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)

Examples

• Kazuo Aoki, Japanese government minister during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and into World War II
• Kazuo Chiba (born 1940), aikido
• Kazuo Harada (died 1998), anime producer, audio director, and sound effects director
• Kazuo Hirai (平井一夫, born 1964), President/CEO of Sony Computer
• Kazuo Endo, Kobe earthquake survivor
• Kazuo Hashimoto, late Japanese inventor of Caller ID and the telephone answering machine, including the ansafone.
• Kazuo Hiramatsu, accounting scholar, president of Kwansei Gakuin University
• Kazuo Hirotsu (1891–1968), Japanese novelist and literary critic active in the Showa period of Japan
• Kazuo Ichinohe (born 1941), Japanese voice actor (stage name Shin Aomori)
• Kazuo Inamori (born 1932), Japanese businessman
• Kazuo Ishiguro (石黒一雄, born 1954), British author
• Kazuo Kitagawa (北側一雄, born 1953), Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the Japanese Cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi
• Kazuo Koike (小池一夫, born 1936), manga artist
• Kazuo Komizu (born 1946), Japanese film director
• Kazuo Kubokawa (窪川一雄, 1903–1943), astronomer
• Kazuo Matsui (松井稼頭央, born 1975), baseball player
• Kazuo Misaki (born 1976), Japanese professional mixed martial arts fighter and former judoka
• Kazuo Miyagawa (宮川一夫, 1908–1999), cinematographer
• Kazuo Mizutani (水谷和夫), Chief of Staff of Japanese Imperial Guard during the close of World War II
• Kazuo Nakanishi (1922–2003), briefly the leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza syndicate in the chaotic years of the Yama-Ichi War
• Kazuo Ohno (1906–2010), Japanese dancer associated with Butoh
• Kazuo Oka (born 1948), Japanese voice actor
• Kazuo Sakamaki (酒巻和男, 1918–1999), first prisoner of war held by the USA in World War II
• Kazuo Sakurada (born 1948), known as Mr. Sakurada) retired Japanese professional wrestler.
• Kazuo Taoka (田岡一雄, 1913–1981), Godfather of the Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza syndicate
• Kazuo Umezu (楳図かずお, born 1936), horror manga author
• Kazuo Watanabe (渡辺和郎, born 1955), astronomer
• Kazuo Yamada (1912–1991), Japanese conductor

Fictional characters

• Kazuo Kiriyama, the emotionless antagonist of Battle Royale
• 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

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

References

1. ↑ Kazuo - Meaning and origin of the name Kazuo Archived September 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.