RECOLLECTIONS OF DR. SEIJI OHSUMIRECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIRECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMI
Yong-Rock AN
Cetacean Research Institute, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute,
139–29, Maeam-dong, Nam-gu, Ulsan, Republic of Korea

It is a great honor to remember the life of the late Dr. Oshumi. We have lost the extraordinary life of
this remarkable man who devoted his whole life to Cetology.
The ﬁrst time I met him was when we entered Ishinomaki Port after the JARPN II research cruisein 2003. My ﬁrst impression of him was that of a very gracious and gentle man, but when we talked
about whale research, his eyes were full of energy.
I understand that he and my Japanese leaders and colleagues fully supported me to prepare my
post-doctoral study on Cetology. But I gave up the great opportunity to study whales in Japan because
at about the same time I got a job as a whale researcher of the Cetacean Research Institute (CRI) in
Korea. Nevertheless, he still congratulated and encouraged me.
Dr. Oshumi was always energetic and very active when I met him at the IWC Scientiﬁc Committeeor the related workshops. He was my great teacher with more extensive experience and deeper knowledge on Cetology than anyone else. Also, he was very interested in the policies and issues of whalingin Korea as well as my research activity.
The citizens of Ulsan, the venue for the 57th IWC meeting in 2005, know him very well because heparticipated in the Whale Festival several times and gave valuable lectures on Cetology and whaling
culture. I believe their thoughts and prayers are with his bereaved family and colleagues.
Great man, great loss. I will always be grateful for his contributions to whale research and mentorship. I am missing already his smile and clapping in Kanto style.
Rest in peace Oshumi-sensei.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIIN MEMORY OF DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Arne BJØRGE and Tore HAUG
Institute of Marine Research, Nordnesgaten 50, Bergen, Norway

It was with great sadness that we received the message that Dr. Seiji Ohsumi passed away November 2, 2019. We learned to know and admire Dr. Ohsumi at the Scientiﬁc Committee (SC) of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), where he participated as a leading scientist over a period of
more than half a century and chaired the Japanese delegation in the 1990’s.
Dr. Ohsumi had an interest in, and great knowledge of, a variety of scientiﬁc aspects of the biology, ecology and management of cetaceans. He published strange details and curiosities such as theﬁnding of visible hind limbs in striped (Stenella coeruleoalba) and bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus)
dolphins (Ohsumi, 1965; Ohsumi and Kato 2008) and the virginal membrane in large rorquals(Ohsumi; 1969). But his most important achievements were on the life history, in particular age determination, of a number of species (e.g., Nishiwaki, Hibiya and Ohsumi, 1958a, 1958b; Ohsumi,
Kasuya and Nishiwaki, 1963; Ohsumi, 1964) and his revolutionary studies into the social life of the
sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus, Ohsumi, 1971). In recent years during the special permit
whaling, his interests were also devoted to the ecological role of cetaceans, especially their feeding
habits and consumption, and their role in the ecosystem (Tamura and Ohsumi 2000; Fujise, Hatanaka,
and Ohsumi 2010). His publication record spans more than six decades and covered species from thesmall Dall’s porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) to the great blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus).
Dr. Ohsumi was one of the most respected members of the IWC/SC. Although members of the SC
could have diﬀerent views on a number of issues, all participants listened carefully when Dr. Ohsumi
spoke. His impressive publication record and his life-long experience from surveys at sea, laboratory
work and advanced theoretical studies in the oﬃce, made him an authority within the SC. His knowledge combined with a well-developed sense of humour made him also one of the best debaters in the
SC. And we all loved his funny speeches every year at the traditional dinner party following the closing session of the SC. Dr. Ohsumi will be deeply missed.

References
Fujise, Y., Hatanaka, H. and Ohsumi, S. 2010. Changes in the Antarctic marine ecosystem as revealed by the JARPA
research: What has happened to the Antarctic minke whale stocks? Ottar (Tromsø Museum) 280: 29–34.
Nishiwaki, M., Hibiya, T. and Ohsumi (Kimura), S. 1958a. Age study of sperm whale based on reading of tooth laminations.
Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 13: 135–153.
Nishiwaki, M., Hibiya, T. and Ohsumi (Kimura), S. 1958b. Age study of ﬁn whale based on ear plug. Sci. Rep. Whales Res.
Inst. 13: 155–169.
Ohsumi, S. 1964. Examination on age determination of the ﬁn whale. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 18: 49–88.
Ohsumi, S. 1965. A dolphin (Stenella caeruleoalba) with protruded rudimentary hind limbs. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 19: 135–136.
Ohsumi, S. 1969. Occurrence and rupture of vaginal band in ﬁn, sei and blue whales. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 21: 85–94.
Ohsumi, S. 1971. Some investigations on the school structure of the sperm whale. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 23: 1–25.
Ohsumi, S., Kasuya, T. and Nishiwaki, M. 1963. The accumulation rate of dentinal growth layers in the maxillary tooth of
the sperm whale. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 17: 15–35.
Ohsumi, S. and Kato, H. 2008. A bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) with ﬁn-shaped hind appendages. Mar. Mamm. Sci.
24(3): 743–745.
Tamura, T. and Ohsumi, S. 2000. Regional assessments of prey consumption by marine cetaceans in the World. Paper SC/52/E6
presented to the IWC Scientiﬁc Committee, June 2000 (unpublished). 42 pp. [Paper available from the Oﬃce of the IWC].

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIREMEMBERING DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Robert L. BROWNELL Jr.
Former Chair of the IWC Scientiﬁc Committee, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, USA

Seiji lived a wonderful life and was a great scientist. When Dr. Omura died, I attended his service
and there were many people present, including Seiji. During the service, Seiji said to me that “I hopethat when I die this many people will attend my service ‘to pick my bones’”. As it turned out, thenumber of people at the memorial ceremony for Seiji on 23 December 2019 far exceeded the numberthat attended Omura’s service. Seiji was a great help to me when I was doctoral student at the Ocean
Research Institute, University of Tokyo. So that I could survive as a non-working student in 1974, Seiji arranged for me to be Visiting Biologist at the Far Seas Fisheries Research Laboratory in Shimizu
via a Japanese Government Research Award for Foreign Specialists.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIRECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMI
Doug BUTTERWORTH
Professor Emeritus, Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town,
South Africa

I ﬁrst met Seiji in late 1980 at an IWC workshop held in Seattle, during which he invited me to partake in what was my ﬁrst sushi meal. The workshop was held to discuss how best to develop estimatesof whale abundance from sighting surveys. This topic had come into prominence as a key componentof the IWC’s International Decade of Cetacean Research, whose ﬂagship programme was annual minke whale assessment surveys in the Antarctic. Seiji was co-convenor of the programme together with
my own colleague, Peter Best, and this soon led to many visits to Japan to participate in the meetings
that planned these surveys. Seiji would chair these in his customary friendly style, but also took responsibility for organising hospitality for the foreign guests outside meetings’ hours. Thus, it was Seiji
who took me on my ﬁrst “tourist trip” around Tokyo, including Tokyo Tower and the Meiji Shrine,
and the evenings would often encompass a visit to his favourite robatayaki bar in Shinjuku with its
large badger statue outside. Seiji was a great host, and when on one occasion some on my relatives
accompanied me on a visit to Tokyo, he insisted on according us the rare privilege of a visit to his own
home in Shinjuku. Fortunately, on that occasion we managed to get there without becoming lost in the
cavernous underground malls of Shinjuku station, something even Shinjuku-resident Seiji would admit had sometimes happened indeed to him.
For many decades Seiji served as the leading Japanese whale scientist, representing his views andcountry faithfully and eﬀectively in the cauldron that was the IWC Scientiﬁc Committee during thosetimes, as well as tabling the outcomes of his often-substantial studies in that forum. In debates there
he frequently clashed with arch-anti-whaler Sidney Holt on a host of issues, gamely responding ininterchanges that would play on the subtleties of the English language which, unlike for him, was themother tongue of his opponents and gave them an undue advantage.
My abiding recollection of Seiji will be of his unchanging pleasant and friendly nature. After hisretirement, he would still come through regularly to his work-space at the Institute of Cetacean Research. A visit there would always include catching up with him, when he’d enthusiastically explain
what research issue he was working on at the time. Like the late John Bannister, with whom he sharedso many IWC/SC meetings, he was the epitome of a gentleman.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMICONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF
DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Phillip CLAPHAM
Alaska Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA,
7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA, USA

