For me, Little King's Story and Dandy Dungeon dev Yoshiro Kimura is one of the great national treasures of the Japanese gaming industry. He's worked at Square Enix, Grasshopper Manufacture, and in the last few years he's set up his own independent studio Onion Games, making quirky, oddball adventures that I love very much. He may not have achieved the same kind of mega fame as your Shigeru Miyamotos, Hideo Kojimas or Tetsuya Nomuras, but his games have always managed to make me laugh and smile whenever I've played them.
Recently, he started a YouTube series on the history and theory of RPGs, and last month Onion Games started putting English subtitles on some of its earliest episodes. They're a great watch, and I'd highly recommend making some time for them over the weekend if you're a fan of the genre.