Atsuko Hirai, the Kazushige Hirasawa Professor of History Emerita at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, died at her home on July 14 after battling cancer for seven years. She was 78 years old.
A native of Japan, Professor Hirai studied at Tokyo University before coming to the United States to earned a Ph.D. in government at Harvard University. Before joining the faculty at Bates College in 1988, Dr. Hirai taught at Harvard University, Sophia University, Michigan State University, Wellesley College, and Simmons College. She also served as a fellow in Japanese and Korean studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She retired from teaching in 2013.
Professor Hirai was author of several books including her latest work, Government by Mourning: Death and Political Integration in Japan, 1603-1912 (Harvard University Press, 2014).