Subj:   Obituary for Dr. Ichiji Okada
From:   [log in to unmask]

Post by Dr. Jim Cane, forwarded from the Apoidea list:

>Dear Bee Friends,
>It is with great sadness that we report the death of Dr. Ichiji
>Okada at
>the age of 89.
>
>Obituary                Ichiji Okada (1909 - 1999)
>
> Ichiji Okada, Professor Emeritus of Tamagawa University, former
>Dean of
>Faculty of Agriculture and Graduate School of Agriculture, and
>former
>Director of the Institute of Honeybee Science, Tamagawa
>University, Tokyo,
>Japan, died on 18 March, 1999.  His career in Tamagawa University
>made him
>world-renowned researcher, educator and consultant for the
>beekeepers in Japan with numerous
>contributions to the field of apicultural research.
>       As a boy Ichiji Okada lived in the country town on the Japan
>Sea,
>collected butterflies. He wrote his first article including a
>newly recorded
>butterfly during his high school age. He continued his studies at
>Hokkaido
>University on the classification of mushroom flies(32 articles).
>He worked on soybean
>pod borer moth(22 articles) at the Experiment Station in the
>northern China. After obtaining the degree of Dr. of Agriculture
>with his
>contribution to the moth studies, he was invited to teach and
>work as a
>professor at Tamagawa University in 1949.
>       At Tamagawa University, he carried out research about the native
>Japanese
>honeybees Apis cerana as well as Apis mellifera, and the applied
>apicultural research on bee products including honey, royal
>jelly, pollen, beeswax and
>drone brood. His research was a great support to the beekeeping
>in Japan
>which had had limited scientific background. He also maintained
>important
>international exchanges; sent disciple researchers abroad and
>welcomed
>researchers to Japan, which made him known to the world of
>honeybee
>science.
>       For over 30 years Prof. Okada dedicated himself for the
>advancement of
>apicultural research and published more than ten books and 300
>papers. He
>also had supervised hundreds of students, many of whom are
>prominent
>researchers, beekeepers and school teachers now. When Tamagawa
>University
>established the Institute of Honeybee Science in 1979,
>recognizing the
>contributions of his group, Prof. Okada became the first
>director.
>       In 1982 he was awarded the Third Class Order of the Sacred
>Treasure by
>the Emperor Hirohito, for his long years of dedication to
>apicultural research
>and education. In 1983 he received a Special Recognition Award
>for service
>and support to the beekeeping industry from the Japan Beekeeping
>Association. In 1985, he took the role of general secretary for
>the 30th
>International Apicultural Congress (APIMONDIA) in Nagoya
>organized by the
>Japan Beekeeping Association.
>       Ichiji Okada retired from the University in 1985 and was given
>the title
>of Professor Emeritus. He is survived by his wife Yuri Okada, one
>son, two
>daughters and four grandchildren, two brothers and three sisters.
>He
>leaves behind a long career of dedicated service to Japanese
>beekeeping and
>honeybee science. His many former students, researchers,
>beekeepers and
>friends, will miss him.
>
>Prof. Dr. Tadaharu Yoshida
>Director of Honey Bee Science Research Center
>Tamagawa University,
>Machida, Tokyo, Japan
>Email: [log in to unmask]

>James H. Cane                                           _
>USDA-ARS Bee Biology and Systematics Lab               | ]
>Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-5310 USA             (\|/   /
>tel: 435-797-3879   FAX: 435-797-0461            -{||||O+8<
>email: [log in to unmask]                         (/|\   \
>web page: http://www.LoganBeeLab.usu.edu/              | ]
>*^*^*^*^^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^                   -
>