Hanji Aoki (青木 半治, Aoki Hanji; 16 July 1915 – 30 May 2010) was a Japanese sports official. He hailed from Chiba…
Hanji Aoki (青木 半治, Aoki Hanji; 16 July 1915 – 30 May 2010) was a Japanese sports official. He hailed from Chiba Prefecture. He was an active shot putter in his younger days, and became Japanese champion in 1938. He was president of the Japanese Olympic Committee from 1969 to 1973 and the Japan Association of Athletics Federations from 1975 to 1999, and vice president of the International Association of Athletics Federations from 1991 to 1999. At stepping down he was titled as honorary life vice president. He was decorated with the Olympic Order in silver in 1985, the Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1986 and the IAAF Golden Order of Merit in 2007. Since 1988 he was an honorary citizen of Tokyo. He died from heart failure in 2010.
Famous People Born in 1910s
1910s: 660 people
Sadako Yamamoto (山本 定子, Yamamoto Sadako; born 14 July 1915, date of death unknown) was a Japanese track and field…
Sadako Yamamoto (山本 定子, Yamamoto Sadako; born 14 July 1915, date of death unknown) was a Japanese track and field athlete. She competed in the women's javelin throw at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Kaoru Ishikawa (石川 馨, Ishikawa Kaoru; July 13, 1915 – April 16, 1989) was a Japanese organizational theorist and a…
Kaoru Ishikawa (石川 馨, Ishikawa Kaoru; July 13, 1915 – April 16, 1989) was a Japanese organizational theorist and a professor in the engineering faculty at the University of Tokyo who was noted for his quality management innovations. He is considered a key figure in the development of quality initiatives in Japan, particularly the quality circle. He is best known outside Japan for the Ishikawa or cause and effect diagram (also known as the fishbone diagram), often used in the analysis of industrial processes.
Ginzo Yamada (山田 銀蔵, Yamada Ginzō; 8 July 1915 – 25 December 1978) was a Japanese cross-country skier. He competed at…
Ginzo Yamada (山田 銀蔵, Yamada Ginzō; 8 July 1915 – 25 December 1978) was a Japanese cross-country skier. He competed at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen finishing 56th in the men's 18 kilometre event and 12th in the 4 × 10-kilometre relay.
Yoshimasa Hirata (平田 義正, Hirata Yoshimasa; 1915 – 5 March 2000) was a Japanese organic chemist.
Masao Yazawa (15 May 1915 – 11 December 2004) was a Japanese sprinter. He competed in the men's 200 metres and the…
Masao Yazawa (15 May 1915 – 11 December 2004) was a Japanese sprinter. He competed in the men's 200 metres and the men's 4 x 100 meters relay events at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Shozo Makino (牧野 正蔵, Makino Shōzō; May 15, 1915 – February 12, 1987) was a Japanese Olympic swimmer. He won a silver…
Shozo Makino (牧野 正蔵, Makino Shōzō; May 15, 1915 – February 12, 1987) was a Japanese Olympic swimmer. He won a silver medal for the Men's 1500 meter freestyle event in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and a bronze medal for the Men's 400 meter freestyle event in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Makino was born in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and was a graduate of Waseda University. On August 30, 1931, while still a middle school student, he set a new world record for the Men's 800-meter freestyle with a time of 10 minutes 16.6 seconds.
Tadashi Sasaki (佐々木 正, Sasaki Tadashi; May 12, 1915 – January 31, 2018) was a Japanese engineer who was influential in…
Tadashi Sasaki (佐々木 正, Sasaki Tadashi; May 12, 1915 – January 31, 2018) was a Japanese engineer who was influential in founding Busicom, driving the development of the Intel 4004 microprocessor, and later driving Sharp into the LCD calculator market.
Yūsaku Kamekura (亀倉雄策, Kamekura Yūsaku; April 6, 1915 – May 11, 1997) was a Japanese graphic designer, the leading…
Yūsaku Kamekura (亀倉雄策, Kamekura Yūsaku; April 6, 1915 – May 11, 1997) was a Japanese graphic designer, the leading figure in post-World War II Japanese graphic design. His stature in the field led to the nickname "Boss".
