Son's memory spurs leukemia fight, Donors needed for marrow transplants, Japan

Main Category: Lymphoma / Leukemia / Myeloma
Article Date: 20 Sep 2004 - 15:00 PDT


"Bone-marrow donors are needed if more patients suffering from blood-related diseases are going to survive," said Kiyoko Koyama, a 68-year-old ceramic artist in Shigarakicho, Shiga Prefecture, who has been involved with the Japan Marrow Donor Program (JMDP) for more than 10 years.

Her son Kenichi died of leukemia in 1992. Koyama, who was the first woman to become a ceramic artist in the traditional pottery town, supported him in his fight against the disease and vigorously campaigned the Health and Welfare Ministry to establish a donor bank for bone-marrow transplants.

Her life was recently the basis for a film by Banmei Takahashi titled "Hibi," a doubling of the Chinese character for fire.

Koyama started working as a painter at a ceramics firm in Shigarakicho when she was 18 and became noted as a ceramic artist at the age of 28.

"At that time, the art of pottery was considered men's work. It was said that a woman should not even approach the kiln during menstruation. There are only a handful of women who have gotten over these hardships and who are still in the forefront of the art of pottery."

Fascinated by their mother's enthusiasm for making Shigarakiyaki pottery, and perhaps realizing the hardships she faced raising two children--Koyama was divorced in 1973--Kenichi and his elder sister told their mother when they were middle school students that they would follow her vocation. After many discussions, they agreed that Kenichi would be the one to follow in his mother's footsteps.

Chasing his dream to be a ceramics artist, Kenichi entered Shigaraki High School's ceramics department and then attended a vocational school in the town where he learned techniques such as working with a potter's wheel and glazing.

Immediately after completing the courses, Kenichi began working at his mother's studio, which was an annex to their home.

However, Kenichi began showing symptoms of leukemia in February 1990 when he was 29. At the time, JMDP had not been established.

Koyama went to see a doctor in Niigata Prefecture who specialized in marrow transplants and met a group of leukemia patients and their families who were recruiting donors.

She stayed in frequent contact with the group to exchange information about possible donors. Soon Koyama's clients, Kenichi's friends and other people joined the fight on behalf of Kenichi. Shortly thereafter, Koyama was contacted by families of patients in Imazu and Nagahama, both in Shiga Prefecture, as well as those in other prefectures.

The network of patients' families soon grew and Koyama also got in touch with a group in Tokyo.

However, resources were limited in a private network and network members found it almost impossible to find a donor by themselves. Therefore, they decided to work toward the establishment of a public organization to promote transplants and coordinate the donation of bone marrow. They formed a patients group in January 1991 to lobby for a donor bank.

To make lobbying easier, the group chaired by Kenichi set up headquarters in Tokyo. With the exception of Kenichi, other patients in the group did not reveal their names to the public. In fact, Kenichi was the first patient to go public for the campaign. "That helped a lot to attract public attention," Koyama said. CONTINUES.........www.yomiuri.co.jp

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