DATE2021.04.29 #Awards & Prizes

Emeritus Professor Toshio Yamagata was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.

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Emeritus Professor Toshio Yamagata

Emeritus Professor Toshio Yamagata (Department of Earth and Planetary Science) was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon in recognition of his outstanding research and teaching achievements over many years at the Medal of Honor Ceremony on April 29, 2021.

Professor Emeritus Professor Yamagata has led the world in the field of ocean physics and climate dynamics based on geophysics and hydrodynamics of the earth and planets, and in the elucidation of the mechanisms of various climate and ocean change phenomena and their prediction. In particular, his research on El Niño phenomena occurring in the Pacific Ocean has provided the theoretical basis for the instability that exists in the coupled atmosphere-ocean system, and has led to the dramatic development of subsequent El Niño research. He also discovered and named the Indian Ocean Dipole Mode phenomenon, a similar climate change in the Indian Ocean, which has fundamentally redefined the conventional understanding of climate change of tropical origin. He has also presented the importance of the coupled atmospheric and oceanic variability in the tropics and mid-latitudes as an essential climate change phenomenon, and has spearheaded much of the current active research in this field. He has also conducted research aimed at the predictability of these climate change phenomena and the application of the predicted results, and has disseminated the results worldwide, which are used for many purposes in general social activities.

After retiring from The University of Tokyo in March 2012, Professor Emeritus Yamagata promoted research projects as Director of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology's Application Laboratory. He continues to lead international projects as Project Researcher at the JAMSTEC, actively conducting research from a broad perspective that encompasses not only the natural sciences but also the social sciences.

We would like to extend our sincere congratulations to Professor Emeritus Yamagata on receiving this award.

Cabinet Office Website
https://www8.cao.go.jp/shokun/hatsurei/r03haru.html#jokun

(Responsibility: Professor Junko Masumoto, Department of Earth and Planetary Science)