is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 mathematician

Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

, currently a professor at the University of Tokyo

University of Tokyo

, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...

. He is a grandson of the linguist Kaku Jimbo.

After graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1974, he studied under Mikio Sato

Mikio Sato

is a Japanese mathematician, who started the field of algebraic analysis. He studied at the University of Tokyo, and then did graduate study in physics as a student of Shin'ichiro Tomonaga...

 at the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences

Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences

The is a research institute attached to Kyoto University, hosting researchers in the mathematical sciences from all over Japan. The institute is often abbreviated as RIMS...

 in Kyoto University

Kyoto University

, or is a national university located in Kyoto, Japan. It is the second oldest Japanese university, and formerly one of Japan's Imperial Universities.- History :...

. He has made important contributions to mathematical physics

Mathematical physics

Mathematical physics refers to development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The Journal of Mathematical Physics defines this area as: "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the development of mathematical methods suitable for such applications and...

, including (independently of Vladimir Drinfel'd

Vladimir Drinfel'd

Vladimir Gershonovich Drinfel'd is a Ukrainian and Soviet mathematician at the University of Chicago.The work of Drinfeld related algebraic geometry over finite fields with number theory, especially the theory of automorphic forms, through the notions of elliptic module and the theory of the...

) the initial development of the study of quantum group

Quantum group

In mathematics and theoretical physics, the term quantum group denotes various kinds of noncommutative algebra with additional structure. In general, a quantum group is some kind of Hopf algebra...

s. In 1993 he won the Japan Academy Prize for this work. In 2010 he received the Wigner Medal.