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Obituary: Masayoshi Hirose, Professor Emeritus, Passes Away at 78

Update: January 26, 2022

Masayoshi Hirose, Professor Emeritus, passed away on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, at the age of 78. He served as professor at International Christian University (ICU) from 1978 to 2009. The university wishes to express its sincere condolences. The funeral was held only by his close relatives.

Hirose entered ICU in 1963 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967. Later, while teaching Japanese and linguistics, he studied in the doctoral program of the University of California, Berkeley from 1970 to 1978 and was awarded his Doctor of Philosophy degree there. He truly embodied the ICU philosophy of bilingualism.
Since 1978, he dedicated himself to education in ICU and held such important positions as Director of the Japanese Language Programs, Chair of the Division of Languages, and Director of the Research Center for Japanese Language Education (RCJLE). With strong passion for Japanese language education, he was an invaluable mentor and a great trainer for students who aspired to become a Japanese language teacher.

He emphasized the importance of bilingualism in his writings, too. His book Japanese for College Students (1996) was adopted as a main textbook at ICU for over a decade and in overseas universities as well. Another book of his, The Effective Japanese Usage Guide (1994) was published not only in English and Japanese, but also in Thai and Chinese.

In addition to his educational services at ICU, he was active in and contributed to a wide range of fields, including as the Chairman of the Board of Education of Mitaka City where ICU campus is located, service to The Japan Foundation, cooperation to the New Zealand Ministry of Education, and teaching at Middlebury College in the U.S.