Famous people who grew up or lived in and around Tokyo
4 notable people grew up or lived in and around Tokyo. Each listing explores the home and neighbourhood, and how the place shaped the person they became.
Akira Kurosawa1910–1936
📍 7-chome Omori-kita, Ōta City, Tokyo 143-0016, Japan
I was born on the 23rd of March 1910 in the Omori district of Tokyo, the son of a sake merchant, and grew up in a family proud of its samurai heritage. My father insisted all his children…
Emperor Akihito1993–2020
📍 Tokyo Imperial Palace, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Akihito was born in 1933, the eldest son of Emperor Hirohito. During the Second World War he was evacuated from Tokyo, and after Japan's defeat he was tutored by an American Quaker…
Hayao Miyazakifrom 1970
📍 Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan
Hayao Miyazaki was born in Tokyo in 1941, during the war, and spent part of his childhood evacuated to Utsunomiya; his family's firm made rudders and parts for fighter planes, which began…
Katsushika Hokusai1760–1849
📍 Honjo District, Edo (now Sumida, Tokyo), Japan
I was born Katsushika Hokusai around 1760 in the Honjo district of Edo. I changed my name at least thirty times during my career, which lasted over seventy years. I was apprenticed to a…