Kenji Okabe (岡部 健二, Okabe Kenji; 1915–September 1943) was an ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN)…
Kenji Okabe (岡部 健二, Okabe Kenji; 1915–September 1943) was an ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Participating in many of the Pacific War battles and campaigns as a member of several units, Okabe was officially credited with destroying 15 enemy aircraft. Okabe was credited with shooting down eight enemy aircraft on 8 May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea, the IJN's official record for the number of aircraft destroyed in a single encounter. He is famous for his strong opposition to the kamikaze attacks, rare in IJN at the time. Okabe was killed in action in September 1943 over Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.
Ichio Asukata (飛鳥田 一雄, Asukata Ichio; April 2, 1915 – October 11, 1990) was a Japanese politician who served as…
Ichio Asukata (飛鳥田 一雄, Asukata Ichio; April 2, 1915 – October 11, 1990) was a Japanese politician who served as chairman of the Japan Socialist Party, and as mayor of Yokohama from 1963 to 1978.
Hwang Sun-wŏn (Korean: 황순원; March 26, 1915 – September 14, 2000) was a Korean short story writer, novelist, and poet.
Tsutomu Sekido (関戸 力, Sekido Tsutomu; March 25, 1915 – November 23, 1987) was a Japanese alpine, cross-country, and…
Tsutomu Sekido (関戸 力, Sekido Tsutomu; March 25, 1915 – November 23, 1987) was a Japanese alpine, cross-country, and Nordic combined skier who competed in the 1936 Winter Olympics. In 1936 he participated in the alpine skiing combined event. He finished 46th in the downhill race, in the slalom he was not allowed to start in the second run. At the same Olympics he finished 55th in the 18 km cross-country competition. As a member of the Japanese team he finished twelfth in the first ever held cross-country relay contest. In the Nordic combined event he finished 35th.
Sunao Ishiharada (石原田 愿, Ishiharada Sunao; March 24, 1915 – 1987) was a Japanese freestyle swimmer who competed in the…
Sunao Ishiharada (石原田 愿, Ishiharada Sunao; March 24, 1915 – 1987) was a Japanese freestyle swimmer who competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics and in the 1936 Summer Olympics. He was born in Kagoshima Prefecture. In 1932 he was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 1500 metre freestyle event. Four years later he finished fourth in the 1500 metre freestyle competition.
Michihiro Ito (born 20 March 1915, date of death unknown) was a Japanese field hockey player. He competed in the men's…
Michihiro Ito (born 20 March 1915, date of death unknown) was a Japanese field hockey player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Kunihiko Kodaira (小平 邦彦, Kodaira Kunihiko; Japanese pronunciation: [kodaꜜiɾa kɯɲiꜜçi̥ko], 16 March 1915 – 26 July 1997)…
Kunihiko Kodaira (小平 邦彦, Kodaira Kunihiko; Japanese pronunciation: [kodaꜜiɾa kɯɲiꜜçi̥ko], 16 March 1915 – 26 July 1997) was a Japanese mathematician known for distinguished work in algebraic geometry and the theory of complex manifolds, and as the founder of the Japanese school of algebraic geometers. He was awarded a Fields Medal in 1954, being the first Japanese national to receive this honour.
Satoshi Matsui (12 March 1915 – 1 August 1995) was a Japanese basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at…
Satoshi Matsui (12 March 1915 – 1 August 1995) was a Japanese basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1936 Summer Olympics. He later served as vice president of the Japan Basketball Association.
Joseph Mitsuo Kitagawa (March 8, 1915 – October 7, 1992) was an eminent Japanese American scholar in religious studies.…
Joseph Mitsuo Kitagawa (March 8, 1915 – October 7, 1992) was an eminent Japanese American scholar in religious studies. He was professor emeritus and dean of the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is considered one of the founders of the field of the history of religions. He is known for his contributions to the study of religious traditions in Asia and intercultural understanding of the East and the West. Kitagawa was born in Osaka Prefecture. He graduated from Rikkyo University in Tokyo in 1937. He came to the United States to study theology in 1941. During World War II, Kitagawa was interned at the Minidoka War Relocation Center at Hunt, Idaho, where he remained until October 1945. He received his B.D. from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in 1947. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and joined the faculty of the Divinity School in 1951. He became a U.S. citizen in 1955. Kitagawa was a founding editor of History of Religions. He served as president of the American Society for the Study of Religions from 1960 to 1972 and Vice President of the International Association for the History of Religions from 1975 to 1985. He was a visiting professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of Tokyo, and Koyasan University. His wife, Evelyn M. Kitagawa, was a sociologist, and his daughter, Anne Rose Kitagawa, became a notable curator of Asian art.
