Takaki Kanehiro
| Takaki Kanehiro 高木 兼寛 |
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|---|---|
Takaki Kanehiro
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| Born |
15 September 1849 Hyūga Province, Japan |
| Died | 12 April 1920 (aged 70) Tokyo, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Known for | naval physician |
Baron Takaki Kanehiro (高木 兼寛?, 15 September 1849 – 12 April 1920) was a Japanese naval physician.
Born in Hyūga Province (present-day Miyazaki Prefecture) as the son of a samurai retainer to the Satsuma domain, Takaki studied Chinese medicine as a youth and served as a medic in the Boshin War. He later studied western medical science under British doctor William Willis (in Japan 1861–1881). Takaki entered the Imperial Japanese Navy as a medical officer in 1872. He was sent to Great Britain for medical studies in 1875, and interned at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School now part of King's College London in London. He returned to Japan in 1880.
At the time, beriberi (considered endemic to Japan) was a serious problem on warships and was affecting naval efficiency. Takaki knew that beriberi was not common among Western navies. He also noticed that Japanese naval officers, whose diet consisted of various types of vegetables and meat, rarely suffered from beriberi. On the other hand, the disease was common among ordinary crewmen, whose diet consisted almost exclusively of white rice (which was supplied free, whereas other foods had to be purchased). Many crewmen from poor families, who had to send money back home, often tried to save money by eating nothing but rice.
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