During the past 10 years, different types of blood pumps were developed to address various clinical needs. The Nikkiso centrifugal blood pump was developed for cardiopulmonary bypass application. This blood pump has been widely used in Japan in more than 20% of the cardiopulmonary bypass procedures. The Kyocera C1E3 Gryo pump was developed for short-term circulatory assistance and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation application for up to 2 weeks. This blood pump has been clinically used for up to 28 days without any blood clot formation. Through Phase I of the Japanese government New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) program, a chronically implanted centrifugal pump for left ventricular assistance was developed. This pump has already demonstrated its effectiveness, safety, and durability as a 2 year blood pump through in vitro and in vivo experiments. Currently, it is in the process of being converted from an experimental to a clinical device. Through Phase II of the NEDO program, a permanently implantable biventricular assist centrifugal blood pump system is under development. It has demonstrated that the previously mentioned left ventricular assist device blood pump is easily converted into a right ventricular assist pump by simply adding a spacer between the pump and the actuator. This communication discusses the historical development strategies for centrifugal blood pumps and their current status for different clinical needs.