Obituaries

20 July 2024
Vietnam's President Nguyen Phu Trong greets media at a news conferance in Hanoi, Feb. 1, 2021.
Vietnamese Communist Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong speaks at a news conference in Hanoi in 2021.
Obituaries

Vietnam Communist party boss dies at 80; succession in balance

Trong kept lid on graft, navigated U.S.-China rivalry as country grew

19 July 2024
Kunio Takeda, a former chairman of Takeda Pharmaceutical, speaks during an interview. (File photo by Takuya Fujisawa)
Obituaries

Takeda Pharmaceutical's ex-chairman Kunio Takeda dies at 84

Chief from founding family once said, 'Non-owner president cannot achieve real reform'

17 June 2024
Architect Fumihiko Maki poses with a model of the building he designed for the World Trade Center site in New York, in September 2006.
Obituaries

Pritzker Prize-winning Japan architect Fumihiko Maki dies at 95

Tokyo native known for modernist style designed 4 World Trade Center

12 June 2024
NLD co-founder Tin Oo shortly after the bloody military takeover by the State Law and Order and Restoration Council on Sept. 18, 1988. "Our lives are wrapped in leaf," he told a correspondent at the time. (Photo by Dominic Faulder)
Obituaries

Myanmar's Thura Tin Oo, an officer and a gentleman from another age

The last in a line of former military officers who tried but failed to bring change

8 June 2024
Tin Oo, a patron of Myanmar's National League for Democracy, appears at a ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of the party, in Yangon in September 2013.
Obituaries

Myanmar's NLD co-founder and Suu Kyi ally Tin Oo dies at 97

Key figure in democracy movement spent 10 years as political prisoner

1 June 2024
Akebono celebrates a grand sumo tournament win in Tokyo in January 1993.  
Sports

Akebono showed the dignity and humility of a sumo grand champion

Hawaii's Chad Rowan cemented a place for foreigners in ancient Japanese sport

18 April 2024
"Dragon Ball" is one of the most popular works of shonen manga. (Photo by Yutaka Miyaguchi)
Obituaries

'Dragon Ball' creator Akira Toriyama opened new chapter for manga

Former graphic designer made lasting mark with unique style

9 March 2024
Akira Toriyama in 1982 and Son Goku, a hero from the "Dragon Ball" series. Originally published as a comic, "Dragon Ball" became a hit animation globally. (Source photos by Jiji and Bird Studio/Shueisha/Kyodo)
Obituaries

Akira Toriyama, creator of 'Dragon Ball,' dies at 68

Renowned Japanese comic artist died of acute subdural hematoma

8 March 2024
Yukio Sakamoto worked his way through the ranks of Texas Instruments Japan before joining Elpida Memory. (Photo by Nikkei)
Obituaries

Japan chip industry veteran Yukio Sakamoto dies at 76

Outspoken leader's career spanned Texas Instruments to Elpida to China's Unigroup

29 February 2024
Zong's achievements include topping Forbes' ranking of the richest people in mainland China. (Photo by Daisuke Harashima)
Obituaries

Billionaire Chinese founder of beverage giant Wahaha dies

Alibaba's Jack Ma, Geely's Li Shufu mourn passing of Zong Qinghou

27 February 2024
"I am fighting to become the leader of the nation," Alexei Navalny said during a Nikkei interview in Moscow in February 2019.
Obituaries

Navalny: The politician who aspired to become Russian president

Putin nemesis believed citizens would stand up under dictatorship

24 February 2024
Seiji Ozawa sought to convey composers' intentions to musicians, and through them to the audience. (Photo by Yasuaki Sako)
Obituaries

Seiji Ozawa, master of communication, earned esteem across the world

Acclaimed Japanese conductor touched audiences from U.S. to space

10 February 2024
Seiji Ozawa conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra during its traditional New Year's concert on Jan. 1, 2002.
Obituaries

Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa dies at age 88

He was the first Asian music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

9 February 2024
Shih Ming-teh speaks with the press in Taipei in 2007. Many Taiwanese news outlets across the political spectrum paid tribute to Shih's legacy, calling him "Taiwan's Mandela."
Obituaries

Shih Ming-teh was Taiwan's indomitable fighter for democracy

Human rights advocate spent more than 25 years in jail

23 January 2024
Bill Granger at the Fortnum & Mason Food & Drink Awards in London on May 21, 2015.
Obituaries

Bill Granger, Australia's 'king of breakfast,' dies at 54

Self-taught chef popularized avocado toast, created a global restaurant empire

27 December 2023
Henry Kissinger and Vietnam's Le Duc Tho speak to the press in a Paris suburb on June 13, 1973, the year they were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize -- which Tho declined.
Obituaries

Kissinger cast a long and uneven shadow in Southeast Asia

Controversial bringer of war and peace left mixed messages in the region

1 December 2023
Early in his career, Jun Ohta built Sumitomo Bank's project finance business.
Obituaries

SMFG chief Jun Ohta broke mold of Japanese bankers

Pioneering executive rejected convention and fostered young talent

28 November 2023
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at a reception to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary in Plains, Georgia, in 2021. 
Obituaries

Former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter dies at 96

Mental health advocate and humanitarian was also president's 'closest adviser'

20 November 2023
Li Keqiang, then the Communist Party secretary in China's northeastern Liaoning province, visits an orphanage in June 2007. The late former premier had an unusual reputation for openness and closeness to regular people.
Obituaries

Li Keqiang, a Communist Chinese leader with a 'human face'

Former premier's death leaves Beijing watchers wondering what might have been

27 October 2023
Chinese netizens were shocked at the sudden death of former Premier Li Keqiang. User names have been blurred to protect people's identities. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters and screenshot from Chinese social media) 
Society

Chinese citizens mourn Li Keqiang's sudden death

Online posts recount former premier's openness and closeness to common people

27 October 2023
Then-Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in 2017. 
Politics

China's former Premier Li Keqiang dies at 68

CCTV reports he suffered a heart attack just months after retirement

27 October 2023
Shinji Tanimura performs at Tokyo's Budokan arena in 1979.
Obituaries

Japanese singer Shinji Tanimura's impassioned voice crossed borders

Songwriter behind 'Subaru' redefined Japanese folk music

19 October 2023
Jay W. Chai said he told himself from the start of his career that he needed to find something only he could do. (Photo by Nikkei)
Obituaries

Jay W. Chai, architect of Toyota-GM 'giant handshake,' dies at 89

Korean-born executive helped put Japan Inc. on the global stage

18 October 2023
Japanese singer Shinji Tanimura performs in concert in Beijing on Sept. 28, 2018. (Photo by Visual China Group via Getty Images)
Obituaries

Japanese singer Shinji Tanimura dies at 74

He found fame across Asia with 'Subaru' and other hits

16 October 2023