Here we introduce the history of parasitology in Japan. From the Meiji Period (1868+) onwards, many parasitologists found novel parasites, leading to the elucidation of parasites’ life cycles and to control of infectious diseases. Wide-ranging studies by pioneers in the field have fostered progress in parasitology in Japan. This now plays an important role in the control and eradication of parasitic diseases around the world.
Heian Period
| 984 |
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Yasuyori Tanba published “Ishinhou,” the oldest known Japanese medical textbook. |
Edo Period
| 1668 |
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An Italian medical scientist, Francesco Redi, who is referred to as “the father of modern parasitology”, wrote a book about many kinds of parasites such as Fasciola hepatica. |
| 1758 |
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A Swedish naturalist, Carl Linnaeus, “the father of modern taxonomy,” assigned names to many parasites, e.g. the human roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides, the pinworm Enterobius vermicularis, and the broad tapeworm Diphyllobothrium latum. |
| 1808 |
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Karl Asmund Rudolphi published “Enterozoorum Sive Vermium Intestinalium Historia Naturalis,”the first book on modern parasitology. |
| 1847 |
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Kouchoku Fujii made “Katayama-ki” (Katayama Memoir). |
Meiji Period
| 1876 |
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A German medical scientist, Erwin von Bälz, started to lecture on parasitology and to provide medical care at the “Tokyo-Igakko” (Tokyo Medical School), the predecessor of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tokyo. |
| 1877 |
|
Heinrich Botho Scheube, a disciple of Erwin von Bälz, started to lecture on parasitology and to provide medical care at the hospital “Kyoto Ryobyo-in” (the predecessor of the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine). |
| 1880 |
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A German veterinary scientist, Johannes Ludwig Janson, started to lecture on veterinary parasitology at the “Komaba-Nougakko” (Komaba School of Agriculture), the predecessor of the Faculty of Agriculture in the University of Tokyo. |
| 1881 |
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Heinrich Botho Scheube identified a larva of the tapeworm Spirometra erinaceieuropaei from a man in Kyoto. |
| 1885 |
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Isao Iijima gave the first lecture on parasitology in Japanese at The University of Tokyo. |
| 1888 |
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Isao Iijima published “Jintai-Kisei-Doubutsu-Hen” (The Animal Parasites), the first Japanese textbook on modern parasitology. |
| 1892 |
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The “Densenbyo Kenkyujo” (Institute of Infectious Diseases, the Hygiene Society of Japan) was established (the predecessor of The Institute of Medical Science in the University of Tokyo). |
| 1904 |
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The blood fluke Schistosoma japonicum was found by Fujiro Katsurada and Akira Fujinami. |
| 1907 |
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A French pathologist named Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran won the Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the malaria
parasite. |
| 1910 |
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Harujiro Kobayashi identified cyprinid fishes as the second intermediate hosts of the liver fluke Clonorchis sinensis. |
| 1911 |
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Sadamu Yokogawa discovered the fluke Metagonimus yokogawai and its intermediate host, the sweetfish (Plecoglossus altivelis). |
Taisho Period
| 1913 |
|
Keinosuke Miyairi and Minoru Suzuki identified the freshwater snail
Oncomelania hupensis nosophora as the intermediate host of the blood
fluke Schistosoma japonicum. |
| 1913 |
|
Seitaro Goto won the Japan Academy Prize for his study on ectoparasitic trematodes in Japan. |
| 1914 |
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Kouan Nakagawa identified freshwater crabs as the second intermediate hosts of the lung fluke Paragonimus westermanii. |
| 1915 |
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The Kitasato Institute, a medical research and education center, was established by Shibasaburo Kitasato. |
| 1917 |
|
Shochi Muto identified the freshwater snails Semisulcospira libertina
and Parafossarulus manchouricus japonicus as the first intermediate
hosts of the fluke Metagonimus yokogawai and of the liver fluke
Clonorchis sinensis, respectively. |
| 1917 |
|
Sadao Yoshida revealed the growth history of the human roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides. |
| 1918 |
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Fujiro Katsurada and Akira Fujinami won the Japan Academy Prize for their study on schistosomiasis in Japan. |
| 1920 |
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Kouan Nakagawa identified freshwater snails of the family Planorbidae as
the intermediate hosts of the giant intestinal fluke Fasciolopsis
buski. |
| 1921 |
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Kaoru Morishita and others founded the “Tokyo Kiseichu Doukoukai” (the
Tokyo Parasitology Association), the predecessor of the Japanese Society
of Parasitology. |
| 1922 |
|
