Takatoshi Ito

was a Japanese economist. He was a professor of the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University and a senior professor of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.

Life and career Ito graduated from the Faculty of Economics, Hitotsubashi University in 1973 and from the Graduate School of Economics in the same institute in 1975. He earned a Ph.D from Harvard University in 1979. He served as Deputy Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs from 1999 to 2001.

A renowned expert in the 1997 Asian financial crisis, some of his notable research focused on international monetary policy for which he advocated increased regional integration to prevent similar crises in the future. His views have been published in some of the world's most influential media, such as The Economist. Ito was reportedly short-listed for the position of Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) following Shinzo Abe's second election as Prime Minister of Japan (the position ultimately went to Haruhiko Kuroda).

Ito was also an affiliated faculty member of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University.

He was the dean of the Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Tokyo in 2012 until 2014.

Ito died on 20 September 2025, at the age of 74.

Selected publications Books

Journal articles