Inaba Sanuemon He was a wealthy merchant who used his fortune in the construction of the Yokkaichi port. His family was originally ship merchants. Noting that small ships could not enter the shallow port at ebb tide, Inaba decided to rebuild it. The project encountered many difficulties, due to lack of suitable tools and machinery. When nearly completed, the facilities were hit by a destructive typhoon. As a result, Inaba ran into financial difficulty, forcing the project to stop for a while. After 12 years, the port was finally completed.

Niwa Fumio Niwa was born as the first son of a Buddhist monk at a temple in Kitahamada-cho in 1904. He advanced from the former Tomita Middle School to the Japanese Literature Department of Waseda University. After graduating from the university, he became a Buddhist monk, but he quit at the age of 29, when he published the The Sweetfish. Some of his representative works are The Rape Plant, Ichiro (Threading the Way of Truth) and Shinran (a story of a famous Buddhist monk). He was awarded the National Cultural Medal in 1977 and was selected, as honorary Yokkaichi mayor the next year.