Dr. Masakatsu Izaki and I both are graduates of the Medical School, Keio University.  I knew him as a sprint runner while he was a student.  He was two years ahead of me at graduation in 1943, but joined the Department of Dermatology at the KeioUniversity Hospital in 1946, two years after my dermatological training started.  This delay was due to Dr. Izaki being drafted as an army doctor and sent to Manchuria, Okinawa and Taiwan and repartriated in 1946. Though I was a member of  the Keio Univ Soccor Club, we were good team mates in the departmental relay race which took place around the University Hospital.  We usually won the contest among the different departments and our team members were very happy and celebrated the victory with saki and beer.  However, Dr. Izaki did not drink and usually left the party just after the greetings.  We considered him a spoil sport.

Dr. Izaki was born a son of a missionary and lived in a charch located on Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.  (He therefore had no difficulty in mastering English.)  The church on Prison street had a front yard which I often pointed out to other colleagues saying, "Dr. Izaki had played here."  Dr. Izaki was a pious Christian and showed a gentle personality in comparison to the rest of us in the department.  However, once it came to learning, he was eager to learn; he was running around the university to collect information. We gave him the nickname "Louka-Tombi" translated as a high flying kite or in U.S. terms, "running around like a chicken with his head cut off."  The text books he carried were riddled with additional writing, but it was not enough.  He even added memos on the pages and his books became almost twice as thick as the original. I cannot forget him reading the mostly upgraded books.  Oh No!  That is not all!  He often misplaced the books, and was in an uproar!!

Some years after Dr. Izaki had taken the position of Professor at Iwate Medical College, he held the 6th Pacific Skin Research Club at Hachimantai hot springs in Iwate.  He invited me to come and asked me "would you mind being a guide for the Ladies Program?"  So I became a tour guide.  Dr. Izaki had a special skill, asking his friends to do something unusual, and we had difficulty saying No to him. 

Unforgettable and beloved Old-timer !!