Toyama Atsuko (遠山敦子) (born December 10, 1938) is a former bureaucrat in the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology. She is a trustee of the

Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games The (TOCOG) was the organisation responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. History The Organising Committee was launched on 24 January 2014, and is composed of members of the Jap ...

, and the head of the Mt. Fuji World Heritage Center in Shizuoka.

Early life and education

Toyama was born in

Kuwana, Mie is a Cities of Japan, city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 141,045 in 60,301 households and a population density of 1000 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kuwana is located i ...

, Japan. She grew up in

Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture ...

. She graduated from

Tokyo University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

Career

After graduation in 1962 Toyama joined the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology. She was one of the first women to become a bureaucrat there, rising quickly to head departments and bureaus. She worked mostly in higher education, and became the director-general of the higher education bureau. After leaving government work, she became the ambassador to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in June 1996 and the director of the

National Museum of Western Art The is the premier public art gallery in Japan specializing in art from the Western tradition. The museum is in the museum and zoo complex in Ueno Park in Taitō, central Tokyo. It received 1,162,345 visitors in 2016. History The NMWA was es ...

in April 2000. Toyama was the Minister of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology in the

first Koizumi Cabinet The First Koizumi Cabinet governed Japan from April 2001 until November 2003 under the leadership of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who came to power after winning a surprise victory in the LDP presidential election of 2001. The cabinet contin ...

in 2001. She worked there for two and a half years, until 2003. During her tenure Toyama released a plan to reform Japan's national universities by reorganizing internal structures and make thirty of Japan's universities "world-class". There were also changes to how researchers obtain funding, including the newly established "Centers of Excellence", which made academic departments compete for funding. The "Toyama plan" was built on work that she had done during her previous government work. Toyama was the president of the New National Theater Foundation, the

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

Foundation, the

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Osaka P ...

Foundation and the Japan

Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The tradition dates back to Heian period, when floral offerings were made at altars. Later, flower arrangements were instead used to adorn the (alcove) of a traditional Japan ...

Art Association. Toyama also taught at the

National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education The , abbreviated NIAD-QE, is Independent Administrative Institution affiliated with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), whose objectives are: * To evaluate education and research activities of Japanese ...

and the

International Research Center for Japanese Studies The , or Nichibunken (日文研), is an inter-university research institute in Kyoto. Along with the National Institute of Japanese Literature, the National Museum of Japanese History, and the National Museum of Ethnology, it is one of the Natio ...

. In April 2013 Toyama was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun. In 2017 she became the head of the Mt. Fuji World Heritage Center in Shizuoka. Toyama is also a trustee of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Selected bibliography

*] * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toyama, Atsuko Japanese women diplomats Japanese women ambassadors Living people 1938 births People from Mie Prefecture University of Tokyo alumni Ambassadors of Japan to Turkey Education ministers of Japan Women government ministers of Japan Sports ministers of Japan Culture ministers of Japan Technology ministers of Japan Science ministers of Japan