Professor Kenji Takagi (1888–1963) was a Japanese orthopedic surgeon, noted for being one of the first people to carry…
Professor Kenji Takagi (1888–1963) was a Japanese orthopedic surgeon, noted for being one of the first people to carry out a successful arthroscopy of the knee. Takagi was attached to Tokyo University (where he succeeded Yoshinori Tashiro) in 1918 when he carried out the ground-breaking operation on a cadaver. He had been influenced by the work of Danish surgeon Severin Nordentoft. In 1922, he went to Germany to study the use of x-ray technology there. Following World War II, Takagi's pupil Masaki Watanabe, carried on his work.
Famous Japanese People: Physician・Doctor
Physician・Doctor: 185 people
Toho University (東邦大学, Tōhō Daigaku) is a university in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan.
Masasue Suō (周防 正季, Suō Masasue; October 8, 1885 – June 20, 1942) was a Japanese physician, the director of the Sorok…
Masasue Suō (周防 正季, Suō Masasue; October 8, 1885 – June 20, 1942) was a Japanese physician, the director of the Sorok Island Sanatorium in Korea. He completed the world's biggest leprosy facility, Sorok Island Sanatorium, hospitalizing 6000 patients. He was assassinated by a patient while rushing to a morning ceremony. Forced segregation of leprosy patients, inhumane treatments towards patients, and antipathy against colonial rule were behind the assassination.
Masataka Murata (村田 正太, Murata Masataka; October 5, 1884 – December 20, 1974) was a Japanese physician. He invented a…
Masataka Murata (村田 正太, Murata Masataka; October 5, 1884 – December 20, 1974) was a Japanese physician. He invented a Murata's method for the serodiagnosis of syphilis, and studied leprosy. He worked at the Osaka Prefectural Sotojima Sanatorium and was the director between 1926 and 1933. He treated leprosy patients as respectable persons. After the Sotojima Incident, in which communists were against religious societies, he resigned as the director of the sanatorium. Later, he personally studied leprosy at his house, and died in 1974.
Shimetarō Hara (原 志免太郎, Hara Shimetarō; 4 October 1882 – 18 June 1991) was a Japanese physician, famous for his…
Shimetarō Hara (原 志免太郎, Hara Shimetarō; 4 October 1882 – 18 June 1991) was a Japanese physician, famous for his research in moxibustion, and active as medical doctor until age 104. At the time of his death at age 108 years, 257 days, Hara had been the oldest Japanese man alive after 109-year-old Nisaburo Matsuyama's death on 3 April 1991, and was succeeded as Japan's oldest living man by Gihei Oka. He, and proponents of moxibustion, have attributed his longevity to his practice of moxibustion on acupuncture point ST36 upon himself.
Mokichi Saitō (斎藤 茂吉, Saitō Mokichi; Japanese pronunciation: [sai.toː (|) mo.kʲi̥.tɕi], May 14, 1882 – February 25…
Mokichi Saitō (斎藤 茂吉, Saitō Mokichi; Japanese pronunciation: [sai.toː (|) mo.kʲi̥.tɕi], May 14, 1882 – February 25, 1953) was a Japanese poet of the Taishō period, a member of the Araragi school of tanka, and a psychiatrist. Mokichi was born in the village of Kanakame, now part of Kaminoyama, Yamagata in 1882. He attended Tokyo Imperial University Medical School and, upon graduation in 1911, joined the staff of Sugamo Hospital (present-day Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Hospital) where he began his study of psychiatry. He later directed Aoyama Hospital, a psychiatric facility. Mokichi studied tanka under Itō Sachio, a disciple of Masaoka Shiki and leader, after his master's death, of the Negishi Tanka Society; Sachio also edited the society's official journal Ashibi. This magazine, due to Sachio's increasing commitment to other literary activities, was subsequently replaced by Araragi in 1908. The publication in 1913 of Mokichi's first collection of tanka, Shakkō ("Red Light") was an immediate sensation with the broader public. The first edition collected the poet's work from the years 1905-1913 and included 50 tanka sequences (rensaku), with the autobiographical "My Mother is Dying" (死にたまふ母, Shinitamafuhaha) being perhaps the most celebrated sequence in the book. Mokichi's career as a poet spanned almost 50 years. At the time of his death at the age of 70, he had published seventeen poetry collections which include "14,200 or so poems," the collected works being overwhelmingly devoted to tanka. In 1950 he received the inaugural Yomiuri Prize for poetry. He received the Order of Culture in 1951. Mokichi was the family doctor of author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and may have unknowingly played an indirect role in the latter's suicide. He also wrote philological essays on waka of Kakinomoto no Hitomaro and of Minamoto no Sanetomo.