On behalf of my wife and myself, please accept our sincere condolences for the passing of thegreat Seiji Ohsumi. It is a very sad day. Seiji’s scientiﬁc contributions were large, but I will always
remember him for his gentle nature and his kindness. We often disagreed at the IWC, but my wife andI always enjoyed our conversations with him, and he always displayed a great courtesy to everyone.
He will be missed.
Very sincerely,
Phillip Clapham and Yulia Ivashchenko

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIREMEMBERING DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Doug DEMASTER
Former Chair of the IWC Scientiﬁc Committee, and Director, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, USA

In the Alaska Native culture, elders are greatly respected for their wisdom and civility. At the IWC
Scientiﬁc Committee, while I was chair, I greatly appreciated Dr. Ohsumi’s contributions to our deliberations. He was one of our elders. His comments reﬂected considerable experience and knowledge
regarding whales and whaling. He was an elder to be respected. I was very grateful to him for his consistent support of Alaska Native subsistence hunters.
With my deep regards,
Doug DeMaster

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMICONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF
DR. SEIJI OHSUMIGreg DONOVAN
Former Head of Science, International Whaling Commission, Cambridge, UK

I was so sorry to hear of the news of the death of Seiji. He was a great man and one of the kindest
senior scientists as I began my cetacean career 42 years ago and remained a true gentleman throughout
the years. His knowledge of cetacean biology, especially of the large whales was unparalleled and hisenergy and enthusiasm remained undiminished until the end—an example to all of us. Please pass mysincere condolences to all my Japanese colleagues and especially those at ICR.
With best wishes
Greg

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIHOMAGE TO DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Yoshihiro FUJISE
Director General, Institute of Cetacean Research, 4–5 Toyomi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Dr. Seiji Ohsumi joined the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) in 1991, and from December 1995
to January 2004 he was in charge of the operation of the Institute and the guidance of the staﬀ as its
director-general. In addition to his scientiﬁc accomplishments as a researcher with more than 700
papers, he was interested in everything related to whales, including whale culture and whales as food,and attended many relevant meetings and never stopped being interested in these things. Especiallyon the research side, he constantly inspired young researchers with various ideas. Further, the spirit oftaking good care of food has been passed on to the institute’s staﬀ with the catchphrase “You would
be scolded by Dr. Ohsumi if you leave the food you are served.” In addition to paying homage to theteacher who pursued his dream throughout his life, I think many of us would like to live such a life.
Ohsumi-sensei, I’m really thankful to you.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIMEMORIES OF SEIJI OHSUMIRay GAMBELL
Former Secretary to the International Whaling Commission (1976–2000),
Green End, Landbeach, Cambridge, CB25 9FD, UK

Seiji Ohsumi was already an important ﬁgure in the world of whale research when I entered thisﬁeld in the early 1960s. It was a time of great international pressure to halt the over-catching and decline of whale populations, particularly in the Antarctic. Research on the basic biology and lives of thegreat whales had been carried out by scientists, mainly from the whaling nations, since the beginningof the Antarctic whaling industry at the beginning of the century. Thus, Japan had a history of such endeavours, and Seiji built on and expanded this knowledge base by his own research.
I was fortunate therefore to work with Seiji, and whale biologists from a rather small group of countries, to bring together the research we carried out on these fascinating and commercially valuable animals. We met at the annual meetings of the Scientiﬁc Committee of the International Whaling Commission, at special meetings and working groups around the world, to bring together our knowledge
on speciﬁc species or populations. We also socialised outside the working hours!
The new science of ﬁsheries population dynamics and the regulation of ﬁsheries was brought tobear on the whaling problem in the 1970s. This required all the available catch statistics and relevant
biological information such as growth, age and mortality of the diﬀerent species and populations to be
combined together for analysis. Seiji joined with scientists from other nations to pool these data andprepare them for mathematical analysis.
Despite the pressures of these meetings, Seiji was always a charming and approachable colleague.
We kept in touch after I retired in the year 2000 and exchanged cards and news at Christmas. His last
message to me was “I go into the oﬃce every day—I have no other interest.”

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMISOME WORDS FOR DR. SEIJI OHSUMIJohn “Craig” GEORGE
Wildlife Biologist (retired), North Slope Borough, Department of Wildlife Management, Utqiaġvik, Alaska, USA

It is an honor to oﬀer some words for Dr. Seiji Ohsumi. Like many classically trained whale biologists of his time, Ohsumi understood whales “inside and out.” He was knowledgeable about their anatomy, physiology, population dynamics, marine ecology, whaling history and more.
While editing and writing the recently published book “The Bowhead Whale: Biology and Human
Interactions”1 I carefully reviewed the report Black Right Whales of the North Paciﬁc by Ohsumi andcolleagues2. I was astonished at the detail and sheer volume of work they did on this species. I was
also impressed that the North Paciﬁc right whales are more similar anatomically to their bowhead
cousins than I previously realized; this has important implications to the bowheads’ response to climate warming.
Equally important to being an outstanding whale biologist, Seiji Ohsumi was a gentleman. His conduct at the IWC Scientiﬁc Committee (SC) meetings was always digniﬁed and respectful even during
the many heated debates. I particularly valued his insights on the feeding ecology, reproductive biology, and health assessment of large whales.
I always enjoyed his words at the SC banquet and was impressed by his uncanny oratory skills in
English which were far better than my own. He would give a toast or tell a story usually following
John Bannister’s silly Australian “dunny” joke. He would often say, “I don’t understand British humor, but I enjoyed your story nonetheless.” Thanks for your honesty, Seiji, no one really understands
British humor!
At the IWC meeting in Anchorage he indicated that would like to taste bowhead whale. With thehelp of an Inupiat friend, we shared some agviq (bowhead) Japanese style with soy sauce and wasabi.
It was a nice moment as he expressed his impressions and reverence for the whale. I considered Seiji
a great friend and greatly miss him. I feel honored to carry on the type of work he did on large whale
biology.

George, J. C. and Thewissen, J. G. M. (Eds.), 2020. The Bowhead Whale, Balaena mysticetus: Biology and Human Interactions. 1st Edition. Elsevier/Academic Press, 668 pp.
2
Omura, H., Ohsumi, S., Nemoto, T., Nasu, K., and Kasuya, T. 1969. Black right whales in the North Paciﬁc. Sci. Rep.
Whales Res. Inst. 21: 1–78.
1

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIREMEMBERING DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Hiroshi HATANAKA
Adviser Emeritus, Institute of Cetacean Research, 4–5 Toyomi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Dr. Ohsumi was a man who walked the straight and narrow path of whale research. He used to saythat “my occupation is whale research and my hobby is also whale research” and he never gave asecond thought to this path. Nearly 30 years ago, I got to work with whales under the guidance of Dr.
Ohsumi, and I was amazed at the breadth and depth of his knowledge of whales. I had the opportunity
to travel abroad with him and he was highly regarded and respected by foreign scientists as well.
In the midst of post-war food shortages, we Japanese were on the verge of starvation and, eversince, Dr. Ohsumi kept consistently conducting and leading research to promote the use of cetacean
resources to provide animal protein and establish their sustainable use on a scientiﬁc basis.
Now that Dr. Ohsumi has passed away, I am immersed in a sense of loss of an excellent leader anda feeling of loneliness for losing an unparalleled friend.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIMOURNING DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Yoshihiro HAYASHIFormer President, National Museum of Nature and Science, 7–20 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Dr. Ohsumi was a person who never wavered. Although he was 16 years my senior, whenever wemet, he always had a smile on his face and spoke in a way that made me feel no age diﬀerence. The
fact that we studied at the same university, though we were in diﬀerent departments, and that ourbirthdays were on the same day, July 12, may have been the reason why I felt particularly close tohim. Likewise, Dr. Ohsumi’s doctoral dissertation was on the establishment of an age assessment
method for ﬁn whales, while my theme was the geographical variation of wild boars, and I needed an
accurate age assessment to compare wild boars from diﬀerent regions. It is said that the age of whales
can be accurately estimated even at 100 years old by the annual rings formed on their earwax plugs,
but wild boars’ age can only be read up to 10 years at most due to the annual rings formed in the
cementum of their posterior molars. However, since both ﬁn whales and wild boars are mammals, I
remember Dr. Ohsumi’s thesis being very helpful for my research.
It was only after I was dispatched to the Southern Ocean as a veterinarian during the 1978–79
whaling season, when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) asked the Fisheries Agency for“an accurate estimation of killing time of Antarctic minke whales” that I became able to talk closelywith Dr. Ohsumi. He was always present in the Japanese delegation’s waiting room at the annual IWC
meetings held at Cambridge University in the UK, Germany, St. Kitts and Nevis, Mexico, and so on.
It is thanks to our predecessors that Japan has been able to play an active role in the international community as a sound, unwavering whaling nation, and Dr. Ohsumi was undoubtedly one of our country’s
foremost ﬁgures in this ﬁeld.
May he rest in peace.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIRECOLLECTION OF SEIJI OHSUMI
Kazuhiko HIRAMATSU
Associate Professor, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo,
5–1–5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan

When I got a job at the National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries in April 1984 and was
assigned to the High Latitudes Oceanography Section, Oceanography and Southern Ocean Resources
Division, the division leader was Dr. Seiji Ohsumi. He was my boss's boss. I did not have much opportunity to talk to him because he was promoted to the Research Planning and Coordination Division
in a little over a year, but I was impressed with his aggressive appearance. He was already in his mid50s at that time.
After that, he was the Director General of the National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries andthere was not much contact between an ordinary researcher and the director. But one day, I was called
into the director's oﬃce and wondered what was going on. He introduced me to a matchmaking. I declined politely because the marriage was decided just before, but it seems that there was also an aspectof taking care of staﬀ who are unlikely to get married. After he moved to the Institute of Cetacean
Research, there was a little interaction, such as attending a meeting when I was involved with researchon cetaceans for a short time, and participating in the Fisheries Resources Management Colloquium at
the Institute of Cetacean Research. In retrospect, I have had a long relationship with him since I started as a researcher.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMITWO MEMORIES OF DR. OHSUMI
Koichi KAJI
Professor Emeritus, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology,
Director of Wildlife Management Research Center, 940 Aogakicho, Sawano, Tamba, Hyogo, Japan

There are two things that left a strong impression in my memories of Dr. Ohsumi. One is a letterof compassionate encouragement and an expectation that I received from Dr. Ohsumi when I moved
from a research institute in Hokkaido to Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) in
April 2006. Every time I encountered a diﬃcult situation, I was able to return to my original intension
by rereading the letter many times.
The other is the event at the whaling seminar co-hosted with Professor Hidehiro Kato of Tokyo
University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT) in July 2007. In that year, I focused on thewhaling controversy in my seminar for six ﬁrst-year students. As the ﬁnal touch on the seminar, Professor Kato kindly arranged a joint seminar titled “On the Whaling Issue.” This was an exceptionalseminar in which graduate students of the TUMSAT commented on the presentation by the TUAT
ﬁrst-year students, and a scientist from the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) gave a summary andcomment. Dr. Ohsumi, an adviser of the ICR, also participated in the joint seminar and gave warmcomments on the three presentations on the “History of Whaling” in Part 1.
However, Dr. Ohsumi seriously argued, “I don’t think so,” in response to the opposition’s allegations in Part 2, “The Controversy over Whaling.” Participants praised the student for making such agood presentation that Dr. Ohsumi would seriously argue. I felt the sincerity of the academic discipline when I saw Dr. Ohsumi sincerely facing the presentation of the ﬁrst grader. I would like to cherish Dr. Ohsumi’s message that it is science-based words that can transcend the conﬂict of values.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIRECOLLECTION OF SEIJI OHSUMI
Toshio KASUYA
Retired Professor, Mie University and Teikyo University of Science and Technology,
Nagayama, Tama-shi, Tokyo, Japan

In the autumn of 1960 Dr. Masaharu Nishiwaki of the Whales Research Institute (WRI; Director
Hideo Omura) invited me to pursue my graduation thesis in his laboratory, where I met Dr. Seiji
Ohsumi. The next year I joined WRI as a research staﬀ and received trainings from Ohsumi for cetacean biologists. These included photo ﬁlm development, photo printing and creating block copies forpapers. I also learned from him processing of cetacean gonads and ageing of whales. The experiencesat WRI, including two North Paciﬁc and an Antarctic pelagic whaling cruises, formed the foundationof my later activities. Before modern tools such as personal computer and word processor became
available in the early 1980s, we biologists used abacus, slide rule, table of logarithms for data analyses, and typewrote manuscript. Recent biologists have an easier work environment and tend to create aﬂood of papers often with complicated statistical analyses of value I don’t know.
After spending 5 years at WRI, I was invited by Nishiwaki to the Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, and worked mainly on biology of Japanese small cetaceans and river dolphins of theworld. Then in 1983 Ohsumi invited me to the Cetacean Division of the Far Seas Fisheries ResearchLaboratory. With the cooperation of my staﬀ, I enjoyed 14 years (1983–1997) of my life in the Laboratory working on the biology and management of cetaceans around Japan. I believe that Ohsumi
worked for us during the period as a buﬀer between our cetacean group and the Fisheries Agency.
After my retirement from educational jobs at Mie (1997–2001) and Yamanashi (2001–2006), I
was fortunate to resume regular contacts with Ohsumi with drinking at a buckwheat noodle shop in
Shinjuku, usually twice a year. The last was on 10 July 2019, when we talked about inviting someelderly cetacean biologists, but it did not happen.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIFOLLOWING SEIJI OVER 40 YEARS
Hidehiro KATO
Professor Emeritus, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology,
Advisor, Institute of Cetacean Research, 4–5 Toyomi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, JapanI ﬁrst met Dr. Seiji Ohsumi (I would refer to him hereafter as “Seiji” for the sake of friendliness)when I was a PhD student majoring in pinnipeds such as seals and sea lions. For some days 40 years
ago, Seiji chaired a session at the marine mammal symposium, and I was sitting in the backmost row
of the hall. I was intently watching him from the back of the room, and his unique way of speaking in
his later days, which you are all familiar with, was already there. Even now, when I close my eyelids,
the impressions of that time immediately come to mind. The image brings me back memories!
Although it did not occur to me at the time of the symposium, later on I was hired as a researcher
at the former Whales Research Institute, where Seiji had also worked in the past, through the intermediary of the late Dr. Hideo Omura and others, and later moved to the Far Seas Fisheries Laboratory in
Shimizu, where I followed Seiji. Even if we continued our research at diﬀerent institutions for a while,
we kept working closely together in the research itself, and after my retirement from Tokyo Universityof Marine Science and Technology in 2018, I had the honor of working with him as an advisor at ICR.
Seiji’s written Japanese was ﬂowing and elegant, beautiful, and grammatically correct. Overseas
scientists cannot imagine that one of Seiji’s articles on whale enlightenment was used in one of thechapters of a Japanese language textbook selected for junior high school. On the night before Seiji’s death, we exchanged passionate opinions as usual about the ideal whale research and their stock
management. His face was calm, but full of intelligence. Seiji’s education was diﬀerent fromthe education that we, the younger generation,
had. Seiji inherited the liberal arts principles
based on the deep philosophical insights of theold high school under the prewar education system. As well as being a preparatory course toenter the imperial university, it was the essenceof elite education that has already been lost inJapan. Seiji was from the last student generation
to graduate from the old Niigata Public HighSchool in 1949 and went on to the old Universityof Tokyo, where he met his respected supervisor,
the late Professor Masaru Nishiwaki, and Seiji
was initiated in cetacean sciences by him there.
The image of Seiji singing his favorite dormitory
song loudly at the dormitory song festival of theold high school which, like many others in Japanis now closed, is always overlapping in my mind
Fig. 1. Dr. Seiji Ohsumi at the time of the oldwith the image of him at the symposium.
Niigata Public High School, 17 or 18 years old.
Courtesy of Seiji’s family.
May he rest in peace.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIMEMORIAL REMINDER OF THE LATE
DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Akito KAWAMURA
Professor Emeritus, Mie University, 1577 Kurimamachi Yacho, Tsu, Mie, Japan
8–9–8 Nanae-cho, Kameda-gun, Hokkaido 041–1111, Japan

