It is a great sadness to lose your mentor, a teacher of your lifetime, particularly one who is a pioneer of your own profession. Professor Satoshi Matsumoto passed away on November 7, 2017 at the age of 90. At his bedside, he was surrounded by his family and his passing was peaceful and dignified. Professor Matsumoto is survived by his wife, Nobuko, three daughters, Nozomi Sano, Naomi Wakita, and Hitomi Ogawa, a son Chisato Matsumoto, seven grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.

I was fortunate to be one of his pupils, and followed in his footsteps as a pediatric neurosurgeon. He was a quiet, kind Christian yet, very determined and devoted his entire professional life to the welfare of disabled children. We should appreciate his energy in helping to establish pediatric neurosurgery as a subspecialty not only in Japan but internationally. He helped train pediatric neurosurgeons and helped lead the effort creating the foundation of official pediatric neurosurgical societies in Japan and worldwide. From my personal point of view, I owe him for his direction and support of my career as a pediatric neurosurgeon starting from the first day of my residency interview in the summer of 1971.

Professor Matsumoto was born in Himeji City, just West of Kobe, Japan, on August 30, 1927. His childhood was mostly spent in Kyushu, the southernmost island of Japan, because of his father’s work at the Japan Railroad Service. When he was in high school, Japan was in the midst of World War II. He attended the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, one of the most elite service academies, in “Etajima.” He graduated in the 75th and last class of the Imperial Naval Academy in August 1945 when the war ended; therefore, he never spent time on the battlefield. The Imperial Naval Academy closed permanently in December 1945. It was a common knowledge among those who knew him that his internal strength was cultivated during the vigorous physical and mental training at the Imperial Naval Academy.

Following the war, Matsumoto attended Himeji School of Higher Education (College) and graduated in March 1950. He then entered the School of Medicine, at Kyoto University, in April 1950. During medical school, his interest in the central nervous system grew, because he was deeply impressed by his Professor Kow Hirasawa’s knowledge of neuroanatomy. Matsumoto’s lifetime commitment to neurosurgery was also promoted by the lectures he attended given by Professor Chisato Araki, who was the Chairman of the first Department of Surgery at the Kyoto University. In the 1950s in Japan, there were no established departments of neurosurgery, thus neurosurgery was a small fraction of general surgery. Professor Araki, who studied neurosurgery under Harvey Cushing, Walter Dandy, and Percival Bailey in the USA before World War II, accepted Matsumoto for postgraduate training to his Department of Surgery at Kyoto University Hospital. Young Matsumoto often heard Professor Araki speak of the high-quality neurosurgery training he received in the USA, which promoted his desire to receive similar training. Following completion of his 2-year internship and 4-year residency and successfully defending the Doctor of Science Thesis and passing the ECFMG examination, he applied for a neurosurgery residency in the USA and was accepted at Northwestern University in Chicago.

It was July 1962 when he arrived in Chicago. The first rotation of his residency at Northwestern was Children’s Memorial Hospital (presently Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago). At the Children’s Memorial Hospital, while he was the first year resident fresh from Japan, he met a young Italian American neurosurgeon, Professor Anthony Raimondi, who had just finished his neurosurgery residency at the University of Chicago. Raimondi joined Professor Luis Amador’s pediatric neurosurgery service at the same time of Matsumoto’s arrival. Raimondi was a very energetic, charismatic young man, albeit just a year younger than Matsumoto, and very enthusiastic about the development of pediatric neurosurgery. The service was challenging, and Matsumoto’s internal strength and work ethic was tested. It is a well-known legend at Children’s that he stayed, actually lived in the hospital for the entire year showing his tremendous dedication. The only time he left the hospital was to attend Sunday church service as he and his family are devoted Christians. Initially, Matsumoto arrived alone to the USA; fortunately his wife Nobuko and two children joined a year later. After a year of vigorous training at Children’s, he spent another year at Passavant Memorial Hospital (presently Northwestern Memorial Hospital). However, in July 1964, when Raimondi became the Chairman of Neurosurgery at Cook County Hospital (then, an affiliate of University of Chicago), Matsumoto transferred his training program to the Cook County Hospital. At that time, Cook County was one of the best hospitals for surgical trauma training and was the site for US military medic training. He served as a first chief resident of neurosurgery under Professor Raimondi from July 1964 to June 1966. Through these few years of dramatic crossing in their youth, the two established an everlasting bond of friendship, which influenced the future global development of pediatric neurosurgery.

Following Matsumoto’s 4 years of neurosurgical training in Chicago, Raimondi advised him to get involved in experimental research. Per Raimondi’s recommendation, Matsumoto chose neuropathology and was accepted as a research fellow at Max Planck Institute in Cologne, Germany. Under the direction of Professor Klaus J. Zulch, he had the opportunity to conduct research in the field of experimental neuro-oncology and hydrocephalus. These 2 years became the theme of his subsequent professional career. With his family at his side, he stayed in West Germany from July 1966 to December 1967.