Yōichi Midorikawa (緑川 洋一, Midorikawa Yōichi; 1915–2001), birth name Satoshi Yokoyama (横山 知), was a Japanese…
Yōichi Midorikawa (緑川 洋一, Midorikawa Yōichi; 1915–2001), birth name Satoshi Yokoyama (横山 知), was a Japanese photographer from Okayama prefecture, Japan, who became one of postwar Japan's leading figures in color landscape photography. He first took up the camera after graduating middle school in Okayama, but his father forced him into studying Dentistry. He returned to photography as a hobby around the same time he opened his own dentil clinic in 1937. Throughout his life, he maintained his base in Okayama. He later joined the Chūgoku Photographers Group, alongside figures such as Shoji Ueda, and Ginryūsha with Tadahiko Hayashi and Shōtarō Akiyama. HIs first work appear in monthly photo competitions in the 1930s. His early work, produced during the Pacific war, focused on photojournalism, followed by documentary photography depicting fishing villages, salt fields, rural communities around the Seto Inland Sea, and Osaka Merchant districts. From the 1950s onward, however, he turned to experimental forms of expression, employing techniques such as multiple exposure, long exposure, photomontage, filter works, and special film processing to create his dreamlike landscapes. He began using color film in the early 1960s, before it had come into widespread use. His breakthrough came with the1962 photobook Seto Inland Sea / Setonaikai, which won several awards from the Japan Photo Critics Association and the Photographic Society of Japan Award. Thereafter, he continued his exploration of landscape photography, taking photos of Japanese national parks and other natural sites throughout Japan. He is often described as a “magician of color.” Over the course of his career, he published more than seventy photobooks. Midorikawa's photographs have been widely exhibited in Japan and internationally, and his works are represented in major public collections such as the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, the Yokohama Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum. And the Bibliothèque national de France. Midorikawa's photographs were included in Donald Richie's travel memoir titled, The Inland Sea, about the region and its disappearing traditions. The exhibition Midorikawa Yoichi and his Circle: The Early Years, 1938-59, held at the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art in 2005, sought to reexamine Midorikawa's early works in order to trace the process through which he developed the richly saturated colors, multiple exposures, and other experimental techniques that culminated in the landscape photographs of the 1960s, earning him the epithet the “magician of color.” Curator Naruhisa Hirose surveys Midorikawa ‘s first appearances in the photography magazine Shashin Salon to his various photo series from the 1950s, and his relationships to contemporaneous photographers including Shoji Ueda, Shōtarō Akiyama, Tadahiko Hayashi, and Takeji Iwamiya.
Nobuo Kojima (小島 信夫, Kojima Nobuo; February 28, 1915 – October 26, 2006) was a Japanese writer prominent in the postwar…
Nobuo Kojima (小島 信夫, Kojima Nobuo; February 28, 1915 – October 26, 2006) was a Japanese writer prominent in the postwar era. He is most readily associated with other writers of his generation, such as Shōtarō Yasuoka, who describe the effects of Japan's defeat in World War II on the country's psyche. From an early age, Kojima read a wide variety of literature, both Japanese and Western, and such writers as Nikolai Gogol, Franz Kafka, and Fyodor Dostoevsky had a strong influence on his work. In addition to his fiction, he had a long career as a professor of English literature at Meiji University in Tokyo, publishing criticism and making translations of many major American writers, including Dorothy Parker, Irwin Shaw, and Bernard Malamud.
Hayao Kinugasa (衣笠駿雄, Kinugasa Hayao; February 2, 1915 – February 11, 2007) was a Japanese military officer who served…
Hayao Kinugasa (衣笠駿雄, Kinugasa Hayao; February 2, 1915 – February 11, 2007) was a Japanese military officer who served in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War and post-war joined up with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (JGSDF) and its predecessor forces, namely the National Police Reserve (NPR). In the course of his career, he served in the JSDF's Joint Staff Council and was the first commander of the 1st Airborne Brigade before he retired to private life.