More than ﬁfty years ago Dr. Seiji Ohsumi initiated a bio-ecological research on the Antarctic
minke whales. During the 1967/68 whaling season a total of 597 minkes were caught by our whaling
ﬂeets, and some essentially important biological data were obtained. With these together with somepast knowledge and sighting records having been done from time to time, Dr. Ohsumi was very awareof the importance toward establishing a well-designed model for stock management. At that time Dr.
Ohsumi foresighted coming future days of minke whale ﬁsheries in the Southern Ocean and reported
one of the basic data on the stock of this species while the amount of related data and/or evidence wasstill very limited. The report was: Stock of the Antarctic Minke Whale. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 22, (1970).
In this report he estimated the population size of the Antarctic minke whale to be 70,000, mainly
based on sighting records obtained. Although the number itself was about one tenth of the later understandings, he suggested that introduction of latitudinal and longitudinal unit areas was undoubtedly
possible an important key for stock management in the future. With hope for developing more modernized regulations for whaling ﬁsheries together with what he aimed and described in the report, thestory as a whole was full of suggestions.
As one of the younger alumni disciples of the old Whales Research Institute (WRI) I am very proudof him, having co-authored the report mentioned above. At the same time I hope that Ohsumi’s foresighted and precursory work on whale stock management and whale ﬁsheries would be remindedwidely on this occasion.
We lost a true man of whales and whale ﬁsheries. Recollections around activities and the old WRI
always accompany the late Dr. Seiji.
May his soul rest in peace.

Ohsumi, S., Masaki Y., and Kawamura, A. 1970. Stock of the Antarctic minke whale. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 22: 75–125.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIRETROSPECT OF THE LATE DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Zang Geun KIM
Senior Scientist, Fisheries Resources Management, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute,408–1 Shirang-ri, Gijang-Up, Gijang-Gun Busan, Republic of Korea

As a person who was once in charge of cetacean research in Korea, I would like to honor the memory of the late world-renowned whale scientist, Dr. Seiji Ohsumi.
He admitted me as a trainee on cetacean research in the Far Sea Fisheries Research Institute forthree months. When I arrived at Shizuoka Station in summer 1988, he came to pick me up and guided
me to the Institute and assigned an employee apartment for my accommodation. During the training
period there, I met with Drs. Tomio Miyashita and Hidehiro Kato and other colleagues.
Since 1993, Korea and Japan have established scientiﬁc cooperation through agricultural and ﬁsheries cooperation as well as science and technology cooperation, as mandated in the Article 65 of the UNCLOS. This,in certain way led to the start of systematic cetacean research in Korea and inspired the establishment of the
Cetacean Research Institute (CRI, NFRDI) in 2004. I wish this harmonious friendship may continue (Fig. 1).
I met him for more than 20 years in multiple opportunities such as on the occasion of the IWC
meetings or social events and exchange programs (Fig. 2) until I left the Cetacean Research Instituteof Korea in 2009. One of the precious memories that comes to my mind is that he liked the Koreansoybean paste soup in my house and travelled with me to many places in Korea.
With all these memories, my family and I pray that the deceased may have a rest of peace at God’s mercy.

Fig. 1. The message of Dr. Ohsumi to the opening of CRI in 2005.

Fig. 2. Group photo at the symposium on cetacean research in the Fisheries Research and Development Institute, February 14, 2001.
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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIREMEMBERING DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Toshiya KISHIRO
Deputy Director, Highly Migratory Resources Division, Fisheries Resources Institute, National Researchand Development Agency, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency,
2–12–4 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

I met Dr. Ohsumi for the ﬁrst time when I joined the National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries after graduation in 1989. At that time, he was the director of the Institute, and I received rudimentary guidance as a researcher from him as a newcomer to the Cetacean Lab. He was engaged not onlyin pursuing research on whales, but also worked to organize research on other international ﬁsheryresources sections such as tuna and salmon and nurtured many researchers at the National Institute. In
addition, despite his busy schedule, he had written many books on whales aimed for the general publicand contributed to the dissemination of whale knowledge in Japanese society. All of us admired his
vitality and inclusive, straight personality. After his retirement in 1991, he moved to the Institute of
Cetacean Research, and continued to work and enthusiastically guide our cetacean research for many
years. He had been literally a living dictionary and a spiritual pillar for us. On behalf of our Institute,
I express sincerely respect for his achievements, and deep gratefulness for his leadership and encouragements for us. I feel that he continues to encourage the future progress of the cetacean population
studies even after he’s gone.
I pray from the bottom of my heart that his soul may rest in peace.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIRECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMI
Rebecca LENT* and Iain STANILAND***Secretary, International Whaling Commission**Secretariat Lead for Science, International Whaling Commision
The Red House, 135 Station Road, Impington, Cambridge, UK

Dr. Seiji Ohsumi was a stalwart of the IWC Scientiﬁc Committee (SC) because of his long-standing, valued and active participation in the committee. He will be remembered fondly and appreciatedfor his years of dedication to scientiﬁc research and his contributions to the IWC. Between 1967 and2010 Dr. Ohsumi authored and co-authored 182 papers3 submitted to the SC collaborating with scientists from all over the world. This impressive body of work spanned a wide range of subject areas,
including stock assessments, mathematical modelling, reproduction, feeding, and genetics, and contributed to our knowledge of baleen whales and small cetaceans alike. There are few who have contributed as much to the SC as Dr. Ohsumi.
Dr. Ohsumi was also committed to supporting early career researchers providing mentoring of theirstudies and research. His legacy lives on in the IWC as many of his former students and collaborators
continue to serve with us today. His passing is a great loss to cetacean science and he is already greatly missed by the IWC community.

3

Editor’s Note:
CPOPS received with these recollections note from the IWC Oﬃce an extensive list of works by Dr. Ohsumi related to the
Scientiﬁc Committee of the IWC. This list was collated and incorporated into Seiji Ohsumi’s bibliography presented in thefollowing section of this issue.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIPERSONAL TRIBUTE TO DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Christina LOCKYER
Research Director, Age Dynamics, Huldbergs Alle 42, Kongens Lyngby, DenmarkMy ﬁrst recollection of Seiji Ohsumi was in 1972 when I attended the IWC Scientiﬁc Committee
for the ﬁrst time. The IWC SC was a very diﬀerent body to that existing today with only about twodozen participants from Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Norway, USSR, South Africa, UK, USA
and FAO. Seiji was very smart, dark suited, clean-shaven and jet-black hair. He was then in his early
40s. Then in my mid-20s, I looked up to him as a senior scientist. He seemed very inscrutable andI was a little in awe. He was very interested in my age estimation techniques in baleen whales andarranged for me to visit the Far Seas Fisheries Laboratory in Shimizu in 1977 for 3 months to readear plugs and teach some students. He organised everything for me, right down to the Japanese styleapartment. I recall being very sick during a national holiday when I lost much weight. Seiji was concerned and insisted on taking me for a sushi dinner with Suntory whisky to help me recover and lift
my spirits. It really worked, and since then he always showed great kindness and hospitality to me. We
met many times over the decades we were both active whale scientists, and I visited Japan for researchseveral times when he often invited me to his home and took me sight-seeing (Fig. 1). When working
on ear plugs in Tokyo in December 2009, he was a grand host and invited me to dine together with hiswife, herself a prominent professor (Fig. 2). In late September 2019, I visited Japan for a ﬁrst vacation
cruising around Japan. We met before I departed and enjoyed a pleasant time together (Figs. 3 and 4).
I did not know he would leave us forever some weeks later. Our last contact was by e-mail 2 days
before he died, when he wished me a good recovery from breast cancer. He was a special man, andmy recollections of him are very personal; now more as a friend and colleague than about his work
achievements which were themselves awesome. He became the respected and very kind friend that I
knew for 47 years. May he rest in peace.

Fig. 1. Seiji acting as tour guide for me on a
personal tour of Kamakura.

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Fig. 2. Dining out with Seiji and his wife in December 2009. I remember this place had a lovely
garden where we walked.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMI

Fig. 3. Outside a dinner venue in Tokyo, September 2019.

