Dr. Kunitake was the first in the world to report that synthetic molecules could spontaneously produce bilayer membranes—a basic structure common to the biological membranes of living cells. His innovative research has helped to illuminate the formation of bilayer membranes as a universal phenomenon not only in aqueous but also in organic solvents for amphiphilic compounds with extensive molecular structures. By systematizing a mechanism of synthetic bilayer membrane formation, he helped to establish the new and promising academic field of chemistry based on molecular self-assembly, which is opening new frontiers in the materials sciences.