Masakazu Konishi

[1][4] As a child during the Second World War, he grew edible plants in his family's backyard and rooftop, and raised rabbits for food.

"[5] Following his graduation in 1963,[3] Konishi undertook two postdoctoral positions in Germany, at the University of Tübingen (1963–64) and in the Division of Experimental Neurophysiology at the Max-Planck Institute (1964–65).

[4] Work by students in the lab, including Katz, Mark Gurney and Jim McCasland, helped establish that neurons in the songbirds' HVC respond to sound and are selective for the bird's own song.

[1][4] In his spare time, Konishi enjoyed working with animals, writing "I have been lucky, because I did not have to go far from my hobby to my scientific subjects.

[4] In 1990, Konishi received the International Prize for Biology, which was established to honour Hirohito, the Shōwa Emperor of Japan (1901–1989).

[4] The couple did not say a word about the Japanese food he had chosen during the meal; nevertheless, Konishi found the Empress particularly "charming" and, later, sent her a reel of tape containing the song of European nightingales.

[4] Konishi retired from his position at Caltech in 2013, and died of natural causes at his home in San Diego, California on 23 July 2020, at the age of 87.