Tokyo: Shigeru Oda, who served as a judge for the International Court of Justice for 27 years, died of natural causes at the age of 100 at his home on Sept. 4. As the leading global figure in the theoretical field of ocean law, Oda, a native of the northern Japan prefecture of Hokkaido, had a massive impact on the operations of diplomacy. He also served as honorary professor at Japan's Tohoku University.

According to Philippines News Agency, Oda was appointed an ICJ member in 1976, during his career at the university. Serving three terms as a judge of the court in The Hague, the Netherlands, Oda worked on solving international conflicts. He was vice president of the ICJ between 1991 and 1994.

A member of the government-affiliated Japan Academy, Oda was named a Person of Cultural Merit in 2007 and received the Order of Culture in 2012.