Biography
Tadatoshi Akiba, Co-Chair of Hiroshima Council Against A & H Bombs, is a Former Mayor of Hiroshima City between 1999 and 2011 and a former member of the Japanese National Congress from 1990 to 1999.
He holds a Ph.D. from MIT and taught at SUNY, Tufts University, Hiroshima University, and others.
During the 1980s, he created and managed the Akiba Project, inviting international journalists to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to help the world understand the realities of the atomic bombings and the message of hibakusha better.
As a Diet member, he was a strong advocate of civil society’s voices concerning international matters with special emphasis on peace and nuclear weapons-related issues. While Mayor of Hiroshima, he led Mayors for Peace, an organization of international mayors, and increased its membership from around 400 cities and mayors to approximately 5,000. From 2011 through 2014, he served as Chairman of the Middle Powers Initiative (MPI), the umbrella organization of international peace NGO, and President of AFS Japan.
He also received such awards as the Ramon Magsaysay Award (also known as the Asian Nobel Prize) and Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold from the UN Association of Germany (first Asian recipient).
He holds a Ph.D. from MIT and taught at SUNY, Tufts University, Hiroshima University, and others.
During the 1980s, he created and managed the Akiba Project, inviting international journalists to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to help the world understand the realities of the atomic bombings and the message of hibakusha better.
As a Diet member, he was a strong advocate of civil society’s voices concerning international matters with special emphasis on peace and nuclear weapons-related issues. While Mayor of Hiroshima, he led Mayors for Peace, an organization of international mayors, and increased its membership from around 400 cities and mayors to approximately 5,000. From 2011 through 2014, he served as Chairman of the Middle Powers Initiative (MPI), the umbrella organization of international peace NGO, and President of AFS Japan.
He also received such awards as the Ramon Magsaysay Award (also known as the Asian Nobel Prize) and Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold from the UN Association of Germany (first Asian recipient).
