Hakaru Hashimoto#Biography
{{short description|Japanese doctor and medical scientist (1881–1934)}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Hakaru Hashimoto
|other_names =
|image = Hashimoto photo.jpg
|caption = Hashimoto, unknown date
| native_name = 橋本 策
| native_name_lang = ja
|birth_date = {{birth date|1881|5|5}}
|birth_place = Iga, Mie Prefecture, Empire of Japan
|death_date = {{death date and age|1934|1|9|1881|5|5}}
|death_place = Iga, Mie, Empire of Japan
|resting_place =
|resting_place_coordinates =
|nationality = Japanese
|known_for = Hashimoto's thyroiditis
|education = Kyushu University
|occupation = Physician
|title = Doctor
|spouse = Yoshiko Miyake
|parents =
|children =
|footnotes =
}}
{{Nihongo|Hakaru Hashimoto|橋本 策|Hashimoto Hakaru|May 5, 1881 – January 9, 1934}}{{cite web|url=http://www.city.iga.lg.jp/ctg/22114/22114.html|script-title=ja:橋本策生誕地碑|publisher=Iga|language=ja|access-date=May 29, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110185504/http://www.city.iga.lg.jp/ctg/22114/22114.html|archive-date=January 10, 2007}}{{cite web|url=http://kotobank.jp/word/橋本策|title=橋本策 はしもと-はかる|work={{lang|ja|デジタル版 日本人名大辞典+Plus}}/kotobank.jp|publisher=Kodansha|year=2009|language=ja|accessdate=May 29, 2011}} 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.
Biography
Hashimoto was born on 5 May 1881, in the village of Iga-cho, son of Kennosuke Hashimoto, a physician. Hashimoto's family traditionally served as physicians to the district's feudal lords for centuries. Hashimoto's grandfather, General Hashimoto, was the most famous physician in the prefecture in his time, after having studied Dutch medicine.{{cite journal |last1=Volpe |first1=Robert |title=The Life of Doctor Hakaru Hashimoto |journal=Autoimmunity |date=1989 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=243–5 |doi=10.3109/08916938908997094 }}
Hashimoto began his primary education in 1886 and entered the {{Interlanguage link multi|Third High School|2=ja|3=第三高等学校 (旧制) |preserve=1}} in Kyoto, considered to be at the time a leading pre-university educational establishment. In 1903, he enrolled in Fukuoka Medical College in Fukuoka, a branch of the newly-established Kyushu University. He was amongst the first medical graduates when he graduated in 1907. He then entered the First Surgical Bureau and studied medicine under the direction of Hayari Miyake (1867–1945), the first Japanese neurosurgeon.{{cite journal|author=Amino N|title=[Centennial Memorial Lecture. Hakaru Hashimoto]| language=Japanese|journal=Nippon Naika Gakkai Zasshi|volume=92|issue=9| pages=1741–50|date=September 2003|pmid=14560612}} While working on his M.D. thesis, he examined four histology samples from surgically excised thyroids and described his findings as 'struma lymphomatosa'. He published his findings in the German journal Archiv für Klinische Chirurgie as German was considered the lingua franca of academia during this time.{{cite journal|author=Sawin CT|title=The heritage of Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto (1881-1934)|journal=Endocr J|volume=49|issue=4|pages=399–403|date=August 2002|pmid=12402970|doi=10.1507/endocrj.49.399|url= http://joi.jlc.jst.go.jp/JST.JSTAGE/endocrj/49.399?from=PubMed|doi-access=free}} Hashimoto also published two further papers on erysipelas and on penetrating chest wall injuries.
In 1912, Hashimoto traveled to University of Göttingen in Germany to study pathology under the training of Eduard Kaufmann, with particular emphasis on tuberculosis of the urinary tract. In 1915, Hashimoto returned to Japan via England as the First World War was underway. In 1916, he came back to his hometown, Igamachi, and became the town doctor, setting up his own surgical clinic. As a surgeon and general practitioner, Hashimoto would frequently visit patients in their homes, often utilising a rickshaw, regardless of distance. In critical patients, he would perform surgery at their homes with only trained nurses accompanying him. He was also known to not charge fees to his poor patients. During this time, Hashimoto was often seen studying medicine late in the evening and was regarded as a lifelong student.
In December 1933, Hashimoto fell ill with typhoid fever and eventually died at home on 9 January 1934 at the age of 52.
Scientific activities
In 1912, he published a paper, Kōjōsen rinpa-setsu shushō-teki henka ni kansuru kenkyū hōkoku or Zur Kenntnis der lymphomatösen Veränderung der Schilddrüse (Struma lymphomatosa) or (Report on lymphomatous goiter) in "Archiv für klinische Chirurgie", Berlin, 1912:97:219-248.
Years later, this paper was evaluated by English and American researchers, and the disease it described was recognized as an independent illness.
In American medical books, it was named Hashimoto's thyroiditis.{{cite journal|vauthors=Amino N, Tada H, Hidaka Y, Hashimoto K |title=Hashimoto's disease and Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto|journal=Endocr. J.|volume=49|issue=4|pages=393–7|date=August 2002|pmid=12402969|doi=10.1507/endocrj.49.393|url= http://joi.jlc.jst.go.jp/JST.JSTAGE/endocrj/49.393?from=PubMed|doi-access=free}}
Personal life
Hashimoto married Yoshiko Miyake, the daughter of a naval doctor who studied Japanese literature at the Nara' Women's Higher College for Education. The couple had four children; one daughter (Hanako) and three sons (Ken'ichi, Haruo, Kazuo). He was a devout Buddhist and was head of the Buddhist association at Kyushu University during his time as a student. On holidays, he was known to frequent Osaka or Kyoto by train and particularly enjoyed Kabuki theatre and foreign book-shopping.
Hashimoto Street
To honor his achievements, Kyushu University named a road on its Maidashi campus "Hashimoto Street".
References
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Category:20th-century Japanese physicians
Category:Deaths from typhoid fever in Japan
Category:Japanese endocrinologists
Category:Japanese pathologists