Yamanaka (written: ; lit: "middle of mountain") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Akira

Joe Yamanaka , better known as , was a Japanese singer and actor. He is known for both his work with Flower Travellin' Band and as a solo musician; singing at a vocal range of three octaves. As an actor, he appeared in many television shows and movies, such ...

, singer for the

Flower Travellin' Band was a Japanese rock band that was formed in 1967. They were connected to Japan's counterculture movement and noted for their mixture of early heavy metal with psychedelic and progressive rock. They received wide acclaim from critics but fail ...

* Akiko Yamanaka (born 1945), Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party *

Chihiro Yamanaka is a Japanese jazz pianist and composer, born in Kiryū, Gunma Prefecture."Chihiro Yamanaka BiographyAllMusic/ref> As of 2012, she was based in New York City. She has had more than a dozen albums as a leader, most of them being released by Verve ...

, Japanese jazz pianist and composer * Daichi Yamanaka (born 1990), Japanese speed-skater * Hirofumi Yamanaka (born 1985), professional Japanese baseball player *

Hiroko Yamanaka , more commonly known simply as Hiroko (styled in capitals) and nicknamed or Cat's Eye, is a retired Japanese female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. She fought for Invicta FC, Strikeforce and Jewels, and was the final Smackgirl Open Weight C ...

(born 1978), retired Japanese female mixed martial arts fighter *

Lisa Yamanaka Lisa Jai Yamanaka is a Canadian actress. She is known as the voice of Wanda Li in ''The Magic School Bus'' and Yoko in ''Timothy Goes to School''. Yamanaka is also known for her work on ''Babar'' and ''Resident Evil 2''. She is also credited as L ...

, Japanese Canadian actress and voice actress *

Lois-Ann Yamanaka Lois-Ann Yamanaka (born September 7, 1961) is an American poet and novelist from Hawaii. Many of her literary works are written in Hawaiian Pidgin, and some of her writing has dealt with controversial ethnic issues. In particular, her works confro ...

(born 1961), Japanese American poet and novelist from Hawaii *

Miwako Yamanaka is a retired Japanese long-distance runner. Her first and only international medal came at the 1997 Summer Universiade where she took the bronze in the 10,000 metres. She won the Kobe Women's Half Marathon in 2001, setting a personal best time o ...

(born 1978), retired Japanese long-distance runner *, Japanese female table tennis player * Norio Yamanaka (born 1928) *, Japanese diver * Ryoji Yamanaka (born 1983), former Japanese football player *

Ryosuke Yamanaka is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a left back for J1 League club Cerezo Osaka. International He made his Japan national football team debut on 20 November 2018 in a friendly against Kyrgyzstan and scored a goal in the second ...

(born 1993), Japanese football player *, Japanese footballer *

Ryuya Yamanaka is a Japanese professional boxer who held the WBO mini-flyweight title from 2017 to 2018. Background Yamanaka took up boxing in the sixth grade of elementary school, after having read a boxing manga called Hajime no Ippo. In the second yea ...

(born 1995), Japanese boxer *

Sadajirō Yamanaka Yamanaka Sadajirō (山中定次郎, August 20, 1866 - October 30, 1936) was an Osaka, Japan-based art dealer who arrived in the United States in 1894, opening a small antique shop in Chelsea, New York City, Boston (1899) and London (1900); also a ...

(1866-1936), Japanese art dealer *

Sadao Yamanaka was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed 26 films between 1932 and 1938. He was a contemporary of Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi and one of the primary figures in the development of the ''jidaigeki'', or historic ...

(1909–1938), Japanese film director and screenwriter *

Sawao Yamanaka are a Japanese alternative rock band formed in 1989. The group has released 22 studio albums, several Extended play, EPs and compilations, and over 40 singles. Outside Japan, they are best known as the group responsible for the soundtrack to the ...

(born 1968), the frontman of the bands The Pillows * Seiko Yamanaka (born 1989), Japanese football player * Shino Yamanaka (born 1990), Japanese modern pentathlete *

Shinsuke Yamanaka is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2018. He held the WBC bantamweight title from 2011 to 2017, a reign where he made twelve successful defences and a reign which is the fourth longest in boxing's bantamweight div ...

(born 1982), Japanese professional boxer *

Shinya Yamanaka is a Japanese stem cell researcher and a Nobel Prize laureate. He serves as the director of Center for iPS Cell (induced Pluripotent Stem Cell) Research and Application and a professor at the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences at Kyoto ...

(born 1962), Japanese Nobel Prize-winning stem cell researcher *, Japanese ice hockey player *

Tsuyoshi Yamanaka was a Japanese freestyle swimmer. He competed in the 400 m, 1500 m and 4 × 200 m events at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won four silver medals; he also helped Japan win a bronze relay medal in 1964 by swimming in the heat, and placed ...

(born 1939), Japanese olympic swimmer *

Yamanaka Yukimori , also known as Yamanaka Shikanosuke (山中鹿の介) or Shikasuke (鹿の介), was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period. He served the Amako clan of Izumo Province. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Yamanaka Shikanosuke"in ''Japan Encyc ...

(1545–1578), Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period

Fictional characters

* Ino Yamanaka, a character in the ''

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...

'' Anime and Manga *Inoichi Yamanaka, a character in the ''

'' Anime and Manga *Sawako Yamanaka, a character in the ''

K-ON! is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Kakifly serialized in Houbunsha's ''Manga Time Kirara'' magazine between the May 2007 and October 2010 issues, and also serialized in Houbunsha's ''Manga Time Kirara Carat ...

'' Anime and Manga

Fictional characters

See also