Kunihiko Kodaira, the first Japanese mathematician to receive the Fields medal, was best known for his work on the theory of complex manifolds and algebraic geometry.

Born in Nagano on March 16, 1915, Kodaira taught in Tokyo during World War II and was pressed into cryptographic service for the Axis powers. After the war, he came to the United States, where he learned of the latest advances on Hodge theory. He collaborated with D. C. Spencer on building up the deformation theory of complex structures on manifolds.

Kodaira died in Kofu on July 26, 1997. The Kodaira dimension is named in his honor.