is a masculine

Japanese given name in modern times consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name. Japanese names are usually written in kanji, where the pronunciation follows a special set of rules. Because parents when naming children, and foreigners when adoptin ...

Written forms

Ken'ichi can be written using different

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

characters and can mean: *賢一, "wise, one" *健一, "healthy, one" *憲一, "constitution, one" *謙一, "humble, one" *建一, "build, one" *研一, "polish, one" *兼一, "concurrently, one" The name can also be written in

hiragana is a Japanese language, Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' means "common" or "plain" kana (originally also "easy", ...

katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...

People with the name

*, Japanese World War II flying ace * Ken'ichi Chen (建一, born 1956), Japanese chef and restaurateur *

Kenichi Ego is a former Japanese football player. Playing career Ego was born in Hyogo Prefecture on June 7, 1979. After graduating from Juntendo University, he joined the J2 League club Ventforet Kofu in 2002. On July 10, he debuted as a substitute midf ...

(賢一, born 1979), Japanese football player *

Kenichi Endō is a Japanese actor and writer. He also worked as a narrator for many documentaries, both on television and film. He is best known for his roles in '' Visitor Q'' (2001), '' Crows Zero'' (2007), ''Crows Zero 2'' (2009), and '' The Raid 2: Bera ...

(憲一, born 1961), Japanese actor *

Kenichi Enomoto was a popular Japanese singing comedian, mostly known by his stage name Enoken (エノケン). A major innovator during his heyday, Enoken's stage shows, radio appearances, and film roles were a major influence within Tokyo theatre before Worl ...

(健一, 1904–1970), Japanese singing comedian *

Kenichi Fukui was a Japanese chemist. He became the first person of East Asian ancestry to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry when he won the 1981 prize with Roald Hoffmann, for their independent investigations into the mechanisms of chemical reactions. ...

(謙一, 1918–1998), Japanese chemist *, Japanese ice hockey player *

Ken'ichi Kasai is a Japanese storyboard artist and director. He is amongst J.C.Staff's most noted directors, having directed the highly rated '' Honey and Clover'' series. Beginning his career as a production manager, using his name in kanji, , he moved on to ...

(ケンイチ, born 1970), Japanese anime director * Keni'chi Kōbō (賢一, born 1973), former sumo wrestler *

Kenichi Konishi "ジャパン WHO was WHO 物故者事典 1983-1987", pg 250 was a Japanese field hockey player who competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics. He was born in Hamhung, Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korea ...

(健一, born 1909), Japanese field hockey player *

Kenichi Hagiwara was a Japanese singer and actor. Music career Also known as Sho-Ken, he was the lead singer of The Tempters, which was a blues-rock band connected to the Group Sounds scene, and gained big hits in the late 1960s. Hagiwara was known for his goo ...

(健一, born 1950), Japanese actor and lead singer *

Kenichi Horie is a Japanese solo yachting, yachtsman. In 1962 he became the first person to sail solo and non-stop across the Pacific Ocean. He has made other significant solo voyages, usually involving boats exhibiting some sort of environmentally friendly the ...

(謙一, born 1938), Japanese solo yachtsman *

Kenichi Kaga is a Japanese footballer who plays as a defender for J2 League club Blaublitz Akita. Playing career Kaga was born in Futada, Tennō, Akita on 30 September 1983. After graduating from high school, he joined J1 League club Júbilo Iwata in ...

(健一, born 1983), Japanese footballer for Júbilo Iwata *, Japanese architect *, Japanese rugby union player *, Japanese field hockey player *

Kenichi Kuboya Kenichi Kuboya (, born 11 March 1972) is a Japanese professional golfer. Kuboya won four events on the Japan Golf Tour between 1997 and 2002, picking up two wins in each of those seasons. Both of Kuboya's wins on the Japan Golf Tour in 2002 ...

(健一, born 1972), Japanese golfer *

Kenichi Matsuyama is a Japanese actor. He is known for his affinity for strange character roles, and he is best known internationally for playing L in the 2006 films ''Death Note'', '' Death Note 2: The Last Name'' and '' L: Change the World'' in 2008. He was ca ...

(ケンイチ, born 1985), Japanese actor *

Kenichi Mikawa is a Japanese singer and TV personality, known for his outspoken views and style. Mikawa was born in Suwa, Nagano as . He recorded a number of hit songs as a male ''enka'' singer in the 1960s and 1970s. The most well-known of his songs includ ...

(憲一, born 1946), Japanese singer *, Japanese philosopher *

Kenichi Mizuno is a former Japanese politician of Your Party, formerly of the Liberal Democratic Party, who served as a member of the House of Councillors and the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Tokyo Tokyo, o ...

(賢一, born 1966), Japanese politician *

Kenichi Momoyama Colonel Prince Yi Geon (October 28, 1909 – December 21, 1990), also Ri Ken and , was a Korean prince and a cavalry officer in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The first son of Prince Yi Kang of Korea by Lady Jeong, he was a gr ...

(虔一, 1909–1990), first son of Prince Ui of Korea by Lady Jeong * Kenichi Mori (賢一, born 1984), Japanese footballer for Mito HollyHock *

Luke Kenichi Muto Luke Kenichi Muto (, ''Ruka Muto Kenichi'') is a Japanese Anglican bishop. Since 2013, he has been bishop of Kyushu, and from 2020 to 2024, he was the 19th primate of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the province of the Anglican Communion in Japan. Muto ...

(謙一), Japanese Anglican bishop *

Kenichi Nishi is a Japanese video game designer. He has helped found a number of notable video game companies and develops games at Route24, his own private limited company. The number 24 in the title comes from its founder's name: "Ni" (2) and "Shi" (4). Car ...

