Takaki Kanehiro

• Japanese: 高木兼寛 (Takaki Kanehiro)

Takaki Kanehiro was the first Japanese to hold a formal (modern) medical degree, and a prominent figure in modern medicine in Kagoshima prefecture.

Born into a Satsuma han samurai family, Takaki studied medicine under William Willis, and later founded the Jikei University School of Medicine. He is known as the "father of vitamins" for his efforts to combat beriberi.

References

• Plaques on-site at Kagoshima Medical Center.[1]