Saiseigakusha, the Predecessor of Nippon Medical School: Philosophy of Saisei-Kyumin and Associates of Tai Hasegawa

Abstract

This is a report about Saiseigakusha, the predecessor of Nippon Medical School, which advocated "Saisei-Kyumin", a philosophy that obliged Saiseigakusha to extend social and frontline medical support to ordinary people during the Meiji Era. Founded in 1876, Saiseigakusha was one of the most prominent private medical schools of the time, and it produced a large number of caring and skilled doctors to carry out the tenets of Saisei-Kyumin. The mission of Saiseigakusha's founder, Tai Hasegawa, was to foster excellent doctors who practice medicine with "selfless devotion to patients and society", and this also became the mission of his school. It was Hasegawa's conviction that medicine must engage deeply with society and people's lives, and he dedicated great effort to public health administration so that priority could be given to saving people in financial difficulty, which is the core principle of "socialized medicine". This paper examines the teachings and wise words of such medical professionals who studied at Saiseigakusha as Chuta Oguchi, Kenzo Suto, Hideyo Noguchi, Norihiko Asakawa and Tetsuzo Sugano, whose wisdom still shines now as it did then, and explores their personalities and encounters with outstanding medical visionaries. The history of Saiseigakusha and its contributions to medicine will continue for generations to come to be studied and to guide the medical education given at this school and the future of medicine and health care.