William Willis

William Willis was a medical doctor who served as head of the Kagoshima Medical School, and founder of the Akakura Hospital in Kagoshima.

He was originally based in Edo, where his patients included Ôyama Iwao, Saigô Tsugumichi, and others injured in the Namamugi Incident and Boshin War, alongside a great many other, more everyday, patients. He was invited to Kagoshima in 1869, where he was appointed head of the medical school, introducing numerous new techniques, including the use of chloroform for anesthetized surgery, and teaching many students who went on to become prominent figures in the development of modern hospitals and clinics in Kagoshima. Willis himself later established the Akakura Hospital, while one of his students, Takaki Kanehiro, established the Jikei University School of Medicine.

References

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