Kyusaku Ogino (荻野 久作, Ogino Kyūsaku; 25 March 1882 – 1 January 1975) was a Japanese medical doctor specializing in…
Kyusaku Ogino (荻野 久作, Ogino Kyūsaku; 25 March 1882 – 1 January 1975) was a Japanese medical doctor specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. His natural father's family name was Nakamura, but Kyusaku was adopted by the Ogino family in 1901. Ogino studied infertility and developed a method to estimate the fertile period of the menstrual cycle based on the length of a woman's past cycles. This knowledge could be used by couples seeking pregnancy to time intercourse so as to maximize the chances of conception. In 1930, John Smulders, Roman Catholic physician from the Netherlands, used this discovery to create a method for avoiding pregnancy. Smulders published his work with the Dutch Roman Catholic medical association, and this was the official Rhythm Method promoted over the next several decades. Ogino opposed the use of his method for contraception. He argued that its failure rate was too high: to promote it for contraception, despite the availability of other effective contraceptive methods, would result in many abortions from unwanted pregnancies. Despite this, the Rhythm Method of contraception is ironically referred to as the Ogino Method (オギノ式, ogino-shiki) in Japan. Babies born to parents using this method are known in France as "bébés Ogino."
Shigeyo Takeuchi (竹内茂代) (August 31, 1881 – December 15, 1975) was a Japanese physician. She was one of the first women…
Shigeyo Takeuchi (竹内茂代) (August 31, 1881 – December 15, 1975) was a Japanese physician. She was one of the first women elected to the Japanese Diet, though she only served one term.
Hakaru Hashimoto (橋本 策, Hashimoto Hakaru; May 5, 1881 – January 9, 1934) was a Japanese doctor and medical scientist of…
Hakaru Hashimoto (橋本 策, Hashimoto Hakaru; May 5, 1881 – January 9, 1934) was a Japanese doctor and medical scientist of the Meiji and Taishō periods. He is best known for publishing the first description of the disease that was later named Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
Shinobu Ishihara (石原 忍, Ishihara Shinobu; September 25, 1879 – January 3, 1963) was a Japanese ophthalmologist who…
Shinobu Ishihara (石原 忍, Ishihara Shinobu; September 25, 1879 – January 3, 1963) was a Japanese ophthalmologist who created the Ishihara color test to detect colour blindness. He was an army surgeon.
Kohsaburo Iesaka (家坂 幸三郎, Iesaka Kōsaburō; 1878 – 1952) was a Japanese Christian physician who headed the Miyako…
Kohsaburo Iesaka (家坂 幸三郎, Iesaka Kōsaburō; 1878 – 1952) was a Japanese Christian physician who headed the Miyako Nanseien Sanatorium (1933–1938) and Okinawa Airakuen Sanatorium (1947–1951). The church he created, "Yomigaerino Kai", still remains in the Miyako Nanseien Sanatorium, as well as a church of Nippon Sei Ko Kai and a catholic church.
Toho University (東邦大学, Tōhō Daigaku) is a university in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan.
Kensuke Mitsuda (光田 健輔, Mitsuda Kensuke; January 12, 1876 – May 14, 1964) was a Japanese leprologist and director of…
Kensuke Mitsuda (光田 健輔, Mitsuda Kensuke; January 12, 1876 – May 14, 1964) was a Japanese leprologist and director of the Tama Zenshoen Sanatorium (1914–1931) and the National Sanatorium Nagashima Aiseien (1931–1957). He had been at the frontier of leprosy policy of Japan. He was given the Order of Cultural Merits (1951) and Damien-Dutton Award (1961). He has been the cause of admiration from one side, and the target of criticism from the other.