Hiroshi Noma (野間宏, Noma Hiroshi; February 23, 1915 – January 2, 1991) was a Japanese poet, novelist and essayist.…
Hiroshi Noma (野間宏, Noma Hiroshi; February 23, 1915 – January 2, 1991) was a Japanese poet, novelist and essayist. According to literary scholar Doug Slaymaker, Noma is widely credited with having discovered or invented the style of writing called by the term "postwar literature" (sengo bungaku) in Japan.
Haruo Umezaki (梅崎春生, Umezaki Haruo; February 15, 1915 – July 19, 1965) was a Japanese writer of short stories and…
Haruo Umezaki (梅崎春生, Umezaki Haruo; February 15, 1915 – July 19, 1965) was a Japanese writer of short stories and novels.
Tokio Fukuda (福田 時雄, Fukuda Tokio; 10 February 1915 – 6 January 2001) was a Japanese hurdler. He competed in the men's…
Tokio Fukuda (福田 時雄, Fukuda Tokio; 10 February 1915 – 6 January 2001) was a Japanese hurdler. He competed in the men's 400 metres hurdles at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Masao Abe (阿部 正雄, Abe Masao; 1915 – September 10, 2006) was a Japanese Buddhist philosopher and religious studies…
Masao Abe (阿部 正雄, Abe Masao; 1915 – September 10, 2006) was a Japanese Buddhist philosopher and religious studies scholar who was emeritus professor at Nara University. He is best known for his work in comparative religion, developing a Buddhist-Christian interfaith dialogue which later also included Judaism. His mature views were developed within the Kyoto School of philosophy. According to Christopher Ives: "Since the death of D. T. Suzuki in 1966, Masao Abe has served as the main representative of Zen Buddhism in Europe and North America."
Takeshi Kamo (加茂 健, Kamo Takeshi; February 8, 1915 – March 26, 2004) was a Japanese football player who represented the…
Takeshi Kamo (加茂 健, Kamo Takeshi; February 8, 1915 – March 26, 2004) was a Japanese football player who represented the Japan national team. His brother Shogo Kamo also played for Japan national team.
Tatsuo Murayama (村山 達雄, Murayama Tatsuo; 8 February 1915 – 20 May 2010) was a Japanese politician who was a member of…
Tatsuo Murayama (村山 達雄, Murayama Tatsuo; 8 February 1915 – 20 May 2010) was a Japanese politician who was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and finance minister for two times.
Akiko Futaba (二葉 あき子, Futaba Akiko; born Yoshie Kato (加藤 芳江); February 2, 1915 – August 16, 2011) was a Japanese…
Akiko Futaba (二葉 あき子, Futaba Akiko; born Yoshie Kato (加藤 芳江); February 2, 1915 – August 16, 2011) was a Japanese popular music (ryūkōka) singer. As of the end of World War II, she was one of the most popular female singers in Japan, competing with Hamako Watanabe and Noriko Awaya. In addition, she took part in the Kōhaku Uta Gassen, one of Japan's most famous annual musical television shows, ten times.
Yoshinori Ohkoso (大社 義規, Ōkoso Yoshinori) (1 February 1915—27 April 2005) was a Japanese businessman and baseball team…
Yoshinori Ohkoso (大社 義規, Ōkoso Yoshinori) (1 February 1915—27 April 2005) was a Japanese businessman and baseball team owner. Ohkoso was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. Ohkoso founded the Nippon Meat Packers company, but stepped down as its chairman in 2002.
Isamu Kashiide (樫出 勇, Kashiide Isamu; February 1915 – May 2003) was a Japanese army aviator and flying ace known for…
Isamu Kashiide (樫出 勇, Kashiide Isamu; February 1915 – May 2003) was a Japanese army aviator and flying ace known for achieving the highest number of victories over Boeing B-29 Superfortresses. He claimed to have shot down 26 of the heavy bombers; 7 were later confirmed.
Masanori Yusa (遊佐 正憲, Yusa Masanori; January 8, 1915 – March 8, 1975) was a Japanese freestyle swimmer. He won gold…
Masanori Yusa (遊佐 正憲, Yusa Masanori; January 8, 1915 – March 8, 1975) was a Japanese freestyle swimmer. He won gold medals in the 4 × 200 m relay in the 1932 and 1936 Olympics, setting world records on both occasions. In 1936 he finished almost simultaneously with Shigeo Arai and Masaharu Taguchi in the 100 m race and was awarded a silver medal. Yusa graduated from Nihon University and later worked for the Yokohama Rubber Company. In 1942, he married Yumeko Aizome, a famous stage and silent/sound film actress in Japan.
