189 Nice Japanese Last Names and Their Meanings

Looking for cool Japanese last names? Well, check out the list of coolest last names in Japan below. 

Japan is known for its rich culture and traditions. The Japanese have a very strong bond with nature and their land. This is reflected in names, most prominently in family names and surnames. 

Japanese last names are often a representation of family ancestry, personal characteristics, important aspects of nature, and even the surrounding nature. 

• Related: Most Common Okinawa Family Names
• Related: How Japanese Names Work
• Related: Common Japanese First Names

The following are a list of some cool Japanese last names. Check them out now!

Cool Japanese Last Names

Abe  

   

From Japanese for peace and multiple times

Hayashi

From Japanese for forest

Abiko 

From Japanese for peaceful, grandchild 

Inoue

From Japanese for above the well

Abhuraya

From Japanese for made with Abura(oil) and valley

Kimura

From Japanese for tree village

Adachi 

From Japanese for foot or stand

Shimizu

From Japanese for pure water

Adachihara 

From Japanese for leg, limp, or step, stand, and plain

Akiyama

From Japanese for autumn mountain

Agawa 

From Japanese for nook or corner and stream or river

Hirano

From Japanese for peaceful wilderness

Aguni 

From Japanese for foxtail millet and country

Kojima

From Japanese for small island

Ahane 

From Japanese for second or Asia, wave and root

Minami

From Japanese for south

Aikawa 

From Japanese for sympathize and river

Mochizuki

From Japanese for full moon

Aoki 

From Japanese for green tree

Mori 

From Japanese for forest

Aiuchi

From Japanese for love and inside

Chikafuji

From Japanese for near the wisteria

Amamiya 

From Japanese for rain and shrine

Ebina

From Japanese for distinguished or shrimp

Baba 

From Japanese for horse riding track

Himura

From Japanese for scarlett village

Bando 

From Japanese for east of the slope (in reference to the eastern provinces of Osaka)

Ishioka

From Japanese for stone hill

Bushida

From Japanese for warrior or samurai and paddy field

Kumagai

From Japanese for bear valley

Chiba

From Japanese for a thousand leaves

Kutsuki

From Japanese for decaying or rotting tree

Chibana

From Japanese for a thousand blossoms

Sawai

From Japanese for swamp well

Chisaka

From Japanese for one thousand hills

Tachibana

From Japanese for tangerine

Chinen

From Japanese for know feelings or one thousand years

Fukumoto

From Japanese for blessed

Daguchi

From Japanese for exit or protrude

Koizumi

From Japanese for small and spring

Daigo

In reference to the Daigo Shingon Buddhist temple in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto

Matsuoka

From Japanese for pine tree and ridge

Date

From Japanese for intelligent

Miyamoto

From Japanese for temple and base

Doi

From Japanese for earth well or earth habitation

Oshiro

From Japanese for great and castle

Eguchi

From Japanese for mouth of the river

Shibuya

From Japanese for rough and valley

Ejiri

From Japanese for inlet or river and behind or rear

Sugiyama

From Japanese for cedar and mountain

Enatsu

From Japanese for river or inlet and summer

Takeuchi

From Japanese for bamboo and middle

Endo

From Japanese for distant and wisteria flowers

Yoshida

From Japanese for good luck and rice paddy

Endomoto

From Japanese for hackberry and base

Yukimura

From Japanese for snow and town

Fuji

From Japanese for wisteria

Ishii

From Japanese for resides in a rocky place

Fujihara

From Japanese for wisteria plain. It also is one of the greastest noble clans of Japan

Ishikawa

From Japanese for stone river

Fujiki

From Japanese for Japanese wisteria tree

Ishida

From Japanese for stone rice field

Fujimura

From Japanese for a Japanese wisteria village

Fujioka

From Japanese for wisteria hill

Fujisaki

From Japanese for two unblooming flowers

Fujiwara

From Japanese for wisteria field

Fukushima

From Japanese for fortune island 

Furukawa

From Japanese for old river

Furuya

From Japanese for ancient valley

Futaba

From Japanese for a pair and leaf

Genji 

From Japanese for two beginnings or source

Goda

From Japanese for connected to rice paddy

Goto

From Japanese for behind wisteria or five islands

Gushiken

From Japanese for strong willed

Hada

From Japanese for feather or wing and rice paddy

Hachisuka

From a Japanese clan, believed to have descended from Emperor Seiwa

Haga

From Japanese for fragrance or aroma and congratulations

Imada

From Japanese for new rice paddy

Hagihara

From Japanese for Japanese clover field

Hagino

From Japanese for bush clover field

Hajime

From Japanese for the beginning

Haku

From Japanese for poetic, older brother, white or general (an honorific meaning)

