University of the Ryukyus
is a professor at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, to the south of the main Japanese archipelago, and grew up there. Following his graduation from the Department of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus, he took his doctorate from the Agricultural Research Department of Kyushu University Graduate School, eventually returning to join the teaching staff of the University of the Ryukyus as lecturer in 1970, becoming assistant professor two years later. He became Professor of Horticulture in 1982.