The following is a list of famous Japanese Americans who have made significant contributions to the American culture or society artistically or scientifically, or have appeared in the news numerous times:

• Keiko Agena, actress (Gilmore Girls)
• George Ariyoshi, first Asian American governor of a U.S. state
• Ann Curry, newsreader on Today (mother is Japanese)
• Francis Fukuyama, economist and historian
• S. I. Hayakawa, former Senator from California and linguistics scholar
• Mike Honda, Congressman from California and community leader
• Paul Igasaki , former Vice Chair and acting Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• James Iha, Guitarist for Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle
• Daniel Inouye, Senator from Hawaii
• Lance Ito, judge, presided over O. J. Simpson criminal trial
• Michio Kaku, scientist known for his string field theory
• Michiko Kakutani, author
• Yuri Kochiyama , the Japanese American civil rights activist and friend of Malcolm X
• Alice K. Kurashige, the first Japanese American woman to be commissioned in the United States Marine Corps
• Dorinne K. Kondo, anthropologist
• Robert Matsui, Congressman from California and chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
• Norman Mineta, politician and current Secretary of Transportation
• Pat Morita, actor and comedian
• Chad Morton , running back for the Washington Redskins
• Johnnie Morton , wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs
• Hikaru Nakamura, chess grandmaster
• Karen Narasaki , Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium
• Isamu Noguchi, artist, sculptor, designer
• Ellison Onizuka, first Asian American astronaut; one of the "Challenger Seven"
• Sharon Tomiko Santos , Democratic Whip of the Washington State House of Representatives
• James Shigeta, actor
• Mike Shinoda, Linkin Park band member
• Eric Shinseki - United States Army General, Army Chief of Staff, 1999-2003
• Vince Suzukawa, web comic writer
• Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa , actor
• Ronald Takaki (author)- historian, UC Berkeley professor
• George Takei - actor, Sulu on Star Trek
• Tamlyn Tomita - half-Japanese half-Filipino actress
• Susumu Tonegawa - Nobel Prize, Physiology or Medicine, 1987
• Kristi Yamaguchi, Olympic Gold Medalist figure skater
• Hiro Yamamoto, original bass player for Soundgarden
• Minoru Yamasaki, architect, best known for the New York World Trade Center "Twin Towers."
• Roger Yasukawa , auto-racing driver (IRL)