On the Human Body: Research, Literacy and Creativity

Abstract

Forty-one years have passed, since I began my career as anatomist at the Department of Anatomy in alma mater after graduation from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo in 1978. Twenty-nine years have passed, since I became the Professor of Anatomy at the Juntendo University. I conducted academic activities in four fields. 1) In the microscopic research on the kidney, I discovered the mechanical function of mesangial cells to counterbalance the expanding force of blood pressure in 1987. Since then I studied the microscopic morphology of renal glomerulus, and of the interstitium and blood vessels in various tissues, 2) In the macroscopic research with my colleagues, I studied the morphology of the peripheral nerves and arteries. In recent years, the isolated muscle specimens became an excellent tool to analyze the functional architecture of skeletal muscles. 3) In the history of medicine, I studied especially the history of anatomy, of medical education and of Western medicine in general. 4) In the academic and social education of the anatomy and body donation, I have published many academic textbooks, including 17 titles and 35 editions of the translated and/or supervised textbooks of anatomy, 17 titles and 26 editions authored and/or edited textbooks of anatomy and biology. I have long been engaged in the activities of Tokushi Kaibo Zenkoku Rengokai [National Confederation of Anatomy Body Donation], and served the executive director from 2002 to 2006 and the chairman from 2006 to 2010. I experienced that the body donation became increasingly popular so that the proportion of donated cadavers to the total dissected ones increased from 42% in the 1983 to more than 99% in the 2018.