(健一, born 1967), Japanese video game designer *

Kenichi Ogata (voice actor) is a Japanese actor and Voice acting in Japan, voice actor from Fukuoka Prefecture. Some of his most notable projects have been ''Ranma ½'' as Genma Saotome, ''Mahōjin Guru Guru'' as Kita Kita Oyaji, ''Detective Conan'' as Professor Hiroshi Aga ...

(賢一, born 1942), Japanese voice actor * Kenichi Ogawa (堅一, born 1988), Japanese boxer *

Kenichi Ono is a Japanese voice actor, tarento, and actor from Tokyo. His birth name is . He is best known for voicing as the villain character, Yoichi Takato from ''Kindaichi Case Files'' series. Filmography Anime television series *''Zillion'' (1987) (Dr ...

(健一, born 1958), Japanese voice actor and actor *

Kenichi Ohmae is a Japanese organizational theorist, management consultant, former Professor and Dean of UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and author, known for developing the 3Cs model. Biography Born in 1943 in Kitakyūshū, Ohmae earned a BS in ch ...

(研一, born 1943), Japanese business and corporate strategist * Kenichi Okada (健一, born 1980), rhythm guitarist of Japanese band

MERRY Merry may refer to: A happy person with a jolly personality. People * Merry (given name) * Merry (surname) Music * Merry (band), a Japanese rock band * ''Merry'' (EP), an EP by Gregory Douglass * "Merry" (song), by American power pop band Magn ...

(previously CRESCENT and Syndrome) *, Japanese handball player * Kenichi Shimokawa (健一, born 1970), Japanese football goalkeeper *

Kenichi Shinoda , also known as , is a Japanese yakuza and the sixth and current ''kumicho'' (supreme kingpin, or chairman) of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza organization. Career Shinoda was born in Ōita, Kyushu.Kenichi Sonoda is a Japanese manga artist and anime, animation character designer. Professional career Born in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Sonoda moved to Tokyo in 1984, at the age of 21, and began work at Artmic, an anime studio. During this time, he worke ...

(健一, born 1962), manga artist and anime character designer *

Kenichi Suzuki (disambiguation) Kenichi Suzuki may refer to: Name spelled 鈴木憲一 * , member of the Japanese House of Councillors for the Chiba at-large district from 1947 to 1950 Name spelled 鈴木健一 * , Japanese anime television director, director Name spelled � ...

, multiple people *

Kenichi Suzumura is a Japanese voice actor, narrator, and singer who is affiliated with and a representative of INTENTION, a voice acting company he founded in March 2012. He voiced Morley in ''Macross 7'', Hikaru Hitachiin in '' Ouran High School Host Club'', M ...

(健一, born 1974), Japanese voice actor *

Kenichi Tago is a Japanese former professional badminton player. He is the son of former badminton player Yoshiko Yonekura. In 2010, he reached the final of the All England Open Badminton Championships. En route to the final, he beat three seeded players, i ...

(健一, born 1989), Japanese professional badminton player *

Kenichi Takahashi is a male long-distance runner from Japan. Born in Kazuno, Akita, he set his personal best (2:10:51) in the men's marathon event on February 18, 2001, winning the Tokyo International Marathon The Tokyo International Marathon was a marathon for ...

(健一, born 1973), Japanese long-distance runner * Ken-ichi Ueda (植田憲一, born 1946), Japanese scientist *

Kenichi Uemura is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for the Japan national team. Club career Uemura was born in Yatsushiro on April 22, 1974. After graduating from Matsunaga High School, he joined J1 League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima in ...

(健一, born 1974), Japanese football player *, Japanese fencer *, Japanese golfer *

Kenichi Yamakawa is a Japanese author and rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Roc ...

(健一, born 1953), Japanese author and rock musician *

Kenichi Yamamoto (yakuza) was the founder of the Yamaken-gumi yakuza gang, who were based in Kobe, Japan. It is the largest affiliate of the Yamaguchi-gumi. Biography Yamamoto was the eldest son in his family. His father was an engineer working for Kawasaki Heavy Indu ...

(健一, 1925–1982), founder of the Yamaken-gumi yakuza gang *

Ken'ichi Yoshida (literary scholar) was a Japanese author and literary critic in Shōwa period Japan. Early life Yoshida was born in Tokyo as the eldest son of future Prime Minister of Japan Shigeru Yoshida, who at the time was a Japanese diplomat in Rome. His mother Yukiko, a ...

(健一, 1912–1977), Japanese author and literary critic *

Kenichi Yoshida (animator) is a Japanese animator and illustrator. He is a graduate of Tokyo Designer Gakuin College. He is a member of Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA). Biography Upon joining Studio Ghibli in 1990, Yoshida worked on ''Only Yesterday (1991 fi ...

(健一, born 1969), Japanese animator and character designer *

Kenichi Yumoto Kenichi Yumoto (; born 4 December 1984 in Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese freestyle wrestler. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital ...

(健一, born 1984), Japanese freestyle wrestler

Fictional characters

*Kenichi (ケンイチ), the main character of the 2001 anime film ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

'' * Kenichi Shirahama (兼一), the main character of the manga series '' Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple'' *Kenichi Mitsuba (三葉ケン一), a character from ''

Ninja Hattori-kun is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by (initially credited as Fujiko Fujio) which was serialized between 1964 and 1988. It was later adapted into a television drama that aired on TV Asahi (then known as NET) from 1 ...

'' franchise. *Kenichi Natsuki (菜月賢一), a character from '' Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World''

Written forms

People with the name

Fictional characters

See also