Tsuyoshi MORI
Tsuyoshi Mori:
Mathematician, social commentator and essayist Tsuyoshi Mori died on July 24. He was 82 years old.
Mori, a professor emeritus at Kyoto University, was known for his witty remarks on current affairs programs. He died from shock at a hospital in Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture. A funeral ceremony is not planned.
Born in Tokyo in 1928, Mori moved to Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, at the age of 5 and spent most of his early life there until he came back to Tokyo to study mathematics at the University of Tokyo's School of Science.
His father was a Kyoto University graduate who majored in physics and his mother was an ardent fan of literature and the Takarazuka Revue Company. Mori was the only child of the couple.
Absorbed in reading, Mori read through most of Shakespeare's works in his boyhood. In high school, Mori performed "better than average," and after school he would talk about literature and philosophy with senior students, broadening his perspective as a future critic.
Mori, who specialized in mathematical analysis, education and history, started his critical activity when he was a student at the University of Tokyo. After he became a professor at Kyoto University's faculty of arts in 1971, he promoted the idea of "a 20-year life cycle," in which an individual sets a theme for his/her life every 20 years and lives by it.
His classes at the university were so popular that the classroom was always flooded with students. One day, Mori reportedly joked, "I will give all of you a credit, so you no longer have to attend my class." His razor-sharp wit earned him the nickname "Ittosai" (a master swordsman).
After retiring from his teaching career in 1991, he became more engaged in his job as a commentator, in addition to writing books and giving presentations.
Mori also won popularity with his unique speaking style with a Kansai accent, and always maintained a down-to-earth attitude toward any controversial social issues. He was popular in the media, and newspapers started to publish Mori's essays in their original dialect without editing them into standard Japanese.
Mori often used a Kansai dialect phrase meaning, "That's the way it is," in TV shows, which represented his laid-back approach as a commentator.
One such example is the House of Representatives general election in 2005. When public opinion was divided over postal privatization, Mori stated, "In a few decades, people may yearn for the good old days and say, 'There used to be a post office and we miss it,' but that's the way it is." His straightforward tone appealed to many people.
"I like thinking about anything. I dislike few things," said Mori, whose curiosity never showed signs of declining even in his old age.
According to his family, Mori had been bedridden at hospital after he suffered serious burns while cooking at home in February last year.
When Prime Minister Naoto Kan took office in June, Mori reportedly uttered "Wow!" on his bed, which became his last "comment."
Mainichi, Japan