Kenzo Futaki

Bacteriologist. Born into the Higuchi family, doctors of the Akita domain, he was adopted into the Niki family. In 1901 (Meiji 34), he graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Tokyo Imperial University. The following year, in 1902, he started working at Tokyo Municipal Komagome Hospital. In 1905, he studied in Germany, where he studied bacteriology and immunology at the University of Munich, and returned to Japan in 1908. In 1919 (Taisho 8), he became the director of Komagome Hospital, a position he held until 1931 (Showa 6). During this time, in 1921, he also became a professor at the Faculty of Medicine at Tokyo Imperial University, and served as head of the Department of Bacteriology and Serology at the Institute of Infectious Diseases. His research was wide-ranging, but in 1903 he discovered two new species of Shigella (Komagome A and Komagome B), and also studied rat-bite disease, discovering the rat-bite disease spirochete, its pathogen. In 1951 (Showa 26), he became a member of the Japan Academy, and in 1955 he was awarded the Order of Culture. He advocated the Niki health method and recommended abdominal breathing and a brown rice diet.

[Tsunezaburo Fujino]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

細菌学者。秋田藩医樋口(ひぐち)家に生まれ、二木家の養子となる。1901年（明治34）東京帝国大学医科大学を卒業。翌1902年東京市立駒込(こまごめ)病院に勤務、1905年ドイツに留学、ミュンヘン大学で細菌学、免疫学を研究、1908年帰国。1919年（大正8）駒込病院長となり、1931年（昭和6）まで在職。この間、1921年東京帝国大学医学部教授を兼任、伝染病研究所細菌血清学部主任も務めた。研究は多方面にわたるが、1903年、赤痢菌の新種2種（駒込A菌、駒込B菌）を発見、また鼠咬(そこう)症を研究し病原体の鼠咬症スピロヘータを発見。1951年（昭和26）日本学士院会員、1955年文化勲章を受章。二木式健康法を提唱、腹式呼吸や玄米食を推奨した。

［藤野恒三郎］

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