Dr. Yukio Ishizuka was born on June 14,1938, in Hakodate-City, Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan. He experienced World War II as a child and grew up during the American occupation. A large department store building facing his parents' store and residence became living quarters for occupying American soldiers. The occupation started many dramatic changes in Japan, including its education system, where school textbooks were changed overnight, and teachers suddenly started advocating democracy. It was a time of cross-fertilization of Eastern and Western ideas.

Yukio's father instilled in him strong aspirations for creative originality and independence, while his mother encouraged honesty, self-discipline and self-confidence, making him feel unquestionably loved by both parents. His father encouraged him to apply for medical school, while his academic bias clearly favored languages, law or a business career. The day before the deadline for applications, his father persuaded him to tear up his completed applications for faculties of law and economics and to apply to the top two Japanese medical schools. Unprepared for medical school exams, Yukio spent a year at a preparatory school before being accepted at Keio University in Tokyo in 1960.

As a student at Keio, Ishizuka taught himself English and was active in a campus organization to promote international student exchange. In 1960, he was chosen to represent Japan at the Afro-Asian Student Leaders Seminar held at University of Hawaii under the sponsorship of U.S. State Department. Thirty student leaders from as many nations in Asia and Africa attended the seminar. Stimulated by the experience, as a second-year medical student, Ishizuka represented Japanese medical students at the general assembly of the International Federation of Medical Student Associations (IFMSA) held in Jerusalem. On his return, he worked to organize medical students, founding the Japan International Medical Student Association (JIMSA) to promote international academic and professional interest among medical students of Japan. He received generous support from Dr. Taro Takemi, then president of the Japanese Medical Association and a well-respected physician and nuclear physicist. After graduating from Keio Medical School, Ishizuka informed Dr. Takemi of his plans to pursue postgraduate training in psychiatry in the United States. "You should not return to Japan," advised Dr. Takemi. Ishizuka understood that he was being set free.

In 1965, the young graduate left Japan to repeat a year of rotating internship at Jefferson Medical College Hospital in Philadelphia, although he had already completed one at the U.S. Air Force Hospital, Tachikawa, Japan. He wanted to make sure that he was not more interested in other specialties and that he was choosing psychiatry from among viable alternatives, particularly surgery and internal medicine.