Japanese rank their favorite 100 historical figures

[Dutch Baka]

Voted on NTV , the Japanese have chosen their favorite great person from history :

100 Matsuo Basho
99 Isaac Newton
98 Akechi Mistuhide
97 Ikkyu
96 Chopin
95 Dazai Osamu
94 Abraham Lincoln
93 Shohei “Giant” Baba
92 Anne Sullivan
91 Honda Soichiro
90 Ferdinand Magellan
89 Natsume Masako
88 Jean Henri Casimir Fabre
87 Confucius
86 Sugita Genpaku
85 Uemura Naomi
86 Honda Minako
83 Joan of Arc
82 Tsuburaya Eiji
81 Andy Hug
80 Yosano Akiko
79 Albert Schweizer
78 Marco Polo
77 Pablo Picasso
76 Ito Hirobumi
75 Christopher Columbus
74 Togo Heihachiro
73 Ogi Akira(Baseball Player)
72 Elvis Presley
71 Tokugawa Mitsukuni
70 Cleopatra
69 Kato Daijiro
68 Cao Cao
67 Sanada Yukimura
66 Sato Eisaku
65 Marie Curie
64 Uesugi Kenshin
63 Kurosawa Akira
62 Jesus Christ
61 Yoshida Shoin
60 Martin Luther King Jr.
59 Katsu Kaishu
58 Raito Kyoudai
55 Ikariya Chosuke
56 Oishi Kuranosuke
55 Marie-Antoinette
54 Matsuda Yusaku
53 Okita Souji
52 Bruce Lee
51 Tanaka Giichi
50 Date Masamune
49 Sugihara Chiune
48 Charlie Chaplin
47 Sen no Rikyu
46 Ishihara Yujiro
45 Ino Tadataka
44 Himiko
43 Takeda Shingen
42 Okubo Toshimichi
41 Kondo Asami
40 Ninomiya Sontoku
39 John F. Kennedy
38 Miyazawa Kenji
37 Yamamoto Isoroku
36 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
35 Murasaki Shikibu
34 Takasugi Shinsaku
33 Soseki Natsume
32 Mahatma Ghandi
31 Audrey Hepburn
30 Ozaki Yutaka
29 Miyamoto Musashi
28 Zhuge Liang
27 John Lennon
26 Prince Shotoku
25 Napoleon Bonaparte
24 Tezuka Osamu
23 Da Vinci
22 Ayrton Senna
21 Minamoto Yoshitsune
20 Ludwig Van Beethoven
19 Walt Disney
18 Yoshida Shigeru
17 Florence Nightengale
16 Anne Frank
15 Fukuzawa Yukichi
14 Misora Hibari
13 Albert Einstein
12 Princess Diana
11 Saigo Takamori
10 Hijikata Toshizo
09 Helen Keller
08 Mother Teresa
07 Noguchi Hideyo
06 Tokugawa Ieyasu
05 Matsushita Konosuke
04 Hideyoshi Toyotomi
03 Thomas Edison
02 Sakamoto Ryoma
01 Oda Nobunaga



From: http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=95

[misa.j]

Very interesting list, Dave. Thanks for sharing.
I would really like to give you rep points for this, but I guess I have to spread them around more...

What about Commodore Matthew Perry though? He changed Japan's history big time.

[GaijinPunch]

Indeed, very interesting. Amazing to see how Nobunaga got first, and Tokugawa a mere 6th. Wonder what would've happened had he survived the ambush.

On a side note, why do I not see Shingo on this list?

[nurizeko]

What about Commodore Matthew Perry though? He changed Japan's history big time.
A hypothesis but i get the general feeling from what I've learned of him and his relationship to japan is the japanese dont like him very much.
I mean, how many native Americans honestly like the first conquistidors or European settlers? they tend to be viewed as demons who destroyed their culture and way of life.

Indeed, very interesting. Amazing to see how Nobunaga got first, and Tokugawa a mere 6th. Wonder what would've happened had he survived the ambush.

Tokugawa was a military genius and great leader for sure, but he has probably been stigmatised to a degree by the fact his heirs did run basically the last opressive shogunate that was eventually rebelled against.

oda on the other hand never really had any stigmatism of rebellion and a new world sweeping away the old, he was a warrior poet and leader completely in his time, without the whole national issue of modernising and the up-heaval of it.

