Oono

Oono is a Japanese surname that is commonly romanised as Ōno, Oono, or Oonō. In Japanese, it is written as 大野, which literally translates to “large field.” The name is one of the many surnames that derive from geographical features, indicating that the original bearers likely lived near expansive, arable land. According to the Japanese Ministry of Justice's surname statistics, approximately 16,000 people in Japan carried the name Oono in 2020, making it moderately common, though less so than the more frequent surnames such as Sato or Suzuki. The name is found throughout the country, with notable concentrations in the Kanto and Kansai regions.

Several individuals bearing the surname have achieved public recognition. In the arts, the manga artist Kazuhiko Oono (大野 一幸) is noted for contributions to the science‑fiction genre in the late twentieth century. The entertainment industry includes the actress Kyoko Oono (大野 結子), who appeared in a number of 1980s Japanese television dramas. In sports, the baseball player Hiroshi Oono (大野 博) played in the Nippon Professional Baseball league during the 1990s. Additionally, the visual artist Oono Shoji (大野 亮司) has exhibited in international contemporary art fairs.

Apart from the surname, the term “Oono” appears in place names that denote small localities, such as the former village of Ōno in Saitama Prefecture, which merged into the city of Koshigaya in 2000. A railway station named Oono Station (大野駅) in Saitama serves the private Saitama Railway Line and provides local transit service. The name also surfaces occasionally in fictional contexts, often chosen to evoke a pastoral setting or a traditional Japanese background. These uses reflect both the commonality of the name in everyday Japanese society and its cultural resonance in media and geography.