was a Japanese

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 bacteriologist who developed the Arsphenamine

Arsphenamine

Arsphenamine, also known as Salvarsan and 606, is a drug that was used beginning in the 1910s to treat syphilis and trypanosomiasis...

 drug in 1909 in the laboratory of Paul Ehrlich

Paul Ehrlich

Paul Ehrlich was a German scientist in the fields of hematology, immunology, and chemotherapy, and Nobel laureate. He is noted for curing syphilis and for his research in autoimmunity, calling it "horror autotoxicus"...

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Hata was born in Tsumo Village, Mino District, Shimane

Mino District, Shimane

was a district located in Shimane, Japan until 2004. The population before dissolution is 4,315 with the total area of 432.72 km².-Merger:*On November 1, 2004, the following two towns below merged into the city of Masuda and the district dissolved.**Hikimi...

 (now part of Masuda City

Masuda, Shimane

is a city located in Shimane, Japan.As of September 2010 the city has a population of 51,118 and the density of 69.7 person persons per square km². The total area is 733.16 km²...

), and completed his medical education in Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

. He studied epidemic diseases under the famous Dr Kitasato Shibasaburō

Kitasato Shibasaburō

Baron was a Japanese physician and bacteriologist. He is remembered as the co-discoverer of the infectious agent of bubonic plague in Hong Kong in 1894, almost simultaneously with Alexandre Yersin.-Biography:...

 at Kitasato's Institute for the Study of Infectious Diseases

Kitasato University

is one of the famous private university in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.The head of the university is located in the Shirokane Campus, neighboring the Kitasato Institute. Its major educational facilities are located in the Sagamihara Campus, located 60 kilometers west of central Tokyo...

 in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, and later studied immunology

Immunology

Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the...

 at the Robert Koch Institute

Robert Koch Institute

The Robert Koch Institute is the German federal institution responsible for disease control and prevention. It is located in Berlin and Wernigerode and is part of the Federal Ministry of Health.-History:...

 in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. While in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, he took the opportunity to learn about chemotherapy

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....

 at the German National Institute for Experimental Therapeutics in Frankfurt

Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

, where he assisted Paul Ehrlich

Paul Ehrlich

Paul Ehrlich was a German scientist in the fields of hematology, immunology, and chemotherapy, and Nobel laureate. He is noted for curing syphilis and for his research in autoimmunity, calling it "horror autotoxicus"...

 in the discovery of arsphenamine, which proved effective in curing syphilis

Syphilis

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...

. It was called Salvarsan 606 because it was the 606th drug that Ehrlich tried.

After his return to Japan, he helped found the Institute now Kitasato University

Kitasato University

is one of the famous private university in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.The head of the university is located in the Shirokane Campus, neighboring the Kitasato Institute. Its major educational facilities are located in the Sagamihara Campus, located 60 kilometers west of central Tokyo...

, of which he became a director. He also lectured at Keio University

Keio University

,abbreviated as Keio or Keidai , is a Japanese university located in Minato, Tokyo. It is known as the oldest institute of higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo . It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa...

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External links

• Hata Sahachiro Memorial Museum, Shimane (Japanese site)