Hattoria 12: 93–115. 2021 Obituary Masami Mizutani (1930–2020) Tomoyuki KATAGIRI1 & S. Robbert GRADSTEIN2, 3 1 Hattori Botanical Laboratory, Obi 6–1–26, Nichinan, Miyazaki 889–2535, Japan 2 Albrecht von Haller Institute, Department of Systematic Botany, 37073 Göttingen, Germany 3 Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, 75005 Paris, France Author for correspondence: Tomoyuki KATAGIRI,
[email protected] Figure 1. Masami Mizutani in May 2012, courtesy of his family. Our colleague, Dr. Masami Mizutani, passed away on August 30, 2020 at the old age of 90. He was an excellent and unique Japanese bryologist, a specialist of Asian Lejeuneaceae who made an important contribution to hepaticology. 93 1. Early life and educational background Masami Mizutani was born on March 28 in 1930 in Tokyo City (Tokyo Metropolis), eldest son of his father Kiyoshi Mizutani, an architect of The South Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd., and his mother Kane Mizutani. Due to his father’s work, he spent his childhood from 5 to 16 years in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China. He entered Dalian No. 1 Junior High School (old education system) in April 1942. After returning to Japan, he went to Shizuoka Prefectural Hamamatsu No. 1 Junior High School (old education system) at the age of 16 in August 1946, and graduated there in March 1947. His formal education ended here. Before moving to Nichinan as a researcher at the Hattori Botanical Laboratory, Mizutani worked in various occupations including as a workman in a car factory in Osaka City. During his life in Osaka, he joined a study group on ferns and mosses and came in contact with Dr.