Ryotaro Azuma

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Ryōtarō Azuma

|native_name = {{nobold|東龍太郎}}

|image = Ryotaro Azuma.jpg

|caption =

|office = Governor of Tokyo

|term_start = 23 April 1959

|term_end = 22 April 1967

|predecessor = Seiichirō Yasui

|successor = Ryokichi Minobe

|office1 = President of Ibaraki University

|term_start1 = 1 October 1953

|term_end1 = 18 September 1958

|predecessor1 = Kyōhei Suzuki

|successor1 = Tadashi Futakata (acting)

|birth_date = {{birth date|1893|1|16}}

|birth_place = Osaka, Japan

|death_date = {{death date and age|1983|5|26|1893|1|16}}

|death_place =

| spouse = {{marriage|Teruko Azuma|1919}}

|alma_mater = Tokyo Imperial University

}}

{{nihongo|Ryōtarō Azuma|東龍太郎|Azuma Ryōtarō|extra=January 16, 1893 – May 26, 1983}} was a Japanese physician and bureaucrat who served as Governor of Tokyo from 1959 to 1967.{{cite web|title=歴代市長、長官、知事|url=http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/PROFILE/rekidai.htm|website=Tokyo Metropolitan Government|accessdate=18 February 2018}} In 1950, Azuma became a member of the international Olympic Committee (IOC).{{cite web | url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/899027 | title=Biographical information | last= | first= | website=Olympedia | date= | accessdate=30 November 2021 }}

Education

Born in Osaka, he attended Tokyo Imperial University and studied at the University of London, specializing in physical chemistry and physiology.

Career

He served in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, took a position in the Health Ministry after the war, and later became head of Ibaraki University.{{cite web|title=歴代学長|url=http://www.ibaraki.ac.jp/generalinfo/resume/history/successive/index.html|website=Ibaraki University|accessdate=18 February 2018}} In the 1950s he served as head of the Japanese Olympic Committee and played a role in bringing the 1964 Summer Olympics to Tokyo.{{cite web | url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1090263/tokyo-olympic-doctor | title=The doctor who made the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games possible | last=Barker | first=Philip | website=Inside the games | date=7 February 2020 | accessdate=30 November 2021 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2013/08/24/olympics/a-look-back-at-when-tokyo-was-awarded-1964-olympics/ | title=A look back at when Tokyo was awarded 1964 Olympics | last=Odeven | first=Ed | website=The Japan Times | date= 24 August 2013| accessdate=2 December 2021 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/27/obituaries/ryotaro-azuma-is-dead-at-90-a-former-governor-of-tokyo.html | title=Ryotaro Azuma Is Dead at 90; A Former Governor of Tokyo | last= | first= | website=The New York Times | date=27 May 1983 | accessdate=2 December 2021 }}

In 1959, he was nominated as the Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Tokyo gubernatorial election. He defeated Socialist candidate Hachirō Arita and took office on April 27. Much of his legacy as governor surrounds the improvements to Tokyo before and during the 1964 Olympics, and accompanying pollution and administrative issues.