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

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and served as the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of the city of

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

, Japan from 1999 to 2011.

Early life

He studied mathematics at 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 ...

, receiving a B.S. in 1966 and an M.S. in 1968. He continued his studies under

John Milnor John Willard Milnor (born February 20, 1931) is an American mathematician known for his work in differential topology, algebraic K-theory and low-dimensional holomorphic dynamical systems. Milnor is a distinguished professor at Stony Brook Uni ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, earning his PhD in mathematics in 1970. He took teaching jobs at a series of universities:

State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

(1970),

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

(1972–1986), and

Hiroshima Shudo University is a private university in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. The predecessor of the school, Hiroshima Domain's Han school, was founded in 1725. It was chartered as a junior college in 1952 and became a four-year college in 1960. ...

(1986–1997). His research was on

topology In mathematics, topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformations, such ...

, with an interest in

homotopy group In mathematics, homotopy groups are used in algebraic topology to classify topological spaces. The first and simplest homotopy group is the fundamental group, denoted \pi_1(X), which records information about loops in a space. Intuitively, homotop ...

s. While at Tufts, Akiba established the ''

Hibakusha ''Hibakusha'' ( or ; ja, 被爆者 or ; "person affected by a bomb" or "person affected by exposure o radioactivity) is a word of Japanese origin generally designating the people affected by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at th ...

Travel Grant'' program, which brought several American print and broadcast journalists annually to Hiroshima in August, to craft stories about the city (and typically about the experiences of those exposed to the atomic bomb in 1945).

Political career

As a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

, he was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, and served from 1990 to 1999. He assumed office as mayor of Hiroshima in February, 1999, and was reelected to this position in 2003 and in April 2007.

Peace activities

As mayor, he has been a visible

peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...

. He is active in the

Mayors for Peace Mayors for Peace is an international organization of cities dedicated to the promotion of peace that was established in 1982 at the initiative of then Mayor of Hiroshima Takeshi Araki, in response to the deaths of around 140,000 people due to the ...

organization, serving as the president of their World Conference. The 2020 Vision Campaign launched in 2003, which aims to eliminate

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

, has earned Mayors for Peace the "World Citizenship Award" from the

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF) is a non-profit, non-partisan international education and advocacy organization. Founded in 1982, NAPF is composed of individuals and organizations from all over the world. It has consultative status to the ...

in 2004, the "Sean McBride" Award from the

International Peace Bureau The International Peace Bureau (IPB) (french: Bureau international de la paix), founded in 1891, is one of the world's oldest international peace federations. The organisation was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1910 for acting "as a link be ...

in 2006, and the

Nuclear-Free Future Award Since 1998 the Nuclear-Free Future Award (NFFA) is an award given to anti-nuclear activists, organizations and communities. The award is intended to promote opposition to uranium mining, nuclear weapons and nuclear power. The NFFA is a project of ...

from the Franz-Moll Foundation in 2007. He has also been an advocate of the abolition of

, and a vocal critic of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. Since May 2007 he is also Councillor at the

World Future Council The World Future Council (WFC) is a German non-profit foundation with its headquarters in Hamburg. It works to pass on a healthy and sustainable planet with just and peaceful societies to future generations. FuturePolicy.org The website f ...

. In 2007 he received the

in the solutions category. He was longlisted for the 2008

World Mayor World Mayor is a biennial award organized by the City Mayors Foundation since 2004. It intends to raise the profile of mayors worldwide, as well as honour those who have served their communities well and who have contributed to the well-being of c ...

award, but failed to win, as the award went to Mayor

Helen Zille Otta Helene Maree (''née'' Zille ; born 9 March 1951), known as Helen Zille, is a South African politician. She has served as the Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance since 20 October 2019. From 2009 until 2019, she w ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Republic of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. On January 21, 2010, he attended the 78th winter meeting of the

U.S. Conference of Mayors The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. The cities are each represented by their mayors or other chief elected officials. The organization was founded i ...

as a special guest speaker, and in that capacity attended the reception held at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

and met US President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. He is so far the only serving Mayor of Hiroshima who has officially met a serving US president. In August 2010, he received the

Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealis ...

for his advocacy for nuclear disarmament, and in April 2013 he was awarded the

Otto Hahn Peace Medal The Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold is named after the German nuclear chemist and 1944 Nobel Laureate Otto Hahn, an honorary citizen of Berlin. The medal is in memory of his worldwide involvement in the politics of peace and humanitarian causes, i ...

from the United Nations Association of Germany (DGVN) and the Governing Mayor of Berlin. Akiba is on the Board of Advisors of the Global Security Institute. Hiroshima is one place outside the United States where

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and sometimes referred to as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Mond ...

is observed with equal importance as in the United States. Tadatoshi Akiba holds a special banquet at the mayor's office as an act of unifying his city's call for peace with

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

's message of human rights. In August 2022, he was awarded the Ahmadiyya Muslim Prize for the Advancement of Peace.

Stepping down as mayor

In the new year address on January 4, 2011, Akiba announced he would not run for reelection during the mayoral election scheduled for April 10, 2011. No reasons were given. In early April it was reported that

Hiroshima University is a Japanese national university located in Higashihiroshima and Hiroshima, Japan. Established in 1929, it was chartered as a university in 1949 following the merge of a number of national educational institutions. History Under the Nationa ...

has appointed Akiba as special professor, effective from his retirement as mayor. On April 10,

Kazumi Matsui is a Japanese politician and the current mayor of Hiroshima, the capital city of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. Early life Matsui was born on January 8, 1953 in Hiroshima, Japan. His parents are ''hibakusha'', atomic bomb survivors. He earned a ...

was elected the new Mayor. On August 3, 2012, he was appointed chairman of the Middle Powers Initiative (MPI), an international network of non-governmental organizations working for nuclear disarmament.

Works

Translation

* ''Linear algebra ''/ Ichiro Satake; translated by Sebastian Koh, Tadatoshi Akiba, Shin-ichiro Ihara

References

External links

*
CityMayors.com feature

Tadatoshi Akiba received German Peace Award in Berlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akiba, Tadatoshi 1942 births People from Arakawa, Tokyo Living people Mayors of Hiroshima Japanese educators 20th-century Japanese mathematicians 21st-century Japanese mathematicians Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Politicians from Tokyo Tufts University faculty University of Tokyo alumni Japanese anti–nuclear weapons activists Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Social Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Ramon Magsaysay Award winners Hiroshima University faculty