Prof. Ishida was a very kind Sensei/Senpai (teacher/mentor). He was responsible for starting my career at Intel Japan in the late 1970’s. He mentored me while I was a research student at the University of Tokyo (‘Tokyo Daigaku). He was the Director of the Computer Center (which housed a Hitachi supercomputer when I was there) at the University. He translated several computer science books into Japanese. He was an Internet pioneer.

Ishida-Sensei has passed away in March of this year. I should have continued to keep in touch with him. If I did, I am sure I would have learned so much, not only about digital stuff, but about life itself. I was a heady student: I always looked forward and never looked back. We only met once again after I arrived in the U.S., in 1985. He attended a conference in San Francisco, which gave me an opportunity to meet him for the last time and take him on a tour of the city.

If I could do it all over again, I would have kept him as a very good friend. Friends come and go, but there are some that I would have wanted to keep, and Ishida-Sensei is certainly one of those. I really feel bad that I did not even know until now that he has passed away.