Sahachirō Hata (秦 佐八郎, Hata Sahachirō; March 23, 1873 – November 22, 1938) was a prominent Japanese bacteriologist who…
Sahachirō Hata (秦 佐八郎, Hata Sahachirō; March 23, 1873 – November 22, 1938) was a prominent Japanese bacteriologist who researched the bubonic plague under Kitasato Shibasaburō and assisted in developing the antisyphilitic drug arsphenamine in 1909 in the laboratory of Paul Ehrlich. Hata received three unsuccessful nominations for the Nobel Prize, one from Swiss surgeon Emil Kocher for Chemistry in 1911 and two by Japanese colleagues Hayazo Ito and G Osawa for Physiology or Medicine in 1912 and 1913, respectively.
Chūjō Suketoshi (中條 資俊; December 7, 1872 – March 3, 1947) was a Japanese physician, a Hansen's disease researcher, the…
Chūjō Suketoshi (中條 資俊; December 7, 1872 – March 3, 1947) was a Japanese physician, a Hansen's disease researcher, the first director of Matsuoka Hoyoen Sanatorium (1909–1947). He repeatedly reported turpentine spirit preparation he named TR as effective for leprosy.
Masatada Yamasaki (山崎 正董, Yamasaki Masatada; June 16, 1872 – May 29, 1950) was a Japanese gynecologist and president of…
Masatada Yamasaki (山崎 正董, Yamasaki Masatada; June 16, 1872 – May 29, 1950) was a Japanese gynecologist and president of Kumamoto Medical College (1925–1932). He wrote The history of medical education in Higo (Kumamoto) and Yokoi Shōnan. After retirement, he travelled in Okinawa.
Yoshioka Yayoi (吉岡 彌生; April 29, 1871 – May 22, 1959) was a Japanese physician, educator, and women's rights activist.…
Yoshioka Yayoi (吉岡 彌生; April 29, 1871 – May 22, 1959) was a Japanese physician, educator, and women's rights activist. She founded the Tokyo Women's Medical University in 1900, as the first medical school for women in Japan. She was also known as Washiyama Yayoi.
Morinosuke Chiwaki (血脇 守之助, Chiwaki Morinosuke; 2 March 1870 – 24 February 1947) was a Japanese dentist, dental…
Morinosuke Chiwaki (血脇 守之助, Chiwaki Morinosuke; 2 March 1870 – 24 February 1947) was a Japanese dentist, dental educator and administrator who played an important role in the development of modern dental education and professional dentistry in Japan. He succeeded to the management of Takayama Dental School and developed it into the institution that later became Tokyo Dental College. He also served as the first president of the Japan Dental Association and was a patron of bacteriologist Hideyo Noguchi.
Gōtarō Mikami (三上 剛太郎, Mikami Gōtarō; 15 November 1869 – October 1964) was a Japanese medical doctor during the…
Gōtarō Mikami (三上 剛太郎, Mikami Gōtarō; 15 November 1869 – October 1964) was a Japanese medical doctor during the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War noted for his work with the Red Cross.
Fujiro Katsurada (桂田 富士郎, Katsurada Fujirō; June 7, 1867 – April 5, 1946) was a Japanese parasitologist who discovered…
Fujiro Katsurada (桂田 富士郎, Katsurada Fujirō; June 7, 1867 – April 5, 1946) was a Japanese parasitologist who discovered a parasite called Schistosoma japonicum.
