The Contribution of Professor Yujiro Ikemi to the Development of Psychosomatic Medicine in Japan

Abstract

Accessible online at: www.karger.com/journals/pps Dr. Yujiro Ikemi, Professor Emeritus of Kyushu University, died on June 25, 1999, at age 84. With great sorrow, I write about my teacher, the late Dr. Ikemi, one of the world’s leading psychosomatists who developed new concepts, made new discoveries and gave new meaning to the expanding field of psychosomatic medicine. His contribution towards integrating Oriental wisdom into Western psychosomatic medicine and bringing forth the ancient wisdom of Asia is recognized throughout the scientific communities of the World. Dr. Ikemi was born on June 12, 1915, in Fukuoka, Japan. After graduating from Fukuoka High School, he entered the faculty of medicine of Kyushu University. During that phase of his life, he began to suffer from irritable bowel syndrome in addition to social phobia, and received various treatments without satisfactory response. Fortunately, in 1951, he went to the US as a fellow of the Institute of Tuberculosis of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. In the US he had a chance to study psychosomatic medicine, not only at the Mayo Clinic, but also at psychosomatic centers in America, including the Menninger Foundation. After returning to Japan, he was appointed to the position of Associate Professor of the Department of Internal Medicine at Kyushu University. He then decided to concentrate his efforts toward pioneering work in the field of psychosomatic medicine in Japan. His first important work, a special lecture on ‘Psychosomatic Aspects of the Gastrointestinal System’, came to light at the Annual Congress of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology in 1955. He and his co-workers collected experimental evidence of functional changes in the gastrointestinal system induced by strong emotional reactions to hypnotic suggestion. Eventually, his work convinced skeptical researchers in Japan, promoting increased interest in psychosomatic medicine among physicians throughout Japan. In 1958, at the World Congress of Gastroenterology in Washington, he presented the paper ‘Experimental Studies on the Psychosomatic Disorders of the Digestive System’. This paper created tremendous interest among gastroenterologists in the US including one of the leading gastroenterologists, Professor Bockus, who invited him to contribute his work to his textbook on gastroenterology. In 1958, Professor E. Weiss, one of the pioneers of psychosomatic medicine, invited him to the Department of Comprehensive Medicine of Temple University Medical Center as an instructor. Fortunately, this association gave him a supporting hand when he built up the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine at Kyushu University School of Medicine.