The 12th International Countercurrent Chromatography Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, July 2024, was the first one without the presence of Yoichiro Ito, the inimitable separation scientist whose life’s work touched scientists all around the world (Fig. 1). Here it is a privilege to review his long career of discovery and innovation in separation science. During World War II when he was young, Yoichiro Ito worked in a munitions factory where he picked up his mechanical skills.