Hayari Miyake (Japanese: 三宅 速, romanized: Miyake Hayari; 16 March 1866 – 29 June 1945) was a Japanese surgeon…
Hayari Miyake (Japanese: 三宅 速, romanized: Miyake Hayari; 16 March 1866 – 29 June 1945) was a Japanese surgeon specializing in gastrointestinal and central nervous system surgeries. He was an assistant to Julius Scriba, a professor of surgery at Tokyo Imperial University, and later became a student of Jan Mikulicz-Radecki, a German-Polish-Austrian surgeon. Miyake headed the Department of Surgery at Kyushu Medical School, where he taught Hakaru Hashimoto, the discoverer of Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Miyake served as the president of the Japan Surgical Society and was a long-time friend of theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.
Satō Sankichi (佐藤 三吉; December 30, 1857—June 17, 1943) was a Japanese surgeon and professor.
Hajime Sakaki (August 28, 1856 – February 6, 1897) was a Japanese physician and the first professor of psychiatry in…
Hajime Sakaki (August 28, 1856 – February 6, 1897) was a Japanese physician and the first professor of psychiatry in that country. Though he was a proponent of biological psychiatry, Sakaki ran a Tokyo insane asylum and he made early attempts to introduce work therapy for confined psychiatric patients. Using field work and his study of patients in the asylum, Sakaki created a classification and diagnosis system for psychiatric disorders. Sakaki mentored Shuzo Kure, who became Sakaki's successor and ultimately advanced the institutionalization of the mentally ill.
Ōmori Harutoyo (大森 治豊; December 20, 1852 - February 19, 1912) was a Japanese surgeon who became the first president of…
Ōmori Harutoyo (大森 治豊; December 20, 1852 - February 19, 1912) was a Japanese surgeon who became the first president of the Fukuoka Medical College that was founded in 1903 as a branch of the Medical Faculty of Kyōto University (Kyōto teikoku daigaku Fukuoka ika-daigaku, now the Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University). Ōmori was born in Edo, but he grew up in the domain Kaminoyama (Dewa province, nowadays Yamagata prefecture) where his father Ōmori Kaishun served as a physician to lord Matsudaira Nobumichi. In 1879 he graduated from Tokyo University; the same year he went to a new post in the newly established Fukuoka Medical School. In 1888 when this school was abolished, he was appointed as the first director of the Fukuoka Prefectural Hospital. In 1885, he performed the first cesarean operation in Japan. Dr. Omori laid the foundation for Kyushu University Faculty of Medicine before retiring in 1909. He did from a kidney trouble and was buried in the Sōfuku-Temple (Sōfuku-ji (Fukuoka) next to the campus of the medical faculty.
Baron Nagayo Sensai (長与 専斎; 16 October 1838 – 8 September 1902) was a medical doctor, educator and statesman in Meiji…
Baron Nagayo Sensai (長与 専斎; 16 October 1838 – 8 September 1902) was a medical doctor, educator and statesman in Meiji period Japan.
Dōmei Yakazu (矢数 道明, Yakazu Dōmei; December 7, 1905 – October 21, 2002) was a Japanese physician who contributed to the…
Dōmei Yakazu (矢数 道明, Yakazu Dōmei; December 7, 1905 – October 21, 2002) was a Japanese physician who contributed to the restoration of kampo medicine in Japan. In 1979, he was awarded the lifetime achievement award (最高優功賞, Saikō Yūkō Shō) by the Japanese Medical Association for his contributions to oriental medicine.
Tae Hitoto (一青 妙, Hitoto Tae; born September 24, 1970 in Taipei, Taiwan; born Yan Miao (顏妙)) is a Japanese actress…
Tae Hitoto (一青 妙, Hitoto Tae; born September 24, 1970 in Taipei, Taiwan; born Yan Miao (顏妙)) is a Japanese actress, dentist and author. Her mother was Japanese, and her father was a Taiwanese businessman Gan Hui Bin（顏惠民）. She graduated from Showa University with a degree in Dentistry. Yō Hitoto is her younger sister. Hitoto published her first non-fiction book, Box My Child, about her father in 2012. She subsequently wrote a second non-fiction book and four travel books, also about Taiwan. Hitoto's first novel, The Blue Flower, continued her literary career's focus on Taiwan. Although written in Japanese, a Chinese translation of the novel was published in Taiwan in 2025 before a Japanese edition was released.
