A personal tribute to a great educator: how Henry Kawamoto influenced my interest in facial soft tissue anatomy and changed my plastic surgery career.

Henry Kawamoto remains one of the most influential craniofacial surgeons of the 20th century. A Tessier-trained craniofacial surgeon, Dr. Kawamoto has personally influenced not only the lives of his patients, but significantly also the lives of those craniofacial fellows he educated, passing on the Tessier methodology to future generations. This article serves as an anecdote as to how Dr. Kawamoto's mentoring influenced a personal understanding of facial soft tissue anatomy, leading to improved technical approaches for surgical rejuvenation of the aging face.