This is a list of women photographers who were born in Japan or whose works are closely associated with that country.

A

• Emi Anrakuji (born 1963), legally blind photographer known for her portraits

F

• Shiho Fukada (fl 2000s), photojournalist

H

• Mikiko Hara (born 1967), colour snapshots of people or things in everyday life, often causing feelings of levity or foreboding, people in public spaces
• Hiromix (born 1976), life from a teenager's perspective and photo books on identity, community, gender and the everyday

I

• Hisae Imai (1931–2009), specialized in the photography of horses
• Ariko Inaoka (active since 1998), photographer
• Miyako Ishiuchi (born 1947), contrasty prints including close-ups of the very old, grainy-blurry works, close-ups of the elderly

K

• Miho Kajioka (born 1973)
• Mari Katayama (born 1987), self-portraits with textile sculptures
• Rinko Kawauchi (born 1972), serene, poetic style, ordinary moments in life
• Aya Kida (born 1974), photographer, winner of the Kimura Ihei Award
• Fusako Kodama (born 1945), depicted Japan as a nation of high technology, and life in Tokyo
• Michiko Kon (born 1955), new approach to mainly black-and-white still lifes with images of everything from toothbrushes to timepieces and fish parts^[1] black and white prints, sea creatures
• Yasuko Kotani (born 1962), photographer

M

• Miyuki Matsuda (born 1961), an actor who has published photography of nudes
• Michiko Matsumoto (born 1950), portraits of artists and dancers living in various countries
• Tomoko Miyamoto (born 1960), photographer

N

• Yurie Nagashima (born 1973), portraits, including portraits of herself and her family in the nude, street photography, still lifes
• Mika Ninagawa (born 1972), brightly coloured photographs of flowers, goldfish and landscapes, commercially successful in fashion and advertising
• Rika Noguchi (born 1971), landscape photographer, artistic photographer, based in Berlin

O

• Yoshino Ōishi (born 1944), widely travelled photojournalist, educator
• Yuki Onodera (born 1962), images of everyday objects such as old clothes, tin cans, birds, houses shining in the darkness, and human figures,^[2] living in France
• Kei Orihara (born 1948), documentary and portrait photographer, has published books on life in New York, and books for children about the disabled, interior portraits, photobooks for children

S

• Tsuneko Sasamoto (1914–2022), Japan's first female photojournalist, has photographed some of the country's greatest personalities and historic moments^[3]
• Tomoko Sawada (born 1977), feminist photographer, performance artist
• Shima Ryū (1823–1899), earliest known Japanese woman photographer, photographed her husband in 1864, later opened a studio in Kiryū
• Mieko Shiomi (1909–1984), abstraction and realism, known for her monochrome compositions
• Kunié Sugiura (born 1942), creator of photograms, based in New York City
• Ryoko Suzuki (born 1970), photographic artist

T

• Cozue Takagi (born 1985), creator of montages
• Toyoko Tokiwa (1928–2019), best known for her depiction of the red-light district of post-occupation Yokohama, for a clientele of US servicemen
• Tokuko Ushioda (born 1940), widely exhibited freelance photographer

W

• Hitomi Watanabe (渡辺 眸 Watanabe Hitomi, born 1939)

Y

• Eiko Yamazawa (1899–1995), portrait photographer and founder of a photography school, own studio
• Miwa Yanagi (born 1967), staged events with women of various ages, frequently using the computer to alter the image in strange ways, several published series including Elevator Girls
• Shizuka Yokomizo (born 1966), photographer and installation artist based in London
• Ruiko Yoshida (born 1938), has published several photobooks designed to fight against discrimination towards the poor and blacks, best known for Harlem Black Angels^[4]