Kitasato Shibasaburo

For many people the face on the new ¥1,000 banknote may not be too familiar. But this remarkable gentleman is Kitasato Shibasaburo, a major contributor in the field of medicine, not only in Japan.

Kitasato began studying medicine in his native Kumamoto Prefecture under the Dutch physician C.G. Mansvelt, then entered the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tokyo. After receiving his M.D. degree in 1883, he carried out bacteriological research at the government's Central Sanitary Bureau.

He was sent to Berlin to join the laboratory of bacteriologist Robert Koch. Together with the German scientist Emil von Behring, he studied tetanus and diptheria, two serious bacterial infections. In 1889 he succeeded in obtaining the world's first pure culture of tetanus bacteria.

The following year, he and von Behring showed that immunity to tetanus could be achieved by an injection of serum containing an antitoxin. They provided the first evidence that immune serum could serve in treating infections. Kitasato and von Behring were both later nominated for a Nobel Prize in Medicine, but unfortunately, the prize went only to von Behring.

Returning to Japan in 1892, he established the Institute for Infectious Diseases. Two years later, the Japanese government sent him to Hong Kong during an outbreak of bubonic plague. Independently, in the same place and at the same time, he and the French bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin discovered the bacillus that causes the plague.

With the assistance of colleagues, in 1915 Kitasato established the Kitasato Institute. Kitasato later became the first dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Keio University and the first president of the Japan Medical Association. As a physician and bacteriologist, Kitasato's research and development of treatments for several common diseases contributed enormously to the health of people around the world.

(294 words)

A different version of this article with Japanese translation and notes can be found on pp. 130-131 in “Introducing 100 Impressive Japanese.”