We are very sad to inform you that our member Fumitaka Noda M.D. Ph.D., February 8, 1948 – January 3, 2019, a leader in cross-cultural psychiatry, has passed away. We all feel deeply saddened by his death. Our deepest condolences go to his wife and children.
Prof. Tsuyoshi Akiyama and Prof. Chee H. Ng have supported by writting this Obituary.
Fumitaka Noda had served as a past president of the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists (PRCP) from 2008 – 2010, and was a founding member of Japanese Society of Transcultural Psychiatry (JSTP) and World Association of Cultural Psychiatry (WACP).
He completed his medical degree at Chiba University in 1984 and received his clinical psychiatric training both in Japan and Canada. Within a decade, he was promoted to Professor of Psychiatry at Division of Human Welfare, Taisho University in 1999 as well as Adjunct Professor of Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia in 2000. He was also a visiting academic at National Ochanomizu Women College, National Kobe University and McGill University. He obtained his PhD (Medicine) from Kochi University, Japan in 2005.
Professor Noda was highly active in many professional psychiatry bodies internationally. He served as President of PRCP, President, JSTP, Co-chair, World Psychiatric Association (WPA), Transcultural Psychiatric Section and Board member of WACP. He was the Congress Chair of the very successful 13th Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists Meeting in Tokyo. Twice, he was the Congress Chair of the JSTP, WPA-TPS and WACP Joint Meeting in Kamakura (2007) and in Yokohama (2002).
He published widely and presented at numerous international conferences in the field of cross-cultural psychiatry, community mental health, psychiatric rehabilitation, and mental health of ethnic minorities and migrants. A major area of his research interest was in mental health help-seeking behavior of ethnic minorities.
Fumitaka Noda was a psychiatrist with a deep humanistic orientation and progressive attitude. Due to his appreciation of international perspectives he created various mental health services in Japan for migrant and minority populations. For his contribution to the development of mental health services for the Japanese Canadian in Vancouver he received an Award from the Japanese Consul General in Vancouver in 2000. He was passionate about the training of cultural psychiatry in Japan and worldwide, and promoted career development in transcultural psychiatry among psychiatrists internationally.
He had served as a consultant for the Japanese Organization for Employment of the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan. Further, he was an important contributor to the development of community mental health services in Japan, particularly for those suffering from chronic mental illness and those affected by natural disasters. In 2011, he substantially contributed to the development of mental health care for the communities affected by the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami.
His funeral on January 27, 2019 was attended by his family, many friends and colleagues. As a touching tribute, his daughter Yuko read “Today is a very good day to die,” a poem which he himself had selected for the funeral. His wife Masako said that although he had still wished to do so much more, he lived life to its fullest, always with vigor, energy and passion. Indeed, Fumitaka Noda left a wonderful legacy to psychiatry in Japan and the world. With Professor Fumitaka Noda, we have lost a great representative of the Cultural Psychiatry. May he rest in peace.
On behalf of the Board of WPA-TPS
Meryam Schouler-Ocak
Chair
On behalf of the Board of WPA-TPS