Eisuke Tada's ITER odyssey
Akko Maas, who serves as Science Coordination Officer in the Office of the Director-General, was also in that original picture. On 27 April 2023, when the ITER community held a farewell event on the occasion of Eisuke Tada's retirement and return to Japan, he hailed "the gentle soul, who was firm when needed," and a "highly technically sound" colleague who was "truly committed to the ITER machine throughout all his different roles."
Eisuke Tada's odyssey in the realm of fusion—which began in 1978 when, fresh out of university, he joined the Japanese Atomic Energy Research Institute (now the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency)—did not come to an end on 27 April. For the fusion community as a whole, it will be tempting to tap into the knowledge, experience and intimate understanding that Eisuke Tada has accumulated. In a certain way, one never retires from fusion.