Masahiro Takada receives 2025 Commendation for Science and Technology from MEXT

April 8, 2025
Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU, WPI)

The University of Tokyo Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU, WPI) Deputy Director Masahiro Takada has been awarded the 2025 Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, it was announced on April 8.

Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) gives out this award to individuals who have made significant contributions to research development and to promoting the understanding of science and technology, both to raise the standard of science and technology in the country. The commendation for Science and Technology is awarded to an individual or group that has carried out remarkable original research that has contributed to development in their field.

This year’s award commends Takada’s involvement in precise cosmological research using data from the Subaru Telescope. The Kavli IPMU Deputy Director has for several years led an international science working group that has carried out observations and analysis of data taken by the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) attached to the Subaru Telescope. By studying shape distortions to galaxies due to gravitational lensing effects, his team has been able to test the universe’s Standard Model, and study details about primordial black holes, a candidate for what dark matter is. Their achievements include cutting down the list of potential primordial black hole candidates, helping researchers all around the world to inch closer to finding some answers. The Subaru Telescope has contributed to great domestic and international research in observational cosmology, adding it to the list of scientific fields Japan performs strongly in, and putting it on the same level as theoretical research which Japan has for a long time exceled in. Regarding his commendation, Takada made the following comment.

“On behalf of the Subaru Telescope HSC team, it is an honor to have been recognized with this year’s Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. I am here thanks to the leadership and guidance of many teachers, beginning with (former Kavli IPMU Director) Hitoshi Murayama. I’m also grateful to the many collaborators who have worked with our team. Finally, I need to thank my family for their unwavering support over the years.

“The Subaru Telescope has entered a new phase with the launch of our newest tool, the Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS). This is not simply a continuation of what we were doing before, and we have great expectations that pairing the PFS with the HSC will advance cosmology in leaps and bounds. So with that in mind I want to go back to my roots, and contribute to this new chapter with a renewed mind. I will do my best, and ask if you could continue to support our team. Our challenge is to uncover whether dark energy changes with time. Stay tuned!”

An award ceremony for this year’s award winners will be held at MEXT on April 15.

Subaru Telescope helps determine that dark matter is not made up of tiny primordial black holes (April 2, 2019)