[Jack]

i like how bruce lee ranked higher than the fictional character jesus, its weird how they opted for a fictional persona, wonder where harry potter came?

Oda nobunaga, one of the ones i think of in japanese history, but my first thought went to Musashi; mainly because i have an adverse interest in the samurai.

[Mike Cash]

I am just unspeakably relieved to find that Mino Monta, Tamori, and Beat Takeshi didn't make the list.

[Tsuyoiko]

It's interesting how many westerners are in the list. I wonder how many Asians would be in typical westerner's list?

[Rich303]

Probably Jackie Chan and that's about it, I imagine

[Maciamo]

That's an interesting thread topic. I was justly writing a thread about the greatest Belgian in history (http://www.eupedia.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23888).

Who is your favourite person in history ? I personally can't decide. It would be easier if I had to choose 100 people without ranking them. :p

[yukio_michael]

I don't know what it is Japan has with John Lennon, easily one of the biggest self-obsessed bores in the history of music who produced arguably lacklustre solo work.

The guy writes "Imagine", and suddenly we're all indebted to him for inventing peace, when he was in actuality an unctuous ego-maniac.

[Carlson]

It's interesting how many westerners are in the list. I wonder how many Asians would be in typical westerner's list?
I think maybe bruce lee
a nice page on Oda Nobunaga (http://www.samurai-archives.com/nobunaga.html#1)

other then that my fav would have to be #62

[leonmarino]

Don't take me wrong, but I seriously can't take people seriously who rank Walt Disney higher than Van Beethoven, Da Vinci, Napoleon Bonaparte.. Oh whatever! I'm glad Yutaka Ozaki is in the top 30! :cool:

[Maciamo]

That's clear that if we try to find some sense in the ranking, we are up for a disappointment. There are 5 samurai or shogun in the top 10. I didn't even know who was Helen Keller in 9th position (I checked it since). Anne Frank in 16th position and 6th non-Japanese in the world ? What has she ever accomplished. Her celebrity is just due to some publisher doing a good job in advertising her diary. Could have been any of the tens of thousands of other people in a similar situation as hers.

The list is certainly representative of which Westerners are popular in Japan more than elsewhere (due to some cultural liking factor, I guess ?) :

- Audrey Hepburn (still as popular in Japan today as she was in the West in her heydays)
- Marie-Antoinette (the most famous French monarch in Japan !)
- Leonardo Da Vinci (Da Vinci Code effect ? Why is that book even popular in non-Christian Japan ? I saw the book everywhere in Tokyo last year !)
- Thomas Edison (never heard his name so many times as in Japan !)
- Cleopatra (another coquete in Marie-Antoinette's line)
...

[Dutch Baka]

- Audrey Hepburn (still as popular in Japan today as she was in the West in her heydays)

haha Mayuko loves audrey, she think she is the most beautiful western woman ever... * of course, because she is half dutch :-)

- Leonardo Da Vinci (Da Vinci Code effect ? Why is that book even popular in non-Christian Japan ? I saw the book everywhere in Tokyo last year !)


May 22 (Bloomberg) -- ``The Da Vinci Code'' generated $77 million in box office sales in its first weekend, overcoming negative reviews to beat analysts' estimates.

The movie was the No. 1 film in the U.S. and Canada, beating the animated movie ``Over The Hedge,'' which opened as the second-most watched film with $37.2 million.

Read all (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000101&sid=aP0Yyx0RJ.5Y&refer=japan)

[Maciamo]

May 22 (Bloomberg) -- ``The Da Vinci Code'' generated $77 million in box office sales in its first weekend, overcoming negative reviews to beat analysts' estimates.

The movie was the No. 1 film in the U.S. and Canada, beating the animated movie ``Over The Hedge,'' which opened as the second-most watched film with $37.2 million.
...

Yes, but that does not explain why a book of the Catholic Church is so popular in Japan, where most people know very little about Christianity. You don't expect a Chinese bestseller about Taoism to sell as well in the West, do you ?

[Dutch Baka]

Sorry, I just wanted to add some information about the popularity of the Da Vinci Code in Japan, not the reason. I will ask my wife in the weekend, maybe she knows why.