Masao Maruyama was a leading Japanese political scientist and political theorist. His expertise lay in the history of Japanese political thought, to which he made major contributions.
Background
Masao Maruyama was born on March 22, 1914 in Osaka. He was the second son of journalist Maruyama Kanji. He was influenced by friends of his father such as Hasegawa Nyozekan, a circle of people identified with the liberal current of political thought during the period of Taishō democracy.
Education
After graduating from Tokyo Furitsu Number One Middle School (currently known as Tokyo Municipal Hibiya High School), he entered the Tokyo Imperial University and graduated from the Department of Law in 1937. His thesis "The Concept of the Nation-state in Political Science" earned a Distinguished Thesis Award, and Maruyama was appointed assistant in the same department.
Career
Maruyama had a lengthy career in education at schools such as the University of Tokyo, Harvard University, St. Antony’s College at Oxford University, and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.