Masahiko Fujiwara (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 藤原正彦 ''Fujiwara Masahiko''; born July 9, 1943, in Shinkyo,

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...

) is a Japanese

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and writer who is known for his book '' The Dignity of the Nation''. He is a professor emeritus at

Ochanomizu University is a women's university in the Ōtsuka neighborhood of Bunkyō-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Ochanomizu University is one of the top national universities in Japan. Ochanomizu is the name of a Tokyo neighborhood where the university was founded. Hi ...

Biography

Masahiko Fujiwara is the son of

Jirō Nitta is the pen name of popular Japanese historical novelist . He was born in an area that is now part of the city of Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

and Tei Fujiwara, who were both popular authors. He graduated from the

University of Tokyo , 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 ...

in 1966. He began writing after a two-year position as associate professor at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

, with a book ''Wakaki sugakusha no Amerika'' designed to explain American campus life to Japanese people. He also wrote about the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, after a year's visit (''Harukanaru Kenburijji: Ichi sugakusha no Igirisu''). In a popular book on mathematics, he categorized theorems as beautiful theorems or ugly theorems. He is also known in Japan for speaking out against government reforms in secondary education. He wrote '' The Dignity of the Nation'', which according to

Time Asia ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...

was the second best selling book in the first six months of 2006 in Japan. In 2006, Fujiwara published ''Yo ni mo utsukushii sugaku nyumon'' ("An Introduction to the World's Most Elegant Mathematics") with the writer

Yōko Ogawa is a Japanese writer. Her work has won every major Japanese literary award, including the Akutagawa Prize and the Yomiuri Prize. Internationally, she has been the recipient of the Shirley Jackson Award and the American Book Award. '' The Memory ...

: it is a dialogue between novelist and mathematician on the extraordinary beauty of numbers.

References

External links

Article
in the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' from 2007.
Online essayEssay on Literature and Mathematics
Japanese essayists Mathematics popularizers Number theorists 20th-century Japanese mathematicians 21st-century Japanese mathematicians 1943 births Living people Recreational mathematicians Japanese people from Manchukuo University of Tokyo alumni University of Colorado Boulder faculty 20th-century essayists 21st-century essayists Ochanomizu University faculty {{Japan-mathematician-stub