Japanese Scholar Akira Iriye Dies at 91; History Professor, Authority on Japan-U.S., International Relations

Yomiuri Shimbun file photoAkira IriyeAkira Iriye, a world-renowned authority on the history of international relations and professor emeritus at Harvard University, died in the United States on Tuesday, according to sources close to him. Based in the United States, Iriye pioneered the promotion of Japan-U.S. exchange. Iriye was born in Tokyo and moved to the United States shortly after graduating from high school in 1953. He is a graduate of Haverford College and later earned his doctorate at Harvard University. He was an advocate of “international history” research that incorporated a multilateral perspective of interactions between nations, transcending the study of an individual country’s diplomatic history.