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Fig. 4. Seiji during a walkabout with me near the
Ginza in September 2019.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIIN REMEMBRANCE OF DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Koji MATSUOKA
Research Executive Director, Institute of Cetacean Research, 4–5 Toyomi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104–0055, JapanI ﬁrst met Dr. Seiji Ohsumi when I joined the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) back in 1992,
while he was the Executive Director there. For the ﬁrst ten years or so of my working at the Institute,
I was constantly shuttling back and forth between the North Paciﬁc and the Antarctic Oceans. Dr.
Ohsumi never forgot to encourage us young researchers, often asserting that the ﬁeld was the basis ofwhale research and that it was important to write papers even on small topics. During those intense
day and night sessions at the annual IWC/SC meetings, we received from him sometimes harsh andsometimes warm guidance on the legitimacy of research whaling and the importance of its continuation. The International Decade of Cetacean Research Program (IDCR) which he helped to launch in
1978/1979, was succeeded by the Southern Ocean Whale and Ecosystem Research Program (IWC/
SOWER) and now by the ongoing International Whaling Commission/Paciﬁc Ocean Whale and Ecosystem Research (IWC-POWER). Since my joining ICR, I went to the Antarctic Ocean as much as 15
times, and because of that, every time I had to be away for the New Year festivities. I will never forgetthat Dr. Ohsumi invited my family to his home on each of those occasions, thus warmly guarding myhome front while I was away. I sincerely pray for the repose of his soul.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIIN MEMORY OF DR. OHSUMI
Tsukasa MURAYAMA
Professor, Department of Marine Biology, School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai University,
3–20–1 Orido, Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka, JapanI ﬁrst met Dr. Seiji Ohsumi when I was in my ﬁrst year of university, participating in a seminar on
cetaceans held in Shimizu City (now Shimizu ward), Shizuoka Prefecture. On the second day of theseminar, we visited the Far Seas Fisheries Research Laboratory, where Dr. Ohsumi talked to us about
various topics. He was still a young man, but he explained many things to us, ﬂedgling researchers,
while holding a handful of materials in front of him. While Dr. Ohsumi had already made many
achievements since the 1960s and 1970s, contributing greatly to cetacean research in Japan, at thattime I did not know anything about research nor did I know much about him. However, from that dayon, I often found the name “S. Ohsumi” in a number of international journals, and as I stumbled uponbooks written by Dr. Ohsumi in bookstores, I remember being surprised when I realized he was suchan outstanding person.
After that, I went on to pursue cetacean research, and we had more opportunities to talk, and I wasindebted to him in many ways, which did not change after he moved on to the Institute of Cetacean
Research. When I went to visit him at the Institute with my doctoral thesis after receiving my doctorate, he welcomed me with a calm expression and congratulated me.
Dr. Ohsumi also keenly tried to spread the word about his research and whales to young people andthe general public who liked natural science. For example, he often visited the activities of groups ofpeople who were interested in dolphin and whale research, and gave them advice on the ecology of cetaceans and their research. He also participated in almost every symposium I organized every year inTokyo, and gave presentations at some of them. After the symposium, he always talked to the participants, students who had just started their research, and aquarium staﬀ, not only about whales, but also
about the sea and ships, including his own experiences. He was never pompous as a great authority on
cetacean research, and the young people also entertained friendly feelings toward him.
No matter what I asked him, he always responded with an aﬀable smile and an amiable manner, andI regret and feel sad that I will never see him again.
I sincerely pray for the repose of his soul.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIRECOLLECTION OF DR. SEIJI OHSUMITomio MIYASHITA
Associate Researcher, Fisheries Resources Institute, National Research and Development Agency,
Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, 5–7–1 Orido, Shimizu, Shizuoka, JapanI have been indebted to Dr. Ohsumi for his help and support in both my work and private life since I
started working at the Far Seas Fisheries Research Laboratory in 1980. When I joined the Laboratory,
Dr. Ohsumi was the head of the cetacean resources section, and he taught me about marine mammals,
starting with their scientiﬁc names, even though I had no connection with those animals. In addition,
when I saw him directly typing English documents in preparation for the IWC SC meeting that was
just around the corner, he would crack up day and night, typing away on his IBM electric typewriter,and I feel that he taught me by example how to approach my work with a strict attitude. He always
asked me “Why?” in response to my doubts. There were times when I was at a loss for an answer,
but I believe that I was taught to pursue the truth through these experiences. When I look at the many
papers and writings that Dr. Ohsumi has left behind, I am once again amazed at the scientiﬁc contributions he has made. He loved to drink, and I was invited by him to drink at many occasions in thepast. When I look at the photos, I remember those events such as ‘Hanami’ to see cherry blossoms
and ‘Imonikai’ to eat boiled taro. He was also from Gunma Prefecture, and when my wife and I were
married, he served as our matchmaker. We are very grateful to him for his help in dealing with the situation. Now, we are ﬁlled with sadness at the loss of Dr. Ohsumi. May he rest in peace.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMICONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF
DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Sally MIZROCH
Retired Research Biologist, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, USA

I met Seiji the very ﬁrst time I attended the meeting of the International Whaling Commission’s
Scientiﬁc Committee in 1980. I was a new member of the US delegation and Seiji was the head of
the Japanese delegation. Back in those days, even though the US and Japanese delegations had very
diﬀerent views on commercial whaling, we enjoyed spending time together after hours singing anddrinking. We developed close and long-lasting personal friendships.
I was a young female scientist, one of maybe four women in attendance during those early years,
and Seiji was always very supportive of all of us and of me personally. Seiji had an aﬃnity for many
young scientists, male and female, and his support contributed to our own growth as scientists.
Seiji and I genuinely enjoyed each other’s company each time we met. He was my thoughtful tour
guide during my many visits to Japan and we respected each other’s viewpoints even when we disagreed.
I also enjoyed Seiji’s long great friendship with my friend and long-time collaborator Dale Rice.
One of my fondest early memories was sitting with Seiji on a bus ride from Reykjavik to the Icelandic
whaling station in 1987 when he told me that he and Dale were exactly the same age. He and Dale
Rice were part of a remarkable generation of biologists whose analyses advanced our knowledge ofcetacean biology in a breathtaking fashion. Now they are together again. I miss them both very muchand was lucky to be friends and collaborators with them.
I’ve attached a photo of Seiji, Dale, and Gordon Pike from 1963 (Dale Rice’s photo collection), a
photo of Seiji with a Discovery mark logbook showing mark recovery data for a sei whale Dale hadmarked oﬀ California in 1965, and some recent photos of Seiji when I spent time with him in Tokyoand in Kamakura City.
So sadly,Your old friend Sally

Fig. 1. Seiji Ohsumi, Dale Rice and Gordon Pike
(right) having coﬀee break during the IWC Sperm
Whale Workshop in Seattle, WA (1963).

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Fig. 2. Seiji with the Discovery Mark recovery
logbook showing the recovery of a sei whale Dale
Rice’s marked oﬀ southern California in 1965(2012).

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMI

Fig. 3. Seiji as tour guide in Kamakura City in
2012.

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Fig. 4. Seiji and I the last time we met in Tokyo.
He is wearing a souvenir hat I gave him in 2012
from my favorite baseball team, the Seattle Mariners (September 4, 2014).

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIMEMORIES OF DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Joji MORISHITA
Professor, Department of Marine Policy and Culture, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology,
4–5–7-Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

When I became a government oﬃcial at the Fisheries Agency of the Government of Japan in 1982,
Dr. Ohsumi was one of the most knowledgeable scientists about whales and whaling. When I attended
my ﬁrst-time International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in 1992 held in Glasgow, UK, he wasalready regarded as a legendary ﬁgure in the whale/whaling community of the world. Since then, we
attended so many meetings together and travelled around and into many corners of the world (Figs. 1
and 2). Every one of them is memorable and I learned a lot from Dr. Ohsumi.
Two stories among so many remind me of who Dr. Ohsumi was.
He told me that he was criticized by Japanese whalers as anti-whaling when he, as a young scientist, reported to the IWC Scientiﬁc Committee about the poor stock status of some whale stocks andsupported whaling restrictions targeting those stocks. He was smiling when he told me of this story,
but I am sure it was not a pleasant episode for him. However, it was clear to me that his conscience asa scientist was always the most important guiding principle of his activities and statements.
Another story is very much consistent with the above. Dr. Ohsumi had held many important andresponsible positions through his professional life, including that of Director General of the National
Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries (NRIFSF, Shimizu Laboratory), and Director General of theInstitute of Cetacean Research (ICR), to name a few. But he was most happy when he passed all these responsibilities to his successors and told me then that he ﬁnally became one simple scientist again that cancontribute to science. He actually contributed to the advancement of science till the last day of his life.
He was stubbornly a pure scientist even when the results of his research and analysis were against
the interests of whalers. While he was an excellent manager of the organizations he had led, he preferred to be a simple scientist. He hated “political scientists.” He often said to young scientists to be ascientist rather than a scientiﬁc technician.
It was my great honor and privilege to have worked with Dr. Ohsumi. His legacy will remain withall of us who met him.

