NEWS

Kiyoko (Takeda) Cho, professor emeritus at International Christian University (ICU) and holder of the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, passed away of old age on Thursday, April 12, 2018. She was 100. The university wishes to express its sincere condolences. In accordance with her expressed wishes, the funeral was held privately and was attended by her family. A memorial service will be held at a later date. The family gratefully declines flowers and donations. The contact details, etc., of her family will not be made available to the public.

Cho completed her studies at Kobe College and attended Olivet College in the United States, graduating in 1941. She then went on to pursue postgraduate studies at Columbia University and the Union Theological Seminary. She was awarded a Doctorate of Literature by the University of Tokyo in 1958 . In 1953, she took up a teaching post at the newly founded ICU, becoming professor in 1961 and graduate school professor in 1983. Her field of study was modern Japanese intellectual history. While at ICU, Cho was involved in the administration of ICU serving as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Dean of the Graduate School. She was also active internationally, holding positions such as the president of the World Council of Churches and councillor of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA). Furthermore, as director of the Institute of Asian Cultural Studies at ICU, she planned numerous research projects on the modernization of Japan and Christianity or, more broadly, on the modernization of Asia and Christianity, and she published a great number of invaluable scholarly works while providing supervision to other researchers. Her main publications include Conflict in Concept of Man in Modern Japan (Kōbundo, 1959), Indigenization and Apostasy (Shinkyo Shuppansha, 1967), The Genealogy of Apostates (Iwanami Shoten, 1973), Between Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy (Tokyo University Press, 1976), The Dual Image of the Japanese Emperor (Iwanami Shoten, 1978), and Liberalism in the Intellectual Climate of Japan (Iwanami Shoten, 1987). Cho was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by ICU.

Date of Birth, Place of Birth
June 20, 1917 Born in Hyogo Prefecture

Degrees Awarded

June 1941	Graduated from Olivet College (Christian Ethics & Philosophy of Religion)
September 1941	Entered Columbia University (Sociology) and the Union Theological Seminary (Christian Ethics & Philosophy of Religion) Studied under Professor Reinhold Niebuhr and Professor Paul Tillich
1958	Awarded a Doctorate of Literature by the University of Tokyo
1988	Awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by International Christian University

Personal History (Simplified)

June 1942	Returned to Japan aboard the first Japanese-American exchange ship (the Swedish Gripsholm) following the outbreak of the war between Japan and the United States. Among those on the ship were Kichisaburo Nomura, Ambassador Saburo Kurusu, Shunsuke Tsurumi, Kazuko Tsurumi, and Shigeto Tsuru.
August 1946	Started the magazine Shiso no Kagaku (The Science of Thought) with Shunsuke Tsurumi, Kazuko Tsurumi, and Masao Maruyama
April 1953	Part-time Lecturer in History of Thought and History of Educational Thought, International Christian University (ICU)
April 1954	Instructor in History of Thought and History of Educational Thought, ICU
April 1955	Assistant Professor of History of Thought and History of Educational Thought, ICU
April 1961	Professor of History of Thought and History of Educational Thought, ICU
September 1965	Research Associate on Asian Studies, Princeton University
September 1966	Research Associate on Asian Studies, Harvard University
June 1967	Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, ICU
May 1970	Dean of the Graduate School, ICU
April 1971	Director of the Institute of Asian Cultural Studies, ICU
January 1971	President, World Council of Churches
July 1974	Trustee, Japanese Association of Educational Philosophy
May 1974	Trustee, United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia
September 1975	Senior Associate Fellow in Japanese Intellectual History, St Antony's College, University of Oxford
May 1976	Trustee, Japanese Society for British Philosophy
November 1979	Councillor, United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia
October 1982	Trustee, St. Luke's College of Nursing
April 1983	Graduate School Professor, ICU
June 1983	Councilor, Japanese Association for Comparative Philosophy
September 1984	Established the Japan Soong Ching Ling Foundation and was appointed the chair of its board of trustees
May 1988	Councilor, ICU
1988	Professor Emeritus, ICU