To Dr Shigeru Obana on his 70th birthday

A short biography and appreciation of the odonatological work of S. OBANA (bom 1914; medical practitioner in Japan) are followed by his odonatological bibliography (1965-1984). Most of his work is devoted to faunistics and breeding of larvae of the Japanese Odonata. Of particular importance are also his studies on the genetics and evolution of the Mnais pruinosa complex. I am honoured to write this short appreciation of Dr S. Ghana on the occasion of his 70th birthday. He is a medical practitioner and an amateur odonatologist, but his odonatological works are of outstanding standard and most of his Japanese colleagues have been much influenced by him.