Prof. Takeuchi obtained M.Agr. and PhD from the Graduate School of Agriculture, the University of Tokyo. From 2016, he has served as a Senior Visiting Professor at United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). He was Director and a Project Professor of Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S) at the University of Tokyo from 2017 to 2019. He has served as President, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) since July 2017. He took up the position as Project Professor of the Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI) at the University of Tokyo in April 2019. He has served, inter alia, as a Vice-President of the Science Council of Japan, Chair of the Central Environmental Council, Government of Japan, Editor-in-Chief of the journal Sustainability Science (Springer Nature).

He received the Ichimura Prize in Science against Global Warming for Distinguished Achievement in 2019, Otto Soemarwoto Award (Indonesia) in 2018, Japan Prize of Agricultural Science in 2017, Ishikawa Award of the City Planning Institute of Japan in 1994, Award of the Association of Rural Planning, Japan in 1994, and Award of the Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture in 1980. He specializes in landscape ecology, environmental studies, and sustainability science. He engages in research and outreach activities on creating eco-friendly environments for a harmonious coexistence of people and nature, especially focusing on Asia and Africa. Recently, he has been working toward establishing a global foundation for developing the field of sustainability science aiming to build a sustainable society. He is deeply involved in the SATOYAMA initiative, aiming at the restoration and revitalization of socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes around the world, and Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) initiated by FAO.