Shuji

Shuji is a masculine Japanese given name. It is commonly romanized as Shuji or Shūji and is used in Japan. The meaning of Shuji varies widely because it depends on the kanji characters chosen to write it. It can be written with various combinations, such as 修司, 守司, 修次, 秀司, or 秀治, among others. Each form imparts a different nuance: 修 can indicate “discipline” or “to study,” while 司 can mean “to administer” or “official.” Other kanji like 治 carry meanings such as “govern” or “cure.” The specific meaning is a matter of the chosen characters and family tradition.

Notable individuals named Shuji include Shuji Nakamura (中村修二), a Japanese-born American physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014 for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes, a development that advanced LED lighting. Another is Shūji Terayama (寺山修司), a prominent 20th-century poet, dramatist, and filmmaker associated with avant-garde theatre and experimental cinema.

The name Shuji is also encountered in fiction and among Japanese communities abroad, reflecting its ongoing popularity. The spelling and pronunciation are generally straightforward in Japanese, but romanization may vary, with Shūji and Shuji both encountered in English-language contexts.