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Takafumi Matsui

まつい たかふみ

Matsui Takafumi

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1946-03-07 （Mori, Shuchi District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan）
Died
2023-03-22 age 77
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Planetary scientist, Earth scientist, University professor, Researcher, University president, Author
Active Years
1970-2023
Affiliations
University of Tokyo, Chiba Institute of Technology, Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum, The Tokyo Foundation, Japan Institute for National Fundamentals (Visiting Researcher)
Influenced By
Seiya Ueda, Kiyotaka Chinzei

Education

Tokyo Gakugei University Senior High School
Country: Japan
University of Tokyo, Faculty of Science
Faculty of Science / Department of Geophysics
Degree: 理学士
Period: ～1970年3月
Year of Graduation: 1970
Country: Japan
Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo
Graduate School of Science / Specialized Course in Geophysics (Master's program)
Degree: 修士（理学）
Period: 1970–1973
Year of Graduation: 1973
Country: Japan
Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo
Graduate School of Science / Specialized Course in Geophysics (Doctoral program)
Degree: 博士（理学）
Period: ～1976年3月
Year of Graduation: 1976
Country: Japan
Doctoral thesis: 'Numerical simulation of planetary accretion process: planetesimals to planet.'

Awards

Mainichi Publishing Culture Award (Natural Science)
2007
Work: Collapse of the Earth System
Category: 自然科学部門
Organization: The Mainichi Newspapers
Result: 受賞
Junior Fourth Rank
2023
Organization: Government of Japan (Official Gazette)
Result: 叙位（追贈）
Order of the Sacred Treasure (Zuihō Jūkōshō)
2023
Organization: Government of Japan (Official Gazette)
Result: 追贈

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Collapse of the Earth System

2007 Non-fiction / Science

A popular-science account discussing the relationship between civilization and the environment from an earth-systems perspective, presenting sustainability challenges and crises.

Earth environmentCivilization and sustainabilityEarth systems theory

Why Water Planets Were Born

1987 Science popularization

Explains theories and observations regarding the origin of oceans and the formation of water-bearing planets.

Planetary formationOrigin of oceansAstrobiology

Chronicles of the Cosmos

1993 Science essays

A collection of essays on space, life, and civilization.

CosmologySearch for lifeCivilization studies

Planetary Exploration and Planetary Surfaces

1979 Specialist / Scientific

A specialist text summarizing theories and methods for observing planetary surfaces and searching for life.

Planetary explorationSurface geologySearch for life

Bibliography

  • Planetary Exploration and Planetary Surfaces (1979)
  • Panorama of the Solar System (Kodansha Bluebacks, 1981)
  • Why Water Planets Were Born (Kodansha Bluebacks, 1987)
  • The Lonely Earth of 4.6 Billion Years (Tokuma Shoten, 1989)
  • Chronicles of the Cosmos (Tokuma Shoten, 1993)
  • Collapse of the Earth System (Shinchosha, 2007)
  • I Engage, Therefore I Am: Earth Systems Theory and Civilization (Shueisha, 2012)
  • Where Did Life Come From? Introduction to Astrobiology (Bunshun Shinsho, 2013)
  • Challenges of Galactic Planetology: Exploring the Possibility of Extraterrestrial Life (NHK Publishing, 2015)
  • Civilization is Made by the 'Invisible World' (Iwanami Shinsho, 2017)

Adaptations

  • Great Journey of the Earth (NHK, 1987; planning, supervision, commentary)
  • Panorama of the Solar System (NHK, 1980)

Translations by Author

  • J. Negendank 'Familiar Earth Science: Exploring Spaceship Earth' (co-translator, Kodansha, 1980)
  • Jonathan Weiner 'Planet Earth' (supervised translation, Obunsha, 1986)
  • Chandra Wickramasinghe 'Comet Panspermia' (supervisor, Hoshi-sha, 2017)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Accessible scientific exposition for general readersInterdisciplinary, synthetic essay-style argumentation
Recurring Motifs
Earth history and evolutionRelationship between civilization and environmentPlanetary formation and origin of lifeLarge-scale planetary catastrophes (catastrophism)

Health

  • Prostate cancer
    罹患期間不詳〜2023年
    Died in 2023; affected late-career activities.

Legacy

As a leading Japanese planetary and earth scientist, he left an impact not only through academic research but also popular writing and policy advice. Through his books and media appearances he contributed to the dissemination of earth-systems thinking and planetary science.

Museums

  • Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, Japan

In Popular Culture

  • NHK 'Great Journey of the Earth' (involved in planning/supervision)
  • TV appearances (TBS 'Inochi no Hibiki', Nippon TV specials, etc.)

Quotes

  • Becoming world-leading in hardware will spread to software, they say, but it differs by field.
    Source: Statement at the Administrative Reform Council (budget hearings, 2009) (2009)
  • Looking at Mr. Ishihara's remarks, they are completely the opposite of what I say. I have never expressed it in such words anywhere, and I have discussed the 'grandmother hypothesis' in many places, so one can see from that.
    Source: Monthly 'Shizen to Ningen' (Nature and Humans), February 2003 (statement) (2003)

Trivia

  • Presented a Mars globe to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama (anecdote).
  • Won the 61st Mainichi Publishing Culture Award (Natural Science) in 2007 for 'Collapse of the Earth System'.
  • Published a theory on water planets in Nature, gaining international attention.
  • Served as president (13th) of Chiba Institute of Technology.