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Centenary biographical note
CENTENARY
BIOGRAPHICAL
NOTE
KANJI NAGANO
1889-1971
DR NAGANO was born in Tatsuno City, Okayama Prefecture on 14 July 1889 as the youngest boy of 6 children. He was intelligent and extremely active. Always up to mischief, he was a leader of the naughty children in his neighbourhood, and it was during their escapades that three times he suffered serious injury. Later, while he was at the Okayama Medical College, he was again an active leader of his contemporaries during a students’ strike. He graduated from the College and received the license to practice medicine in 1914. Soon afterwards, he began a period of work, which extended to 1924, at the Institute of Ship- and Tropical Diseases of the Settsu Hospital, Kobe, under Dr Fujiro Katsurada, a pathologist and the famous discoverer of Sc~js~oso~u japo~i~um. In 1921, Dr Nagano was sent to the Institut fur Schiffs- und Tropenkrankheiten at Hamburg to study under
Professor F. Fiilleborn for a year. He was invited to join the Department of Anatomy, Okayama Medical College in 1925 and started his studies on the control of human C~~~~rchis si~e~sis infection. He worked hard on the behaviour of C. sinensis and on the epidemiology, transmission dynamics and control of clonorchiasis. While working on these problems, he made some motion pictures to demonstrate the movement of the cercaria of C. sinensis in water. The films were later found by his daughter, Hiroko, who donated them to the Department of Parasitology, Kitasato University Medical School. After a few years, he encountered a serious difficulty because he had no research grant and he almost gave up research. However, his friend, Dr Tatsuo Kihata, encouraged him to continue his research on the control of the parasite as a contribution to human 9
10
CENTENARY BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
welfare and the advancement of science. Fortunately, Dr Kihata was successful in obtaining funds offered by Mr Tsuneta Yano of the Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. The grant was made on the recommendations of Professor Mataro Nagayo of the Institute for Infectious Diseases, the University ofTokyo and of Dr Sahachiro Hata of the Kitasato Institute. The grant was give to Dr Nagano, through the Kitasato Institute, on the conditions that he be allowed to continue his research at the Okayama Medical College, and that he publish the results in the Archives of Experimental Medicine of the Kitasato Institute. With the support provided by this research grant, he was successful in controlling clonorchiasis in Okayama. For these remarkable researches, he was awarded the Asakawa Prize of the Japanese Society of Microbiology, and he gained the degree of Doctor of Medical Sciences from the Okayama Medical College in 1930. He was later invited by Dr Hata to join the staff ofthe Kitasato Institute, becoming the Chairman of the Department of Parasitology in 1944 and ViceDirector of the Institute in 195 1. From 1933 to 1944, he worked on the survey and control of parasitic infections in various prefectures, such as Okayama, Ibaraki, Yamanashi and Kanagawa. Then, after the end of World War II in 1945, he undertook collaborative work, over a period of several years, with members of the 406th U.S. Army General Medical Laboratories in a nation-wide survey of parasitic infections using mobile railway-carriage laboratories. He also worked together with Dr 0. R. McCoy (Rockefeller Foundation). One of his major studies on C. sinensis performed at the Kitasato Institute was on the biological control of the snail host, by parasitic castration, using a trematode infection. When Parafossarulus manchouricus, the intermediate host of C. sinensis, was infected with Notocotylus attenuatus, a trematode of ducks, the testes and ovaries of the snail were destroyed, fecundity of the snail was reduced and, therefore, the snail populations were lowered. Another study was on the control of soiltransmitted nematodes in a community on the Hatsushima Island performed with the assistance of a team of three research associates, Drs Masato Sakuma, Hisao Fuse and Motohiro Inagaki, in collaboration with the Kanagawa Prefectural Institute of Health and the Atami Health Centre. At that time, human excreta used for agricultural fertilizer was the source of Ascaris lumbricoides infection. He was
successful in killing the Ascaris eggs by the heat of fermentation resulting from mixing the night soil with farm manure. Mass chemotherapy was also conducted using his special prescription. Eradication of hookworms on the island was attained in 2 years and eradication of all parasitic nematodes after 20 years. He produced an educational movie entitled ‘Ascaris and Human Life’, which has been shown everywhere in Japan, and which played an invaluable role in parasite control campaigns. A copy of the film is also stored in the Department of Parasitology of the Kitasato University Medical School. Control of soil-transmitted nematodes, mostly by means of mass chemotherapy, was extended to the Elizabeth Saunders Home, a mestizo orphanage, and many primary schools. The educational posts which he held were, first, Lecturer at the Nippon University School of Medicine in 1942; Lecturer and later Visiting Professor at the Tokyo Jikeikai Medical College, for 20 years, from 1947; Lecturer at the Tokyo Women’s Medical College, succeeding Professor Tamiya, for 7 years, from 1953, and Professor of the Kitasato University from 1962. On 3 April 1971, he was awarded the Katsurada Prize of the Japanese Society of Parasitology for his researches on the biological control of Clonorchis sinensis. He passed away on 27 April 1971, only 3 months after the death of his wife.
DR MOTOHIROINAGAKI Honorary Director,
Minato-ku,
Shiba Hospital, 1902 1 Shimbasi 6, Tokyo 105, Japan, and
HIROSHITANAKA, M.D.
(Secretary to Japanese Society of Parasitology) Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo, Director, Chiba Prefectural Institute of Health, 666-2 Nitona-cho, Chiba City, 280, Japan.
