mathematics

Tadatoshi Akiba

Tadatoshi Akiba is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tadatoshi Akiba rather than just read about it. In short: Tadatoshi Akiba (秋葉忠利, Akiba Tadatoshi; born November 3, 1942 in Arakawa, Tokyo) is a Japanese mathematician and politician and served as the mayor of the city of Hiroshima, Japan from 1999 to 2011. Early life He studied mathematics at the University of Tokyo, receiving a B.S. in 1966 and an M.S. in 1968.

Key takeaways

Tadatoshi Akiba belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tadatoshi Akiba to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tadatoshi Akiba from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Early life He studied mathematics at the University of Tokyo, receiving a B.S. in 1966 and an M.S. in 1968. He continued his studies under John Milnor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning his PhD in mathematics in 1970. He took teaching jobs at a series of universities: State University of New York at Stony Brook (1970), Tufts University (1972–1986), and Hiroshima Shudo University (1986–1997). His research was on topology, with an interest in homotopy groups. While at Tufts, Akiba established the Hibakusha 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, he was elected to the House of Representatives, 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. He is active in the Mayors for Peace organization, serving as the president of their World Conference. The 2020 Vision Campaign launched in 2003, which aims to eliminate nuclear weapons, has earned Mayors for Peace the "World Citizenship Award" from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in 2004, the "Sean McBride" Award from the International Peace Bureau in 2006, and the Nuclear-Free Future Award from the Franz-Moll Foundation in 2007. He has also been an advocate of the abolition of nuclear weapons, and a vocal critic of George W. Bush. Since May 2007 he is also Councillor at the World Future Council. In 2007 he received the Nuclear-Free Future Award in the solutions category. He was longlisted for the 2008 World Mayor award, but failed to win, as the award went to Mayor Helen Zille of Cape Town, Republic of South Africa. On January 21, 2010, he attended the 78th winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors as a special guest speaker, and in that capacity attended the reception held at the White House and met US President Barack Obama. 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 for his advocacy for nuclear disarmament, and in April 2013 he was awarded the Otto Hahn Peace Medal 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 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's message of human rights. In August 2022, he was awarded the Ahmadiyya Muslim Prize for the Advancement of Peace. He participated in the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

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

Illustrations

Tadatoshi Akiba: Akiba during his speech at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on August 6, 2005 — Akiba during his speech at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on August 6, 2005

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tadatoshi Akiba

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tadatoshi Akiba claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tadatoshi Akiba before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tadatoshi Akiba ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tadatoshi Akiba

In research: Tadatoshi Akiba appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tadatoshi Akiba in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tadatoshi Akiba is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1942 births, 20th-century Japanese mathematicians, 20th-century mayors of places in Japan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tadatoshi Akiba outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tadatoshi Akiba in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tadatoshi Akiba means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tadatoshi Akiba out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tadatoshi Akiba in simple terms?

Tadatoshi Akiba (秋葉忠利, Akiba Tadatoshi; born November 3, 1942 in Arakawa, Tokyo) is a Japanese mathematician and politician and served as the mayor of the city of Hiroshima, Japan from 1999 to 2011. Early life He studied mathematics at the University of Tokyo, receiving a B.S. in 1966 and an M.S…

Why does Tadatoshi Akiba matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tadatoshi Akiba?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tadatoshi Akiba.