Yoshiteru Murakami (1925 - 1997)

Yoshiteru Murakami died peacefully at Jyuzen general hospital in Niihama City of Ehime Prefecture, at midnight on 4 February, 1997, after a long illness with cancer.

Murakami was born in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture on 7 March 1925. Ever since he graduated from Ehime Shihan-Gakko, now the Faculty of Education, Ehime University in 1944, he did a great contribution to the education in Ehime Prefecture for 40 years till his retirement in 1984. First he became a teacher at Shimonada Daiichi Kokumin-Gakko (Shimonada Dai-ichi elementary school) and successively he became the headmaster of three elementary schools (1973-1984) and the vice-principal of junior high school (1945-1969), the supervisor of science of committee on education of Ehime prefecture (1969-1973), the administrative supervisor of Saijo education office, branch of education committee of Ehime prefecture (1978-1981), and the vice-chief of school education section of education committee of Niihama City (1981-1983).

Murakami was an excellent myriapodologist. In 1946, he started the taxonomy of Myriapoda under Dr. Yasunori Miyosi. His way of studing was a discreet, one always based upon ardent breeding and careful examination of myriapods. First, he was deeply interested in the post-embryonic development and ecology of Scutigeromorpha, Lithobiomorpha, Polydesmida and Platydesmida.

Murakami maintained friendly relations with Dr. Shun-ichi Ueno, Department of Zoology, the National Science Museum, Tokyo, who is a good explorer and coleopterist who presented many cave-dwelling myriapoda to him. Murakami was able to describe a great number of cave-dwelling myriapoda.

Murakami has published more than 75 articles and has described more than 60 new species of myriapoda both in Japan and in Korea. Murakami was a member of Zoological Society of Japan, the Speleological Society of Japan, the Japanese Society of Systematic Zoology, the Japanese Society of Soil Zoology and other associations. In 1993, Murakami was appointed as a member of the wildlife conservation committee of the Environment Agency of the Japanese Government. He described on Diplopoda, Pauropoda, Chilopoda and Symphyla classes, in the fifth chapter of A Checklist of the Japanese Species of Wildlife (Invertebrates 1), edited by Environmental Agency and published from Japan Wildlife Reserch Center. He also had a deep interest in the cultivation and appreciation of oriental orchids, which are simple but elegant, especially in Cymbidium virescens Lindl.

Murakami is survived by his wife, Fumiko, and one son, Kazuo and one daughter, Motoko.

Acknowledgments: I thank Dr. Shun-ichi Ueno (National Science Museum, Tokyo), Dr. Kazuo Ishikawa (Shinonome University, Ehime), Dr. Nobuo Tsurusaki (Tottori University, Tottori) and Mr. Tadao Hamada (Education Committee of Niihama City, Ehime) for giving notes on Murakami's personal history, and his life.

Kiyoshi ISHII, March 1997