A list on Japanese Heroes, according to Wikipedia

For some initial insight into who is viewed as heroes in Japan, and what they did, here is a list from the Japanese version of Wikipedia, as of August 9, 2008:

Historical persons

• Taira no Masakado (平将門) ［? - 940］Military commander during the Heian Era
• Minamoto no Yoshitsune (源義経) ［1159 - 1189］ Military commander in late Heian Era
• Kusunoki Masashide (楠木正成)［1294 - 1336］Military commander, late Kamakura Era
• Takeda Shingen (武田信玄) [1521 - 1573] Military commander/feudal lord in the Warring States period
• Uesugi Kenshin (上杉謙信) [1530 - 1578] Military commander/feudal lord in the Warring States period
• Hattori Hanzō (服部半蔵) [1542 - 1596] Ninja of Iga
• Sanadayu Kimura (真田幸村) [1567 - 1615]　Military commander in the Warring States period
• Miyamoto Musashi (宮本武蔵)　[around 1584 - 1645] Swordsman i the Edo era
• Sakamoto Ryōma (坂本龍馬) [1835 - 1867] liberal and progressive samurai from Tosa, a loyalist in the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate
• Saigō Takamori (西郷隆盛)　 [1827 - 1877] a loyalist in the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate - “the last true samurai”
• Togo Heihachiro (東郷平八郎) [1847-1934]　Admiral and commander in the Japanese-Russian War
• Kudō Shunsaku (工藤俊作) [1901 – 1979] Imperial Japanese Navy officer. Rescued 442 enemy British and American sailors
• Momota Mitsuhiro? (百田 光浩), better known as Rikidōzan (力道山) [1924 – 1963] Pro wrestler
• Nagashima Shigeo (長嶋茂雄)　[1936 - ] Retired professional baseball player. Baseball manager

Mythical Heroes

• Yamato Takeru no Mikoto 日本武尊　General in ancient legend
• Kibitsuhiko no Mikoto (吉備津彦命)　General in ancient legend, model for Momotaro (hero from Japanese folklore)
• Sakata no Kintoki (坂田金時) General in Heian period legend, model for Kintaro (hero from Japanese folklore)
• Sarutobi Sasuke (猿飛佐助) Ninja (fictitious character)

Other heroic figures and villains

• Taira no Kiyomori (平清盛)［1118 - 1181］General in the last days of Heian era
• Ashikaga Takauji (足利尊氏) ［1305 - 1358］General in the Muromachi era
• Oda Nobunaga (織田信長)［1534 - 1582］General, feudal lord in the Warring states and Azuchi Momoyama periods
• Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉)［1536 - 1598］General in the Azuchi Momoyama period, regent
• Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康) ［1542 - 1616］Shogun in the early Edo era
• Itagaki Taisuke (板垣退助) ［1837 - 1919］loyalist in the last days of the Edo period, politician in the Meiji period
• Itō Hirobumi (伊藤博文)［1841 - 1909］Prime minister in Meiji era. In Korea viewed as an aggressor and villain
• Tanaka Kakuei (田中角栄)［1918-1993］Prime minister in the peirod after the Second World War