Akihiro Sawa *87

Akihiro Sawa, a longtime official in the Japanese government, died Jan. 16, 2016, of pancreatic cancer at 58.

Sawa graduated in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Hitotsubashi University. After finishing first among 4,500 applicants in a national civil service exam, he joined the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry in 1981.

He held high administrative posts in numerous and varied departments within the ministry as well as being on loan for a time with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1985 to 1987, he attended the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton and earned an MPA.

Sawa then returned to the Japanese ministry  and remained until 2004, when he became a professor at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo. In 2008, he became an executive with Misawa Co. in Osaka, Japan.

A colleague wrote, “He was known for his outspoken and insightful opinions on energy and the environment issues in Japan. He loved Princeton.” In December, after his illness was diagnosed, Sawa visited Princeton and the Wilson School with his wife, who survives him.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.