Regarded as the father of neutrino astronomy, Masatoshi Koshiba was awarded the Nobel prize in physics in 2002 for devising methods to study the massless subatomic particles that permeate the universe to gain insight into the evolution of stars and galaxies. A student of his, Kajita Takaaki, was awarded a Nobel prize for advancements in the same field.
Masatoshi was a professor at the University of Tokyo and the Tokai University. He was an honorary member of the Russian and US science academies.