Tomoya Arai, a renowned specialist in X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and an adviser to Rigaku Corporation, has died at the age of 77 in Osaka, Japan. Dr. Arai was born in 1931 in Tokyo. He was a student at Tokyo Metropolitan University. Immediately after finishing school, he joined Rigaku, where he devoted his life to the development of innovative X-ray fluorescence technologies. In 1962, Dr. Arai developed the first automatic sequential wavelength-dispersive spectrometer in Japan. In 1967, he oversaw the commercialization of an on-line X-ray coating thickness gauge. This was an important industrial application of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. In 1969, Dr. Arai proposed the use of an end window Rh tube in an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. This innovation opened up new opportunities in light element analysis. In 1981, he established a way of analyzing boron. In 1998, Dr. Arai obtained a PhD from the University of Tokyo, where his supervisor was Professor Y. Nihei. Dr. Arai was a recipient of the Birks Award at the 2004 Denver Conference. Some of his valuable experiences have been published in scientific journals. One interesting paper is the "Intensity and distribution of background X-rays in wavelength-dispersive spectrometry", X-Ray Spectrometry, 20, 9-22 (1991). Dr. Arai often spoke of the need to take heed of the raw data. Even in his later years, he never stopped looking at the raw data with his own eyes.