BIOGRAPHICAL
NOTE
KANJI NAGANO
1889-1971
DR NAGANO was born in Tatsuno City, Okayama Prefecture on 14 July 1889 as the youngest boy of 6 children. He was intelligent and extremely active. Always up to mischief, he was a leader of the naughty children in his neighbourhood, and it was during their escapades that three times he suffered serious injury. Later, while he was at the Okayama Medical College, he was again an active leader of his contemporaries during a students’ strike. He graduated from the College and received the license to practice medicine in 1914. Soon afterwards, he began a period of work, which extended to 1924, at the Institute of Ship- and Tropical Diseases of the Settsu Hospital, Kobe, under Dr Fujiro Katsurada, a pathologist and the famous discoverer of Sc~js~oso~u japo~i~um. In 1921, Dr Nagano was sent to the Institut fur Schiffs- und Tropenkrankheiten at Hamburg to study under
Professor F. Fiilleborn for a year. He was invited to join the Department of Anatomy, Okayama Medical College in 1925 and started his studies on the control of human C~~~~rchis si~e~sis infection. He worked hard on the behaviour of C. sinensis and on the epidemiology, transmission dynamics and control of clonorchiasis. While working on these problems, he made some motion pictures to demonstrate the movement of the cercaria of C. sinensis in water. The films were later found by his daughter, Hiroko, who donated them to the Department of Parasitology, Kitasato University Medical School. After a few years, he encountered a serious difficulty because he had no research grant and he almost gave up research. However, his friend, Dr Tatsuo Kihata, encouraged him to continue his research on the control of the parasite as a contribution to human 9
10
CENTENARY BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
welfare and the advancement of science. Fortunately, Dr Kihata was successful in obtaining funds offered by Mr Tsuneta Yano of the Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. The grant was made on the recommendations of Professor Mataro Nagayo of the Institute for Infectious Diseases, the University ofTokyo and of Dr Sahachiro Hata of the Kitasato Institute. The grant was give to Dr Nagano, through the Kitasato Institute, on the conditions that he be allowed to continue his research at the Okayama Medical College, and that he publish the results in the Archives of Experimental Medicine of the Kitasato Institute. With the support provided by this research grant, he was successful in controlling clonorchiasis in Okayama. For these remarkable researches, he was awarded the Asakawa Prize of the Japanese Society of Microbiology, and he gained the degree of Doctor of Medical Sciences from the Okayama Medical College in 1930. He was later invited by Dr Hata to join the staff ofthe Kitasato Institute, becoming the Chairman of the Department of Parasitology in 1944 and ViceDirector of the Institute in 195 1. From 1933 to 1944, he worked on the survey and control of parasitic infections in various prefectures, such as Okayama, Ibaraki, Yamanashi and Kanagawa. Then, after the end of World War II in 1945, he undertook collaborative work, over a period of several years, with members of the 406th U.S. Army General Medical Laboratories in a nation-wide survey of parasitic infections using mobile railway-carriage laboratories. He also worked together with Dr 0. R. McCoy (Rockefeller Foundation). One of his major studies on C. sinensis performed at the Kitasato Institute was on the biological control of the snail host, by parasitic castration, using a trematode infection. When Parafossarulus manchouricus, the intermediate host of C. sinensis, was infected with Notocotylus attenuatus, a trematode of ducks, the testes and ovaries of the snail were destroyed, fecundity of the snail was reduced and, therefore, the snail populations were lowered. Another study was on the control of soiltransmitted nematodes in a community on the Hatsushima Island performed with the assistance of a team of three research associates, Drs Masato Sakuma, Hisao Fuse and Motohiro Inagaki, in collaboration with the Kanagawa Prefectural Institute of Health and the Atami Health Centre. At that time, human excreta used for agricultural fertilizer was the source of Ascaris lumbricoides infection. He was
successful in killing the Ascaris eggs by the heat of fermentation resulting from mixing the night soil with farm manure. Mass chemotherapy was also conducted using his special prescription. Eradication of hookworms on the island was attained in 2 years and eradication of all parasitic nematodes after 20 years. He produced an educational movie entitled ‘Ascaris and Human Life’, which has been shown everywhere in Japan, and which played an invaluable role in parasite control campaigns. A copy of the film is also stored in the Department of Parasitology of the Kitasato University Medical School. Control of soil-transmitted nematodes, mostly by means of mass chemotherapy, was extended to the Elizabeth Saunders Home, a mestizo orphanage, and many primary schools. The educational posts which he held were, first, Lecturer at the Nippon University School of Medicine in 1942; Lecturer and later Visiting Professor at the Tokyo Jikeikai Medical College, for 20 years, from 1947; Lecturer at the Tokyo Women’s Medical College, succeeding Professor Tamiya, for 7 years, from 1953, and Professor of the Kitasato University from 1962. On 3 April 1971, he was awarded the Katsurada Prize of the Japanese Society of Parasitology for his researches on the biological control of Clonorchis sinensis. He passed away on 27 April 1971, only 3 months after the death of his wife.
DR MOTOHIROINAGAKI Honorary Director,
Minato-ku,
Shiba Hospital, 1902 1 Shimbasi 6, Tokyo 105, Japan, and
HIROSHITANAKA, M.D.
(Secretary to Japanese Society of Parasitology) Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo, Director, Chiba Prefectural Institute of Health, 666-2 Nitona-cho, Chiba City, 280, Japan.