Asia scholar Ezra Vogel dies

Ezra Feivel Vogel, a prominent expert on Asian studies and a social sciences professor at Harvard University, died aged 90 at a hospital in the U.S. state of Massachusetts on Sunday, the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at the university confirmed. 

"It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our former director Ezra F. Vogel (1930-2020)," the center tweeted. 

The professor of social science was widely known for his 1979 book "Japan as Number One: Lessons for America," which became a best seller in Japan, Kyodo reported.

The book explained the reason behind Japan's economic prosperity after World War II and praised Japanese-style business practices, helping shape U.S. perceptions of the country.

In an opinion piece written for Kyodo News in 2016, Vogel said, "The reason I wrote 'Japan As Number One' was...because I thought that, in many aspects of the society, Japan was doing extremely well."

"It had a very low crime rate, they had very good public education. At that time, they had very high quality bureaucrats. They had a very stable and open society," he also said.