Fumiteru Nakano (中野文照, Nakanō Fumiteru; Japanese pronunciation: [nakano ɸɯmiteɾɯ]; 13 January 1915 – 30 December 1989)…
Fumiteru Nakano (中野文照, Nakanō Fumiteru; Japanese pronunciation: [nakano ɸɯmiteɾɯ]; 13 January 1915 – 30 December 1989) was a male tennis player from Japan who was active from the 1930s until the 1950s.
Michiko Kuwano (桑野通子, Kuwano Michiko; 4 January 1915 – 1 April 1946) was a Japanese film actress.
The following squads were named for the 1936 Summer Olympics tournament.
Chang Chun-ha (Korean: 장준하; August 27, 1918 in Uiju County – August 17, 1975 in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province) was a…
Chang Chun-ha (Korean: 장준하; August 27, 1918 in Uiju County – August 17, 1975 in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province) was a Korean independence and democracy activist who later became a journalist in South Korea.
Seiseki Abe (阿部醒石, Abe Seiseki) (April 26, 1915 – May 18, 2011, Osaka, Japan) was a Japanese shodo and aikido teacher…
Seiseki Abe (阿部醒石, Abe Seiseki) (April 26, 1915 – May 18, 2011, Osaka, Japan) was a Japanese shodo and aikido teacher who had a unique relationship with aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba, being both his student in aikido and his teacher in calligraphy.
Shinji Tatsuta (23 December 1914 – 1 January 1991) was a Japanese ski jumper. He competed in the individual event at…
Shinji Tatsuta (23 December 1914 – 1 January 1991) was a Japanese ski jumper. He competed in the individual event at the 1936 Winter Olympics.
Tatsuo Matsumura (松村 達雄, Matsumura Tatsuo; 18 December 1914 – 18 June 2005) was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more…
Tatsuo Matsumura (松村 達雄, Matsumura Tatsuo; 18 December 1914 – 18 June 2005) was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 70 films from 1959 to 2004 and performed in several editions of the film series Otoko wa Tsurai yo. He graduated from Hosei University. He made his debut in movies with the film Otome no inori directed by Shin Saburi in 1959.
Jihei Furusho (古荘次平, Furusho Jihei; born 15 December 1914) was a Japanese water polo player. He competed in the men's…
Jihei Furusho (古荘次平, Furusho Jihei; born 15 December 1914) was a Japanese water polo player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Hirohide Ishida (石田 博英, Ishida Hirohide; 12 December 1914 – 14 October 1993) was a Japanese politician who served in…
Hirohide Ishida (石田 博英, Ishida Hirohide; 12 December 1914 – 14 October 1993) was a Japanese politician who served in the cabinets of multiple conservative administrations. In the 1980s, it was revealed that the KGB considered him to be an agent of the Soviet Union.
Fusako Tsunoda (角田房子; December 5, 1914–January 1, 2010) was a Japanese writer.
Tokuji Wakasa (若狭 得治; March 11, 1914 – December 27, 2005) was a Japanese businessman, the former head of All Nippon…
Tokuji Wakasa (若狭 得治; March 11, 1914 – December 27, 2005) was a Japanese businessman, the former head of All Nippon Airways. He became President of the company in 1970, one year after becoming vice-president. In 1976, he was imprisoned as a result of a bribery scandal. After serving time, he regained some honorary status with the company, but withdrew over a dispute with the new president, Seiji Fukatsu. Wakasa died of pneumonia in 2005.
Yoshiko Mibuchi (三淵 嘉子, Mibuchi Yoshiko; November 13, 1914 – May 28, 1984) was one of the first three women in Japan to…
Yoshiko Mibuchi (三淵 嘉子, Mibuchi Yoshiko; November 13, 1914 – May 28, 1984) was one of the first three women in Japan to become lawyers.
