Kazuo

Kazuo is a Japanese given name for males. See Japanese name.

Alternate writings

Its 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)

Real People

* Kazuo Aoki, Japanese government minister during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and into World War II
* Kazuo Chiba, aikido
* Kazuo Harada, anime producer, audio director, and sound effects director
* Kazuo Hirai 平井一夫, President/CEO of [Sony Computer Entertainment|Sony Computer
* Kazuo Endo, Kobe Earthquake SurvivorEntertainment America Inc]
* Kazuo Hiramatsu, accounting scholar, president of Kwansei Gakuin University
*Kazuo Hirotsu (1891 – 1968), Japanese novelist and literary critic active in the Showa period Japan
* Kazuo Ichinohe (born 1941), Japanese voice actor (stage name Shin Aomori)
* Kazuo Inamori (born 1932), Japanese businessman
* Kazuo Ishiguro 石黒一雄, British author
* Kazuo Kitagawa 北側一雄, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the Japanese Cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi
* Kazuo Koike 小池一夫, mangaka
* Kazuo Komizu (born 1946), Japanese film director
* Kazuo Kubokawa 窪川一雄, astronomer
* Kazuo Matsui 松井稼頭央, baseball player
* Kazuo Misaki, Japanese professional mixed martial arts fighter and former judoka
* Kazuo Miyagawa 宮川一夫, 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,) brief the leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza syndicate in the chaotic years of the Yama-Ichi War
* Kazuo Ohno (born 1906), Japanese dancer associated with Butoh
* Kazuo Oka (born 1948), Japanese seiyū
* Kazuo Sakamaki 酒巻和男, first prisoner of war held by USA in World War II
* Kazuo Sakurada, (known as Mr. Sakurada) retired Japanese professional wrestler.
* Kazuo Taoka 田岡一雄, alleged yakuza head
* Kazuo Umezu 楳図かずお, horror manga author
* Kazuo Watanabe 渡辺和郎, 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 animated TV series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Video Games

* Kazuo is the name for the Japanese release of the PlayStation Portable puzzle game Go! Sudoku.