Masahiro Toda (1924-2016) was a Japanese physicist known for his fundamental contributions to the fields of statistical mechanics and condensed matter physics. His most celebrated work is the development of the Toda lattice, a one-dimensional nonlinear crystal model introduced in 1967. This system is fundamental in the study of solitons and integrable systems, as it is one of the rare nonlinear models that is exactly solvable, thus providing a deep understanding of nonlinear phenomena. In addition to his studies on lattices, Toda conducted significant research on the theory of liquids and synthesized his findings in the reference textbook "Theory of Nonlinear Lattices". For his scientific merits, he received major awards, including the Fujiwara Prize and the Japan Academy Prize, both awarded to him in 1981, and the Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1995, consolidating his legacy as a key figure in 20th-century theoretical physics.