We are deeply struck by the sad news of the untimely passing of eminent physicist and former HFSPO President, Prof. Akito Arima, on 7 December, at the age of 90.
Akito Arima has had a distinguished career in science and in government. After graduating from the University of Tokyo, he was appointed Professor of Physics at the university in 1975. Arima won numerous awards for his work in nuclear theory, including the Nishina Memorial Prize (1978), the Japan Academy Prize (1993), Grand Officer of the Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, France (1998), Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2002), and the Order of Culture of Japan in 2010. He was also an excellent “Haiku” poet, and received the Haiku Society Prize for a book of poetry in 1998.
He was President of RIKEN, Japan's leading research organisation for basic and applied science, between 1993 and 1998, and was also President of the University of Tokyo from 1989 to 1993. In 1998, he was elected to the Diet of Japan as a member of the House of Councillors, and served as the Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture and Director General of the Science and Technology Agency (currently known as MEXT) until 1999.
Akito Arima was elected the fourth HFSPO President on 1 April 2009 and served in this role until 31 March 2012.