Fig. 1. During a Japan-Russia scientiﬁc planningmeeting in Moscow (June 1999).

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Fig. 2. During a trip to Norway to ﬁnalize the blue
whale skeleton lease contract to Shimonoseki city
(July 1999).

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIONWP
Hideki MORONUKI
Director for Fisheries Negotiations, Fisheries Agency of Japan, Ministry of Forestry, Agriculture and Fisheries,
1–2–1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Ohsumi-sensei was not just a scientist but also a man of vital spirit and warm heart. Everybody
knows that he was one of the pioneering whale scientists in Japan, who supported Japan’s whaling
industry from top to bottom. He is also well known to many of us as a “militant” pursuing the sustainable use of whale resources. However, this was not only for the beneﬁt of Japan, but also for allover the world, speciﬁcally for developing countries. He advocated his own humanitarian whaling plot
where sustainable whaling would be conducted for ample whale resources in the Antarctic Ocean andwhale products obtained therefrom would be distributed to developing countries severely suﬀeringfrom food crisis (Ohsumi’s New Whaling Plot). In order to materialize his plot, he devoted himself tothe resumption of science-based sustainable whaling and thereby encouraged young scientists, industry colleagues and Government oﬃcials to ﬁght together.
On 1 July 2019, more than 31 years after the introduction of the so-called Moratorium on Commercial Whaling, Japan resumed the sustainable whaling based on the best scientiﬁc information available. Fortunately, we were able to celebrate the resumption of the sustainable whaling together withyou, Ohsumi-sensei. However, it was not in time to materialize your plot. We still have a lot of things
to do and a lot of obstacles to overcome before your dream may become true. However, you do notneed to worry about it too much, Ohsumi-sensei. Please remember that you brought up so many pupils
and followers who will make the most of your will to meticulously seek a way to move your plot forward. Please therefore look forward to a future big news about the sustainable whaling in the Antarctic Ocean being resumed and that the food shortage in some developing countries is being mitigatedthrough ONWP: Ohsumi’s New Whaling Plot.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIAPPRECIATE THAT I COULD SHARE TIME
WITH A GREAT SCIENTISTGen NAKAMURA
Assistant Professor, Laboratory of Cetacean Biology, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology,
4–5–7 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

In my childhood, I occasionally saw the name of Dr. Seiji Ohsumi in some books. But the ﬁrst contact with him was not until 2006, when I started my Cetology studies at the university. After that, 13
years have passed. I guess it might be a very short time in his life, but it was a very meaningful period
for me. Even after he retired, he energetically attended the conferences or meetings and delivered innovative opinions to us, based on his vast knowledge. I feel very sorry that I was unable to talk anddiscuss with him, but I leverage that with his papers, books, and memories for my life as a researcher.
I really appreciate you, Ohsumi-sensei.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIA FEW WORDS IN MEMORY OF DR. SEIJI OHSUMILuis A. PASTENE
Head of Science, Institute of Cetacean Research, 4–5 Toyomi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Seiji was an important person during several stages of my life. The ﬁrst time I met him was in 1981
during a workshop on cetacean reproduction in the United States. At that time, I was a pre-graduate
student at the Concepcion University in Chile. Knowing my interest in cetacean research, he kindly
provided information on scholarships and encouraged me to carry out postgraduate studies in Japan.
Furthermore, in 1985 he helped me secure a scholarship that allowed me to travel to Japan in Octoberof that year. Then I started postgraduate studies at the Ocean Research Institute (ORI) of the Universityof Tokyo. Seiji was supportive of me both personally and professionally as I adapted to living in Japan.
In 1992, I became a member of the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) where Seiji was Executive
Director, and we continued to work together at ICR until he died on 2 November 2019. He always
supported my research activities in ICR and provided strict but fair criticism of my studies. I was impressed by Seiji’s enthusiasm and dedication to cetacean and whaling research, and to the ICR. Until
the very last week, he came to the institute almost every day, actively participating in our domestic
meetings and providing useful advice and suggestions. I think many colleagues and friends will agreewith me that Seiji can be characterized as a great cetacean scientist, a true gentleman and a very enthusiastic person for research and social-related activities. I feel happy that our last work interaction
in 2019—on Chilean blue whale research—was a very positive one with Seiji supporting and agreeing
with my conclusions on that particular study. I feel a deep respect and gratitude to the memory of Seiji.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIMOURNING THE PASSING OF DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Kazumi SAKURAMOTO
Professor Emeritus, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology,
4–5–7 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

I would like to express my heartfelt condolences on the passing away of Dr. Seiji Ohsumi, whodevoted his life to the study of whales and was a world-renowned authority on whale research.
I have been fortunate enough to be involved in cetacean research since 1982, and from then until his
demise, I had the opportunity to receive guidance from Dr. Ohsumi both in private and public life. The
ﬁrst meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) that I attended was the Minke Whale
Ageing Workshop held in Cambridge, England in April 1983. At that time, the only researchers who
participated from Japan were Dr. Seiji Ohsumi, Dr. Hidehiro Kato and myself, but I still remember
vividly the gentle and strict guidance I received from him even as a newcomer. Since then, we attended together many meetings of the IWC Scientiﬁc Committee while Dr. Ohsumi continued his research
activities as Director General of the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) and later on as Adviser
Emeritus to the ICR, and gave me much guidance until just before he became ill. I also recall withdeep emotion the many enjoyable conversations we had at social gatherings.
The image of Dr. Ohsumi that is etched in my mind is his big smile and his gentle gaze. The sadness of losing a great leader and the image of Ohsumi-sensei will never leave my heart. I sincerely
pray for the repose of his soul.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMICONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF
DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Hawsun SOHN
Director, Cetacean Research Institute, 139–29 Maeam-dong, Nam-gu, Ulsan, Republic of Korea

First of all, please accept my deepest and heartfelt condolences.
In the face of Dr. Seiji Ohsumi’s obituary, all Korean colleagues could not hide their sorrow oflosing the great pioneer. Dr. Ohsumi’s research has been a valuable reference of information on cetacean for researchers in Korea where the study was still in its early stages but also in Northeast Asia as
well. Even after his retirement, we could feel his special aﬀection and warm kindness toward young
colleagues at the meeting room. He used to say Hello in Korean, 안녕하세요 (Annyunghaseyo)
whenever he met young Korean researchers.
On one side of the lobby in the Cetacean Research Institute, there is a letter written by him, whohopes for a joint cooperation research between Korea and Japan.
Korea remembers Dr. Ohsumi’s great achievements and warm heart.
Please rest in peace.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIIN MEMORY OF DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Tsutomu TAMURA
Head, Stock Assessment and Management Division/Ecosystem Studies and Population Division,
Institute of Cetacean Research, 4–5 Toyomi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

The ﬁrst time I met Dr. Ohsumi was when I was still a graduate student about to participate in one
of Japan’s whale research program cruises, and he had just become Director General of the Instituteof Cetacean Research (ICR). I remember how nervous I was when he said, “I hope you will do yourresearch well”, while handing me the researcher’s letter of appointment.
Several years later, after completing my doctoral course, I joined the ICR and immediately foundmyself having lots of work to do. It was the task of collecting all the resource abundance information
on cetaceans in the world available then and estimating the amount of their predation. He gave meheaps of advice as I had just joined the Institute and didn’t know from my right to my left.
As a result, we were able to report that the world’s whale predation amounted to about 300 to 500
million tons, equivalent to three to ﬁve times the world’s marine ﬁsheries catch at that time. In retrospect, I think it was the inclusion in the paper of the name and essence of the renowned whale scientist
Dr. Seiji Ohsumi, that created such a big buzz around the world. Back then, there was a lot of criticism
that our whale prey consumption estimation was overrated, but Dr. Ohsumi said that this was becauseof the great interest that this ﬁeld of research was arousing worldwide. Recently, other scientists haveshown that whales may be eating even larger amounts of prey4 than our original estimations, and I am
glad that my research with Dr. Ohsumi has come back into the spotlight.
In addition, at our repeated drinking parties he would always emphasize to us that “A full-ﬂedged
researcher must be able to go into the ﬁeld, write a paper, and do both”. The last time I saw him, glowing with enthusiasm he spoke about his passion for research, and I never thought I would have to say
goodbye so suddenly.
I pray for the repose of his soul.