Saburō Ōkita (大来 佐武郎 Ōkita Saburō) (3 November 1914 – 9 February 1993) was a Japanese economist and politician noted…
Saburō Ōkita (大来 佐武郎 Ōkita Saburō) (3 November 1914 – 9 February 1993) was a Japanese economist and politician noted for his role in the postwar development of the Japanese economy and Japan-US relations.
Heiichi Sugiyama (Japanese: 杉山 平一, Hepburn: Sugiyama Heiichi; 2 November 1914 – 19 May 2012) was a Japanese poet, film…
Heiichi Sugiyama (Japanese: 杉山 平一, Hepburn: Sugiyama Heiichi; 2 November 1914 – 19 May 2012) was a Japanese poet, film critic, and film theorist.
Dokan Sone (曽根道貫, Sone Dōkan; born 30 October 1914 – 1992) was a Japanese gymnast. He competed in eight events at the…
Dokan Sone (曽根道貫, Sone Dōkan; born 30 October 1914 – 1992) was a Japanese gymnast. He competed in eight events at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Yūji Kinoshita (木下夕爾, Kinoshita Yūji; 27 October 1914 – 4 August 1965) was a Japanese poet, a member of the group…
Yūji Kinoshita (木下夕爾, Kinoshita Yūji; 27 October 1914 – 4 August 1965) was a Japanese poet, a member of the group associated with the journal Shiki, and famous during his lifetime for his pastoral poetry. Many of his haiku appear in English-language anthologies. He was born the second son of Tsuneichi Kinoshita in Miyuki, a village in the eastern part of Hiroshima Prefecture. On 22 July 1920, his father was killed at work; on 3 August 1922, his mother married Tsuneichi's brother, Itsu, a pharmacist. In 1932, Kinoshita began studying French literature at Waseda in Tokyo, but he was forced to switch to pharmacology in Nagoya in order to continue the family business, when his elder brother became a doctor. This unwelcome career change was cemented by the death on 15 September 1935 of his stepfather. Kinoshita disliked working as a pharmacist and is described by his family as a distant man who frequently undercharged his clients for the medicine he provided. He spent all of his spare time on his poems, of which 400 survive. They were published in ten collections. In July 1965, he wrote his last poem, "Gone So Long", commissioned by a newspaper for the 20th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. He died a month later of colon cancer. His complete works were published in November of the same year. He was the winner of the Yomiuri Prize in 1966.
Sekino Jun'ichirō (Japanese: 関野 凖一郎; born 1914 – 1988) was a Japanese woodblock printer, one of the major postwar…
Sekino Jun'ichirō (Japanese: 関野 凖一郎; born 1914 – 1988) was a Japanese woodblock printer, one of the major postwar artists of the sosaku hanga ("creative print") movement.
Giichi Nomura (野村義一, October 20, 1914 – December 28, 2008) was an advocate and activist for the Ainu people of Japan.
Isao Imai (今井 功, Imai Isao; 7 October 1914 – 24 October 2004) was a Japanese theoretical physicist, known for fluid…
Isao Imai (今井 功, Imai Isao; 7 October 1914 – 24 October 2004) was a Japanese theoretical physicist, known for fluid mechanics and mathematical physics. Imai was born on 7 October 1914 in Dairen. A few years later, his family returned to Kobe, where he spent his childhood. He skipped one grade in elementary school and another in middle school, and he entered the First Higher School. He proceeded to the Imperial University of Tokyo, majoring in physics, and graduated at the age of 21. Upon his graduation in 1936, he was appointed assistant to Susumu Tomotika in the newly established Imperial University of Osaka. Two years later, he returned to the Imperial University of Tokyo as a lecturer, and in 1942 was promoted to assistant professor. From 1950, he was professor of physics in the faculty of science until his official retirement from the University of Tokyo in 1975. He was concurrently a member of the Aeronautical Research Institute, the University of Tokyo (1938–1964). He was also visiting professor at a number of overseas universities, the University of Maryland (1955–1957), Aix-Marseille University (1960), D.V.L. Aachen (1961–1962), Cornell University (1965–1966, 1977), and the Technical University of Aachen (1969). On his retirement from the University of Tokyo, he became professor emeritus and moved to Osaka University as professor of mechanical engineering in the faculty of engineering science (1975–1978), and then to Kogakuin University (1978–1987), where he got the title of professor emeritus. In 1994 he became an academician of the Japan Academy.