Dr. Iriye Akira, Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, passed away on January 27, 2026. After graduating from high school, Dr. Iriye moved to the United States to study using a scholarship from the Grew Foundation (known as the Grew-Bancroft Foundation). Joseph Clark Grew (1880–1965), after whom the foundation was named, served as the US Ambassador to Japan before World War II and was known for his pro-Japanese stance. The path that Dr. Iriye walked throughout his life seems to overlap with the history of postwar US-Japan relations. Dr. Iriye’s masterpiece on diplomatic history, Kyokuto Shin-chitsujo no Mosaku (originally published in English as After Imperialism: The Search for a New Order in the Far East, 1921–1931 in 1965), was a pioneering work of multi-archival research based on the collection and rigorous reading of primary sources in multiple languages. Furthermore, by exploring the policies of the ... ... [Read more]