4

Savoca, M., Czapanskiy, M. F., Kahane-Rapport, S. R., Gough, W. T., Fahlbusch, J. A., Bierlich, K. C., Segre, P. S., Di
Clemente, J., Penry, G. S., Wiley, D. N., Calambokidis, J., Nowacek, D. P., Johnston, D. W., Pyenson, N. D., Friedlaender,
A. S., Hazen, E. L., and Goldbogen, J. A. (2021). Baleen whale prey consumption based on high-resolution foraging measurements. Nature. 599. 85–90. doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03991-5.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIRECOLLECTION OF SEIJI OHSUMI
Ralph TIEDEMANN
Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam,
Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24–25, 14476 Potsdam OT Golm, Germany

In the course of my fruitful collaboration with Japanese scientists, I was so lucky (and happy) tohave had the opportunity to repeatedly travel to Tokyo in order to work at ICR. At ICR, I very regularly met Seiji Ohsumi who was still doing cetacean research, despite of his age. Seiji always gave mea very warm and friendly welcome in Japan in general and at ICR in particular. It was enlightening
to discuss with him cetacean science as well as IWC matters, as he had a rare combination of several decades’ research experience, up-to-date-knowledge, and thoughtfully balanced arguments. He
was even following the latest genetic technologies in population studies, as I could witness ﬁrst-handduring a scientiﬁc lecture of mine at ICR, which Seiji attended and actively participated during discussion. Most memorable though, is a non-science moment with Seiji: I was invited to a superb sushi
restaurant in Tsukiji where I enjoyed the company of my Japanese colleagues and friends and had theprivilege to sit next to him (Fig. 1). We were chatting the whole evening about everything but science.
I will never forget his deep insights into many aspects of human life, including the history back to the
middle of the last century. Many facts and facets I was hardly aware of being within his personal experience and remembrance, and he communicated them with his unique enlightening and whole-hearted
attitude. I was deeply impressed. I will miss Seiji.

Fig. 1. A non-science moment with Seiji and colleagues.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIREMEMBERING DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Senzo UCHIDA
Special Advisor, Okinawa Churashima Foundation,
888 Aza Ishikawa, Motobu-cho, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, Japan

When I was a senior member of the Ito Aquarium in the 1970s, staﬀ scientists of the Whales Research Institute (WRI), led by Director Dr. Hideo Omura including Drs. Masaharu Nishiwaki, Seiji
Ohsumi, Tadayoshi Ichihara, Keiji Nasu and some others, visited the aquarium on a comfort trip organized by WRI. At the aquarium, there was also an accommodation facility that relocated the inn
where I grew up in Ito Onsen hot spring, and everyone held a big banquet after the duties. Dr. Teruo
Tobayama, the head of the aquarium, and Uchida (myself) served as hosts as well and oﬀered a lot ofbeer and sake for them. At that time, everyone was drinking a lot and making a big fuss.
The next day at a diﬀerent high-class inn also located in Ito Onsen, it seemed that it was even morethan that, and Seiji appeared to have been very active there too. The following day, the president of theinn, an intellectual gentleman, called me and said, “I didn’t see that coming!”
It was a long time ago, a long time ago.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIRECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMI
Gísli A. VÍKINGSSONHead of Cetacean Research, Marine and Freshwater Research Institute,Fornubúðir 5 220, Hafnarfjörður, Iceland

I met Seiji Ohsumi for the ﬁrst time in 1988, at my ﬁrst annual meeting of the Scientiﬁc Committee (SC) of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). At that time, I had worked on cetacean
research for only two years, after completing my thesis on quite a diﬀerent subject, behavioural ecology of greylag geese! Although naive in this branch, I had learned enough to know the name of Dr.
Seiji Ohsumi and I felt a kind of starstruck when Seiji approached me on the ﬁrst day of the meeting
and welcomed me to the Committee with his specially charming and warm attitude. This was the ﬁrst
of many conversations I had with Seiji over the next three decades, mostly within the context of the
IWC. Despite all the tensions and politics associated with some discussions taking place within theSC, in particular those concerning the scientiﬁc activities of Japan (and sometimes also Iceland andNorway), I always sensed the great respect that Seiji had among almost all the scientists in the SC,
irrespective of their position in the often-heated debate. To outsiders, such respect for opponents ina scientiﬁc debate could seem a matter of course in a scientiﬁc forum, but this could not be taken for
granted during some periods of extreme polarization within the Committee.
Dr. Ohsumi was a remarkable scientist that continued to explore new ﬁelds in science throughout
his career. The great legacy of Seiji Ohsumi as a pioneer in whale research is evident from his large
amount of scientiﬁc works produced over 60 years, and the memories of a great colleague, and a mentor to many, will live long into the future.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIREMEMBERING SEIJI OHSUMI
Lars WALLØE
Professor Emeritus, Department of Physiology, University of Oslo, Norway

I met Seiji Ohsumi for the ﬁrst time in the IWC Scientiﬁc Committee meeting in San Diego in
1988, and since then we have met at every IWC/SC meeting and every IWC Commission meeting
until quite recently. In addition, I have visited Japan more than 50 times over the last 30 years, andnearly each time I have had the opportunity to discuss whale scientiﬁc questions and the related political questions with him. Only during 2019, I met with Seiji in ICR three times, in late February, in
mid-June and in July. Every time we had interesting discussions. In the 1990s, he once accompanied
me to Taiji and showed me the whale museum there, and he travelled with me to other local communities to meet the local whalers and for them to show me their boats and whaling equipment. We travelled together in Norway also. I wanted to show him our local communities and wanted him to meet
our whalers. Together we and Masayuki Komatsu managed to establish a semi-permanent loan of ablue whale skeleton from the university museum in Tromsø to the aquarium in Shimonoseki and withﬁber-glass copies of the skeleton on display in four other places in Japan, among them Taiji.
What was my impression of Seiji Ohsumi? Seiji was eight years older than me, and when we met
in 1988, he had a life-long experience in whale science. I also had an extensive scientiﬁc background,
but whale science was new to me. My experience with the subject was about two years old. Despite
this diﬀerence in age and experience, Seiji from the ﬁrst meeting treated me as an equal and did neveruse his longer experience as an argument when we had some small disagreements. Compared to theNorwegian society, the Japanese is in general very hierarchical, but Seiji deﬁnitely did not ﬁt into thispicture of the Japanese society. He had authority based on knowledge and experience, not on his position in an administrative hierarchy. When he lacked knowledge in a particular scientiﬁc discipline, headmitted it; he did not try to bluﬀ, but listened to others who had the knowledge.
Most of the years we interacted, Seiji was head of the Japanese delegation to the IWC/SC, and I
was head of the Norwegian delegation. Since our two countries had attitudes to whaling diﬀerent frommost other countries, we had to collaborate. For me this collaboration was a great pleasure. We both
had the same attitude and opinions about whaling, and I think we learned a lot from each other. I shallmiss Seiji Ohsumi in the future, but I am very happy to have known him.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIRECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMI
Yuri YAKOVLEV
A.V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology National Scientiﬁc Center of Marine Biology of
the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 690041 Vladivostok, Russian Federation