Hamada

From Japanese for seashore paddy field

Hamaguchi

From Japanese for seashore entrance

Hamamura

From Japanese for seashore village

Hamasaki

From Japanese for seashore peninsula

Hanabusa

From Japanese for flower and room

Handa

From Japanese for flower field

Hara

From Japanese for field or plain

Haruki

From Japanese for spring season tree

Hashimoto

From Japanese for one who lives near the bridge

Hiraoka

From Japanese for peaceful hill

Honda

From Japanese for original rice field

Hori

From Japanese for moat

Ichihara

From Japanese for one or town and field or meadow

Ichikawa

From Japanese for city river

Igarashi

From Japanese for fifty storms

Iida

From Japanese for paddy of cooked rice or good rice paddy

Ageda

From Japanese for upper rice field

Ikeda

From Japanese for rice paddy near the lake

Imai

From Japanese for new place of residence

Imamura

From Japanese for new village

Ishizaki

From Japanese for stone peninsula

Ito

From Japanese for the one

Iwata

From Japanese for stony paddy field

Kagawa

From Japanese for fragrant river

Ando

From Japanese for peaceful wisteria

Kamada

From Japanese for sickle field

Kamei

From Japanese for turtle well

Kamiyama

From Japanese for god or upper mountain

Kaneko

From Japanese for golden child

Kasai

From Japanese for bamboo hat

Kase

From Japanese for add and strait

Kataoka

From Japanese for hill on the side

Katayama

From Japanese for mountain on the side

Kato

From Japanese for increase wisteria

Kawabata

From Japanese for side or bank of the river

Kawasaki

From Japanese for river cape

Kido

From Japanese for wooden door or castle door

Kita

From Japanese for north field of trees and many happiness

Kikuchi

From Japanese for chrysanthemum pond

Kobayashi

From Japanese for small forest

Kubo

From Japanese for sunken ground

Kurosawa

From Japanese for black swamp

Machida

From Japanese for town field or town rice patty

Maekawa

From Japanese for river in front

Makino

From Japanese for shepherd field or pasture field

Masaki

From Japanese for correct and tree

Masuda

From Japanese for increasing rice paddy

Matsubara

From Japanese for pine tree plain

Matsumara

From Japanese for pine tree village

Matsushita

From Japanese for beneath the pine tree

Matsuura

From Japanese for pine tree bay

Miyake

From Japanese for three horses

Miura

From Japanese for three bays

Nagasawa

From Japanese for long swamp

Nagata

From Japanese for long rice paddy

Nakamura

From Japanese for village in the middle

Nakano

From Japanese for central field 

Nakayama

From Japanese for central mountain

Nishikawa

From Japanese for western river

Nishimura

From Japanese for western village

Nishio

From Japanese for west and male

Noguchi

From Japanese for entrance of the field

Asai

From Japanese for shallow well 

Nomura

From Japanese for village in the field, field village, or wilderness village

Oba

From Japanese for large garden

Ogawa

From Japanese for small river

Fukuda

From Japanese for blessed rice paddy 

Ohara

From Japanese for large plain

Okamoto

From Japanese for one who loves at the base of the hill

Omori

From Japanese for large grove

Otake

From Japanese for large bamboo

Sato

From Japanese for a bureaucratic title in association with the Fujiwara clan

Sakai

From Japanese for rice wine and well

Sakurai

From Japanese for cherry blossom well 

Sano

From Japanese for small field

Sasaki

From Japanese for help or aid and tree or wood

Shibata

From Japanese for turf, rice paddy, or brushwood

Shima

From Japanese for island or land that is separated from its village

Shimoda

From Japanese for lower rice paddy

Sone

From Japanese for former or ancestor or root

Sugimoto

From Japanese for one who lives beneath the cedars

Suzuki

From Japanese for bell tree

Tabata

From Japanese for edge of the rice paddy

Takahashi

From Japanese for tall or high and bridge

Takao

From Japanese for warrior son or man

Takayama

From Japanese for high mountain. It is also the namen of a city located in the mountains of Hida

Tanaka

From Japanese for dweller in the rice fields

Araki

From Japanese for wild tree or new tree

Toyoda

From Japanese for fruitful rice paddy

Tsuchiya

From Japanese for earthen house

Tsuda

From Japanese for harbour rice field

Uchida

From Japanese for inner paddy fields

Funai

From Japanese for boat and well. May also be associated with the city of Funai

Ueda

From Japanese for upper rice paddy

Uehara

From Japanese for upper plain

Ueno

From Japanese for upper field

Usui

From Japanese for mortar well

Wada

From Japanese for harmonious rice paddy

Wakabayashi

From Japanese for young forest

Watanabe

From Japanese for ferry side

Yagami

From Japanese for eight and god

Yagi

From Japanese for eight trees

Yamada

From Japanese for mountain rice paddy

Yamagata

From Japanese for mountain shape or mountain district

Furuta

From Japanese for old rice paddy 

Yamaguchi

From Japanese for mountain entrance

Yamamoto

From Japanese for base of the mountain

Hope you had fun learning about these cool Japanese last names. Cheers!