Masao Horiba

Masao Horiba was born on December 1, 1924, in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. He was the second son of Shinkichi Horiba, a chemistry professor at Kyoto Imperial University, and his wife Mikiko. As a child, Horiba suffered from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. He attended Kyoto Teachers' School's Elementary School and Konan Junior High and Senior High Schools in Kobe, Japan.

Originally interested in mathematics and astronomy, Horiba was introduced to nuclear physics by one of his high school teachers at the Konan Boys' High School. He received a B.S. in physics, and hoped to study nuclear physics with Bunsaku Arakatsu at Kyoto University. However, further study in nuclear physics was not possible in post-war Japan. The American authorities had banned such study, and instruments and testing devices had been removed or destroyed.