Abstract
More than 100 years ago, in 1912, Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto reported on “struma lymphomatosa” (1). Meetings celebrating the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Hashimoto's disease were held in May 2012 in the framework of the Educational Course of the European Thyroid Association on the island of Kos, Greece, and in late November to early December 2012 in association with the 55th Annual Meeting of the Japan Thyroid Association in Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan, where Dr. Hashimoto conducted research on four cases of diffuse goiter (1). Related articles and comments have been reported by Caturegli et al. (2), Hiromatsu et al. (3), Satoh and Tanaka (4), Duntas et al. (5), and Weetman (6). Dr. Weetman (6) provided interesting editorial comments on the article by Caturegli et al. (2). In his editorial, he indicated, “It has been 100 years since Hakaru Hashimoto, a 31-year-old surgeon at Kyoto Imperial University…” Dr. Hashimoto made the discovery of the disease at the age of 30 at Kyushu University, not at Kyoto University.
The story of Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto will be recounted again and again in the future. Therefore, it is important to report accurately the details of his life history. He was born on May 5, 1881 (7), and the original article was published in January 1912 in a German journal (1). Therefore, the exact age at which he published his famous work was actually 30 years old. As for his education, he entered Fukuoka Medical College of Kyoto Imperial University in 1903 and graduated from this college in 1907. Fukuoka Medical College was first established in 1903 as an educational institution affiliated with Kyoto Imperial University. Subsequently, in 1910, Fukuoka Medical College became independent of Kyoto Imperial University and a separate entity, and was renamed Kyushu Imperial University. His research was conducted in the First Department of Surgery of Kyushu Imperial University, under the supervision of Prof. Hayari Miyake (7). The year 2003 marked the centennial of Kyushu University's foundation as Fukuoka Medical College. The Alumni Association of the Faculty of Medicine of Kyushu University named a road on the university campus “Hashimoto Street” to honor Dr. Hashimoto and his world-famous achievement (4).
The scientific spirit of Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto influenced many young doctors who followed in his footsteps and graduated from the First Department of Surgery of Kyushu University. One of them was Dr. Shizuo Kuma, who was eight years younger than Dr. Hashimoto and founded Kuma Hospital, Center for Excellence in Thyroid Care, in Kobe in 1932. In 1928, the annual meeting of the Alumni Association of the First Department of Surgery of Kyushu University was held and attended by 86 doctors. In a photograph taken at the time, Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto and Dr. Shizuo Kuma can be seen standing next to each other (Fig. 1), possibly suggesting that the two were good friends. At that time, in 1928, the term “Hashimoto's disease” had not yet appeared in the medical literature.
An enlargement of a photograph taken of the 86 doctors who attended the 1928 annual meeting of the Alumni Association of the First Department of Surgery of Kyushu University. Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto is pictured on the left, and Dr. Shizuo Kuma on the right.
In summary, Hashimoto's disease was discovered by Dr. Hashimoto at the age of 30, and his original research was conducted at Kyushu University, not at Kyoto University. We are happy and honored to carry on the scientific spirit of Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto at Kuma Hospital.