Keiichi Takeuchi

Keiichi Takeuchi died on June 26, 2005. He was a major influence in establishing bridges between the Japanese and Western cultures and in promoting collaboration between scientists.

Born July 12, 1932, Takeuchi graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1956 with a degree in geography, and in 1959 earned a master’s degree from the same institution. From 1966 to 1994, he taught at Hitotsubashi University of Tokyo on the faculty of social science, serving as Dean from 1988 to 1990 and later Professor Emeritus after his retirement from Hitotsubashi in 1994. He went on to teach in the Department of Geography at the University of Komazawa, Tokyo, until March 2003.Takeuchi was visiting professor at many institutions around the world including the University of Ireland, Galway (1973-74), Luigi Bocconi University in Milan, Italy (1974), the University of Indonesia, Jakarta (1975-77), the University of Paris VII, France (1985-86), and at Sheffield University, Great Britain (1985-86). He also gave lectures in many universities in Japan and abroad. His main interest was human geography. Starting in 1950 he dedicated himself to the study of Mediterranean regions, especially southern Italy. He spoke Italian and served as a Director of the Italian-Japanese Cultural Center. He was also Chair of the Commission on the History of Geographical Thought within the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science (IUHPS), President of the Association of Japanese Geographers (1994-96), and President of the Japanese Association of Economic Geographers (1994-2000). Takeuchi was also a member of the International Geographical Union, the Societa Geografica Italiana, Societe de Geographie Francaise, and the Academia Geografica Argentina.He published numerous papers and books on these topics not only in Japanese but also in other languages. Among his works in Japanese are Topologue (Tokyo, 1992), Experiences of Nineteen Senior Geographers (co-author, 1999), and Data-Book of the World Countries (2000). His writings in English include Modern Japanese Geography: An Intellectual history (2000), and 1945-1964: A Japanese Perspective in the edited volume Japan: A Self-Potrait, Photographs 1945-1964 (M. Feustel, ed, Flammarion, Paris, 2004, also in French and later published in Japanese by Iwanami-shoten).

Keiichi Takeuchi (Necrology). 2005. AAG Newsletter 40(8): 29.