Yusuke Yanagi (Kanji:栁 雄介, Yanagi Yusuke; born 1955) is a Japanese virologist currently at Kyushu University and an…
Yusuke Yanagi (Kanji:栁 雄介, Yanagi Yusuke; born 1955) is a Japanese virologist currently at Kyushu University and an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Tadako Urata (宇良田 唯子) (3 May 1873 – 18 June 1936) was a Japanese physician, trained in ophthalmology in Germany. She…
Tadako Urata (宇良田 唯子) (3 May 1873 – 18 June 1936) was a Japanese physician, trained in ophthalmology in Germany. She and her husband ran a clinic in Tianjin, China, from 1912 to 1932.
Kageyoshi Tada (多田 景義, Tada Kageyoshi; died 1950) was a Japanese physician who worked in Miyako Nanseien Sanatorium…
Kageyoshi Tada (多田 景義, Tada Kageyoshi; died 1950) was a Japanese physician who worked in Miyako Nanseien Sanatorium, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, between 1938 and 1945. He put in-patients who were forcibly hospitalized under strict control; a special facility was built with barbed wire fences and in-patients were not allowed to leave. In 1945, 110 in-patients died of malaria, malnutrition, and as direct effects of air attacks, while his group escaped to the army shelter.
Tang Erho (simplified Chinese: 汤尔和; traditional Chinese: 湯爾和; pinyin: Tāng Ěrhé; Wade-Giles: T'ang Er-ho, 1878 –…
Tang Erho (simplified Chinese: 汤尔和; traditional Chinese: 湯爾和; pinyin: Tāng Ěrhé; Wade-Giles: T'ang Er-ho, 1878 – November 8, 1940) was a medical doctor and politician in the Chinese Beiyang government, later noted for his role as in the collaborationist Provisional Government of the Republic of China.
Ayako Nishikawa (西川 史子, Nishikawa Ayako; 5 April 1971) is a Japanese female TV star, tarento, comedian, and cosmetic…
Ayako Nishikawa (西川 史子, Nishikawa Ayako; 5 April 1971) is a Japanese female TV star, tarento, comedian, and cosmetic surgeon. She is unusual in Japan in that she is willing to appear on television, as medical practitioners are generally hesitant to appear.
Hidetoshi Nishijima (西島 英利, Nishijima Hidetoshi; born April 7, 1948) is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic…
Hidetoshi Nishijima (西島 英利, Nishijima Hidetoshi; born April 7, 1948) is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Nichinan, Miyazaki and graduate of Nippon Medical School, he was elected for the first time in 2004.
Ruan Zhenduo (simplified Chinese: 阮振铎; traditional Chinese: 阮振鐸; pinyin: Ruǎn Zhènduó; Wade–Giles: Juan Chen-to…
Ruan Zhenduo (simplified Chinese: 阮振铎; traditional Chinese: 阮振鐸; pinyin: Ruǎn Zhènduó; Wade–Giles: Juan Chen-to; Hepburn: Gen Shintaku; 1893–1973), was a politician in the early Republic of China who subsequently served in a number of Cabinet-level positions in the Empire of Manchukuo.
Riko Muranaka (村中 璃子, Muranaka Riko) is a medical doctor, journalist and recipient of the 2017 John Maddox Prize for…
Riko Muranaka (村中 璃子, Muranaka Riko) is a medical doctor, journalist and recipient of the 2017 John Maddox Prize for fighting to reduce cervical cancer and countering misinformation about the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine dominating the Japanese media, despite facing safety threats. Despite the lack of evidence, the HPV vaccine is infamous in Japan due to misattributed adverse effects, with government suspending promotion and coverage. While the World Health Organization (WHO) safety and efficacy information about the vaccine is consistent with Muranaka's reporting, a court ruled against Muranaka in an unrelated slander lawsuit in 2016 for claims of alleged fabrication. Under threat of legal harassment by antivaccine activists, publishers declined some of her works including a book on the HPV vaccine (ultimately, Heibonsha accepted the book for publication).