Akiko Hirano

I have always known

that at last I would take this road

But yesterday I did not know

that it would be today

- Arihara-no Narihira (825-880)

It is with profound sadness to pay tribute to my dear wife Akiko Hirano, an accomplished scientist, talented artist, and successful gallery owner. Akiko was born on August 6, 1947 in Takarazuka, Japan. After obtaining her Ph.D. in microbiology, she went to University of Southern California in 1979 to join the laboratory of Dr. Peter K. Vogt, who discovered the first oncogene. There, she met me and started our life-long journey as inseparable spouses and collaborators. She loved nature and was often seen hiking with our beloved German shepherd Butch in the Sierra Mountains. In 1983, we joined the faculty of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she continued her research. Her blossoming love for art led us to leave the university in 2000 to open Touching Stone Gallery in Santa Fe. For the next 14 years, the gallery built an acclaimed reputation for showing contemporary Japanese ceramic and sumi painting, always guided by her refined aesthetic sense and inviolable ethic. In 2014, she retired to make time for travel and her own art. She had a keen interest in Native American culture and made frequent visits to pueblos and prehistoric ruins throughout the Southwest. After receiving a devastating cancer diagnosis in 2018, she kept it to herself and prioritized quality of life for both of us, pursuing an active lifestyle and pastel painting until she passed away on September 2, 2025. She is remembered as an intelligent, elegant and loving person who brought joy and admiration to all who knew her. Her beauty belied uncommon courage and discipline. A book of her paintings entitled Touching Stone: Canyon Vignettes was published just before her death. She is survived by her husband Tim and two brothers, Kyoichi and Tadashi. Our world is greatly diminished without her. - With eternal love, Timothy C. Wong.