Shii News – Passing of Professor Tomoko Masuya
In Memoriam – Professor Tomoko Masuya
It is with profound sadness that I write to inform you that our dear supervisor, Professor Tomoko Masuya (Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo), passed away on the morning of 21 June from gallbladder cancer, which she had been battling since the autumn of 2024.
Until the very end, she remained deeply committed to her research, working to complete her projects on the tiles from Takht-i Sulayman and the Daniel Marie Fouquet Collection at the Ohara Museum of Art. She was particularly proud of her recently published volume, Persian World Histories in the Mongol Era: The Compilation and Transmission of Rashid al-Din’s Jamiʿ al-Tavarikh, edited with Osamu Otsuka and Masatomo Kawamoto (Edinburgh University Press, 2026), which made the rich body of Japanese scholarship on Ilkhanid history accessible to a wider international readership. Although she grew increasingly frail, her final days were filled with moments of joy, surrounded by her family, friends, and two of her students, Yumiko Kamada and Yui Kanda.
Her funeral ceremonies will take place in Tokyo on 4 and 5 July at the “Tsuru” Hall of Kirigaya Funeral Hall (5-32-20 Nishi-Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Wm5PFG1sY56cVw2b6). Condolence telegrams will be gratefully received. In the meantime, we would be glad to pass on any messages you may have for her family, colleagues, or friends, and we would also be grateful to receive any memories of Tomoko that you would like to share with us. Please write to Yumiko (yumiko-kamada@est.hi-ho.ne.jp) or Yui (kanda@aa.tufs.ac.jp).
She has left us far too soon, and her loss is immeasurable. We will remember her not only as an exceptional scholar and devoted supervisor but also for the warmth, generosity, and joy she brought into the lives of those around her.
With deepest sorrow,
Yumiko Kamada and Yui Kanda
- July 01, 2026
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