I met Seiji Ohsumi on the voyage of the RV Akademik Oparin in 1993. This expedition was one of
the few with scientists from diﬀerent countries, mostly from Japan. The Tokyo cable TV group, TBS,
was also on board. Much attention was paid to underwater photography and video, in which I participated as a professional diver and zoologist. At that time I was not yet engaged in the study of whales,
and I saw the work of Japanese cetacean researchers for the ﬁrst time. In fact, right away I came to theconclusion that this is a very hard work, against the background of which underwater diving seemed
to me already an easy and exciting entertainment.
Having participated in many expeditions, I immediately noticed a man whose appearance indicatedthat he was a scientist with tremendous experience in ﬁeld research, so I was not at all surprised tolearn that he was the foremost expert on the whales of the Paciﬁc Ocean, Professor Ohsumi. It so happened that from the ﬁrst days of the voyage I became friends with Tsuneo Nakamura, a well-known
wildlife and sailing photographer, who taught me the peculiarities of whale photography from the
Achilles boat (Fig. 1). After work or in inclement weather, Tsuneo and I very often accepted the professor’s invitation to stop by his quarters. Such gatherings sometimes ended late. The topics of conversation were very diverse, but not whale-oriented. Unfortunately, the weather conditions on that cruise
were extremely unfavourable for whale sightings and we tried not to discuss this circumstance. I remember well as being said in the conversation that whaling in the post-war years made it possible tosupply the younger generation with animal protein and keep our countries’ populations healthy. Plans
were made to carry out regular expeditions on the then numerous ships of the Far Eastern Branch of
the Russian Academy of Sciences in subsequent years to the north, to the Arctic. However, these quite
realistic projects could not be implemented due to the inept policy of the scientiﬁc ﬂeet management.
Later, when I started studying gray whales, I had the opportunity to meet with Professor Ohsumi
only at conferences. He said that if I needed his support, I could freely turn to him. But, as they say in
Russia, the certainty of getting help from a friend is much more valuable than the help itself.

Fig. 1. Tsuneo Nakamura (Volvox Inc.), Yuri M. Yakovlev (Institute of Marine Biology, Vladivostok), Dr.
Seiji Ohsumi (ICR). North Kuril Islands, 1993. On board the RV Akademik Oparin.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIIN A LAB WITHIN SIGHT OF MOUNT FUJI
Motoi YOSHIOKA
Professor, Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, 1577 Kurimamachiya, Tsu, Mie, Japan

Evoking the ﬁrst time I met Dr. Ohsumi, I wrote the following in a manuscript submitted to ajournal in 1990: “I went to visit Dr. Seiji Ohsumi at the Far Seas Fisheries Research Laboratory in
Shimizu to see if there was any way I could make a breakthrough in my research. Dr. Ohsumi gave
me a lot of advice in his laboratory which had a beautiful view of Mt. Fuji from the window, but hiscomment about my work on hormones being ‘quite interesting’ was a great encouragement to me
afterwards.” I was 24 years old then, and unsure whether I would be able to continue my research on
dolphin reproductive hormones in graduate school. He gave me words of encouragement for my research which I had been conducting from a viewpoint that so far had not existed in cetacean researchin Japan. However, if I had not visited Dr. Ohsumi that day, I might have given up my research on
cetaceans soon after. My encounter with Dr. Ohsumi was a major event at such a crucial moment forme. Forty years have passed since then. During this period, I received from him much scientiﬁc advice
and guidance from the viewpoint of population biology and reproductive biology, which was his ﬁeldof specialty, when I became involved in the research of Dall’s porpoises and Bryde’s whales. However, what left the greatest impression on me during my association with him is that he was very open to
students who had just started their cetacean research —just as he was to me when I visited Shimizu, at
research meetings and other occasions, and always looked at us warmly and gave us encouragement.
In the days when information on cetacean research was not readily available as it is now on the internet, his many books, translations, and articles were very valuable materials for students to learn. Dr.
Ohsumi, who devotedly made many research achievements in whale research contributing greatly tothe management of whale resources and the continuation of the whaling industry in Japan, was always
thinking about the future of cetacean research in Japan and giving light to us students who did notknow what kind of life they would lead in the future. Looking back on my current self as a university
faculty member who has been studying whales and dolphins with students for over 30 years, I wonder
to what extent I have been able to train the next generation of researchers. I hope I can spend my remaining time as a professor so that I may reduce that doubt as much as possible.
I would like to once again express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Ohsumi for his continuous interest inwhales and to young people wanting to study them, and I sincerely pray for the repose of his soul.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMICONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF
DR. SEIJI OHSUMI
Alexandre ZERBINI
Chair of the IWC Scientiﬁc Committee, Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies,
University of Washington & Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, USA

Indeed, a rich life and major contributions to cetacean science. Our community lost one of the best
and my thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.
Best wishes, Alex

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RECOLLECTIONS OF SEIJI OHSUMIMEMORIES OF MY FATHER, DR. SEIJI OHSUMINoriko OSUMI
Vice President, Tohoku University; Professor, Tohoku University School of Medicine,
2–1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

In my mind, I still haven’t sorted out my father’s passing. When I rushed to the hospital on November 2, 2019, he was already out of it and I didn’t get to spend his last hours with him. The last time I
saw my father before he died was on October 4, 2019, which I could trace from my Google Calendar
records. On that day, I had dinner with my high school classmates and visited my parents in Shinjuku
late, so we only exchanged a few words before my returning to Sendai the next morning. That day,he said he had plans to go to a gathering of the old Niigata High School, and he showed me his old
school cap, laughing as he told me that he was going to wear it and sing the dormitory song.
I can barely remember my childhood. My father had been working alone at the National Research Instituteof Far Seas Fisheries (formerly Far Seas Fisheries Research Laboratory) in Shimizu since my early elementary school. I used to complain that I could spend more time with my father if he took the Shinkansen when
he came back from Zushi, where we lived at the time. However, after joining the Tohoku University as aprofessor, I came to realize how diﬃcult it is, physically and ﬁnancially, for those who work alone to returnhome to their families every week. Now I understand how much he loved my mother, and me. When myfather taught me to play Go and Shogi, he would not let me win, which made me dislike those games. I thinkmy habit of reading books came from watching my father. As a scientist, my father was very strict about theuse of words, so from a young age, he would ask me, “What is the deﬁnition of that?”. Accordingly, I becamea very logical child and was rather shunned by other classmates. My mother also worked at Japan Women’s
University, so weekends were complete rest for my father and mother, while family vacations were rare.
However, there were other rare occasions when foreign researchers came to our house as guests. For me,
English was not a subject to study for exams, but a means of communication. This experience has helped me
in my current career as a neuroscientist. After entering graduate school, I learned that my father’s dissertation
was on “A study on age determination of the ﬁn whale,” and I was depressed at the diﬀerence in scale frommy own ﬁrst dissertation. I hoped that it would catch someone’s attention, so after my father passed away, I
got a copy from the National Diet Library and had it published by the University of Tokyo Repository5.
In 1992, when the International Whaling Commission annual meeting was held in Glasgow, UK, I stayedat the same hotel with my father because I also had to attend an international conference that was held at
the same time there. My father’s snoring was so bad that I didn’t want to go with him again, but I was more
shocked by the fact that anti-whaling activists were demonstrating around the hotel. I had heard about it indirectly from my father, but it meant a lot to me to know it in real life. I think this experience, in addition to
the general books written by my father, was a major factor in my developing a great interest in science communication; scientists in every ﬁeld need to communicate with the public. Before my father passed away, inAugust of 2017, I happened to bump into him at the gate of Narita Airport. He was going to visit the Faroe
Islands in Denmark, where whales are ﬁshed, with a group including Mr. Kazutaka Sangen, the mayor of
Taiji, where the Whale Museum is located; my father was the honorary director of the museum at the time.
I was going to Sweden via Copenhagen for an international meeting. My father and I never informed eachother of our business trip plans in advance, so it must have been a coincidence that God brought us together.
I really wish I could have learned more things from my father. He was blessed with the wonderful people
around him. I hope that my father's passion for sustainable whaling will lead you to take your own actions.
Rest in peace, my father.
5

Ohsumi, S., n. d. A study on age determination of the ﬁn whale. Doctoral Thesis, The University of Tokyo. UTokyo Repository. https://irdb.nii.ac.jp/00926/0004334795.

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