, he had his fingers on the pulse of the nation’s government and wielded considerable conservative influence over the political world, in 1994 issuing an influential recommendation to revise the Constitution of Japan. Was also the owner of the Yomiuri Giants baseball franchise and retained his ties to the baseball and broader sporting worlds after stepping down there.

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Watanabe Tsuneo (left) took part in a ceremony celebrating Nakasone Yasuhiro’s (right) ninety-sixth birthday in May 2014. (© Jiji)

December 25

Suzuki Osamu (94): Automotive industry executive

Born Matsuda Osamu in 1930 in Gifu Prefecture, Suzuki began his career as a banker, but joined Suzuki Motor Corporation in 1958 upon marrying the granddaughter of Suzuki Michio, founder of the company, taking the family name and rising to leadership roles in the company. In 1978 he became president and in 2000 he added the post of chairman; he would step down from those positions in 2021, remaining an advisor to the firm he had led for more than four decades. Under his bold leadership Suzuki grew into a globally recognized automaker with significant overseas production capacity, particularly in India, where the brand enjoyed a leading passenger vehicle market share of more than 40% as recently as fiscal 2022.

(Originally written in Japanese. Banner photo: The conductor Ozawa Seiji celebrates with musicians after wrapping up a performance on September 5, 2010, at the Saitō Kinen Festival in Matsumoto, Nagano. © Jiji.)