Sueo Eguchi identified copepods as the first intermediate hosts of the broad tapeworm Diphyllobothrium latum. |
| 1923 |
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Masuo Kinoshita identified the nematode larva of the genus Gnathostoma from a human for the first time in Japan. |
| 1926 |
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Tadayoshi Katsurajima reported the first identified case of echinococcosis in Japan. |
Showa Period
| 1928 |
|
Jun-ichi Asada identified the brackish water snail Pirenella
nipponica as the first intermediate host of the trematode Heterophyes
heterophyes nocens. |
| 1929 |
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The Japanese Society of Parasitology was founded. |
| 1934 |
|
The “Biseibutsubyo Kenkyujo” (Institute for Microbial Diseases) in Osaka
Imperial University was established (the predecessor of the Research
Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University). |
| 1942 |
|
The “Toa Fudobyo Kenkyujo” (East Asian Research Institute of Endemics)
in Nagasaki Medical University was established (the predecessor of the
Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University). |
| 1947 |
|
The Japanese National Institute of Health (the predecessor of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases) was established. |
| 1948 |
|
A Swiss chemist named Paul Hermann Müller received the Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the insecticide, DDT. |
| 1950 |
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Manabu Sasa reported a new trombiculiasis mainly transmitted to humans by the tick Leptotrombidium scutellare. |
| 1951 |
|
Muneo Yokogawa identified the freshwater snail Semisulcospira libertina
as the first intermediate host of the lung fluke Paragonimus
westermanii. |
| 1953 |
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Satoru Kamegai established the Meguro Parasitological Museum. |
| 1954 |
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Yoneji Miyakawa produced the first report of human toxoplasmosis in Japan. |
| 1955 |
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Jiro Yamashita identified the small tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis from a dog in Rebun Island, Hokkaido. |
| 1955 |
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The Japan Association of Parasite Control was established. |
| 1958 |
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Satyu Yamaguti started to publish “Systema Helminthum.” |
| 1959 |
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The Japanese Society of Tropical Medicine was founded. |
| 1961 |
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The Meguro Parasitological Museum started to publish “Progress of Medical Parasitology in Japan.” |
| 1962 |
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The Japan Association of Parasite Control proposed “Kaichu Zero Sakusen”
(the campaign for the eradication of the human roundworm). |
| 1964 |
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International Congress of Parasitology (ICOPA) was organized. |
| 1965 |
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Keizo Asami reported the first human case of anisakiasis in Japan. |
| 1965 |
|
The former Japanese prime minister Eisaku Sato and U.S. president Lyndon
Baines Johnson established the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences
Program. The Parasitic Diseases Panel was established. |
| 1969 |
|
The cooperative agreement was reached between Japan and the Republic
of Korea for control of parasitic diseases in the latter country. |
| 1974 |
|
The Asian Parasite Control Organization (APCO) was established between Japan, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan. |
| 1974 |
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The Japanese Society for Systematic Parasitology was founded. |
| 1975 |
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Satyu Yamaguti published “A Synoptical Review of Life Histories of Digenetic Trematodes of Vertebrates.” |
| 1975 |
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Ichiro Miyazaki and Shigehisa Habe identified wild boars as paratenic hosts of the lung fluke Paragonimus westermanii. |
| 1986 |
|
Yosuke Yamane and others described the broad tapeworm “Diphyllobothrium
nihonkaiense” (now accepted as Dibothriocephalus nihonkaiensis), which
had been confused with Diphyllobothrium latum. |
Heisei Period
| 1993 |
|
The Meguro Parasitological Museum was rebuilt. |
| 1995 |
|
Masaaki Kanehara identified many eggs of nematodes in the genus
Trichuris (whipworm) from the Sannai-Maruyama historical site, the
remains of the Early to Middle Jomon Period (approximately 5,500 to
4,000 years ago) in Aomori Prefecture. |
| 1996 |
|
The eradication of schistosomiasis in Yamanashi Prefecture was declared. |
| 1997 |
|
The Hashimoto Initiative, which advocates the importance of control of parasitic diseases, was proposed at the Denver Summit. |
| 1998 |
|
The International Congress of Parasitology (ICOPA IX) was convened for
the first time in Asia at Makuhari, Chiba, Japan. Their Majesties the
Emperor and Empress of Japan attended the congress. |
| 1999 |
|
The Miyairi Keinosuke Memorial Museum was founded at his birth place. |
| 2000 |
|
The Okinawa Infectious Diseases Initiative, which refers to the control of parasites, was proposed at the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit. |
| 2000 |
|
The eradication of schistosomiasis in the Chikugo River basin in Kyushu was declared. |