After returning to Japan, following a short stay in Kyoto University Hospital, in March 1968, Matsumoto accepted the position of Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Kitano Hospital in Osaka, a major affiliate hospital of Kyoto University, by the request from his mentor Professor Chisato Araki. At that time, Professor Araki was Director of Kitano Hospital following his retirement from Kyoto University Hospital and thus continued to provide support and advice to Matsumoto’s clinical and academic endeavors. Matsumoto named his first son “Chisato” out of respect and gratitude to Professor Araki. Thanks to his relentless work ethic, Matsumoto’s next 3 years were innovative and productive, both clinically and in the field of research. He developed a new technique for hydrocephalus management using a ventriculoperitoneal shunt instead of a ventriculoatrial shunt. He also focused on experimental brain tumor research. His dedication and achievements were well appreciated and thus he was named the first Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Kobe University in September 1971. This new department started with seven staffs coming from both Kitano Hospital and First Department of Surgery of Kobe University where neurosurgery was conducted under Professor Mitsuno. I was in a rotating internship in Tokyo when I heard the news that my alma mater was establishing a Department of Neurosurgery and had chosen Dr. Matsumoto as director. As a young naive intern, I had no hesitation to catch a train from Tokyo to Osaka to visit Kitano Hospital in the hot summer for an interview before Matsumoto moved to Kobe University. Following a formal although kind greeting in his office, Matsumoto directly stared at my eyes and asked if I was willing to devote my life to neurosurgery. I remember feeling what an honorable, confidant, trustworthy, man he was and I firmly answered, “Yes.”

As the inaugural chair, Matsumoto emphasized the importance of development of clinical services focusing on cerebrovascular, neuro-oncology, and pediatric neurosurgery. In the basic research field, experimental hydrocephalus and brain tumors were the main theme of the new department. Again, Matsumoto showed his extraordinary resolve. I remember the light in his room still on many nights as I tried to leave the office. In Japan at that time, one never left before the professor.

In 1972, Anthony Raimondi hosted a meeting in Chicago with 11 international pediatric neurosurgeons in order to organize the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery (ISPN). Of the 11 ISPN founding members, Matsumoto was the only person from Asia. At that meeting, the first ISPN annual meeting was arranged for the following year, 1973, in Tokyo in conjunction with the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies presided over by Professor Keiji Sano from the University of Tokyo. The inaugural ISPN meeting was held in Keidanren Kaikan, Tokyo, October 12 and 13, 1973. The president of the ISPN was Professor Jacques Rougerie from France, and Matsumoto was the chairman of the meeting. Its secretariat was at the Department of Neurosurgery, at Kobe University. The 1973 ISPN meeting was very successful and became the foundation of all subsequent ISPN annual meetings. Hosting the international meeting in Japan was the pivotal event for Matsumoto’s early career and became a platform of his later academic success. Also, Matsumoto served as an executive board member and was a driving force for the establishment of Japanese Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery (JSPN); ironically, its first scientific meeting was a few month prior to the 1973 ISPN meeting. The following year in 1974, he became the President of JSPN, hosting the second JSPN meeting in Kobe.

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(Professors Matsumoto and Raimondi in Tokyo, 1973)

During the nearly two decades of tenure as the inaugural Professor and Chairman, he developed a marvelous department in one of the leading hospitals in Japan. In March 1991, he stepped down from the chairmanship and passed the baton to his successors, first to Professor Norihiko Tamaki and then to the current Professor Eiji Kohmura. During his tenure, Matsumoto published 46 books (31 in Japanese, 15 in English) and 491 original articles (371 in Japanese and 120 in English). He served as president of ISPN 1982–83, Japanese Society of Spina Bifida 1985, and Japan Neurosurgical Society 1987–88. He was a founding editor-in-chief of Nervous System In Children (official journal of JSPN) that commenced in 1975. He also served on the editorial board of Child’s Nervous System and Neurologica Medico-Chirurgica.

Prior to his retirement, he was the driving force to launch the Japanese Society of Spina Bifida in 1984. After retiring from Kobe University in 1991, he devoted his professional life to children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. He established the Japanese Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Research Foundation in December 1993 and served as the Foundation Chairman for over a quarter of a century. The Foundation is stationed at Jikeikai Shinsuma Hospital in Kobe, promoting advocacy, financially supporting research on prevention and treatment, and sponsoring national and international symposiums. Very recently, in 2016, he retired as Foundation Chairman, and Professor Tatsuya Nagashima of Kobe Children’s Hospital succeeded Matsumoto’s legacy.

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(Professor Matsumoto at conference in Kobe, 2011)

Lastly, I wish to share part of Professor Matsumoto’s words at his retirement from the Foundation Chairmanship in 2016, which speaks to his deep religious faith and exudes his humanitarian character:

“It is a daily occurrence for one to sympathize with another person’s sadness or suffering while watching from a distance. However, only family members or closest friends can share the sadness or the joy as if it is their own. Their unconditional love can diminish the sadness or double the joy. However, in human life there are certain sadness, which cannot be shared or understood even by your own parent or best friend or controlled by your own will. First of all you have to carry your own fate, it is impossible for a person to take over other person’s destiny even though one has very deep empathy….

Spina bifida is the most common congenital spinal malformation. Also hydrocephalus, either congenital or acquired, affects all age groups. People who suffer from these disorders live out their own fate, which they could not control, or alter by themselves. Healthy people, who extend their sympathy to the people suffering these afflictions cannot always understand or share their pain and suffering. However, both healthy and sick, no matter what kind of destiny they may have, are equal because each has to accept and carry their own fate and their road is often made easier with support from their neighbor’s good will.

With this belief in mind, we established “Japan Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Research Foundation: on December 9th, 1993, 23 years ago, together with Dr. Sawada. The Foundation’s main aim is advancing the prevention and treatment of these dreadful diseases……

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. I can compare it with the Foundation; a grain dropped 23 years ago and has slowly but steadily produced fruit. In the future I trust a larger crop is produced under the leadership of the new Foundation Director, Dr. Tatsuya Nagashima……. I very much appreciate all the support and cooperation I received during my tenure as the Foundation Director.” (Translated from Japanese by TT)

Even after his death, his legacy remains. Let us remember Professor Satoshi Matsumoto:

Proud father, husband, and grandfather; renowned pediatric neurosurgeon; inspiring teacher; wise mentor; compassionate doctor; dedicated servant of disabled children; loyal friend