Minutes of the Fifth ABCC/RERF History Forum

Speaker: Mr. Yasutaka Ohgushi, retired Assistant Chief of Nagasaki Secretariat
Moderator: Mr. Satomichi Kaneoka, Assistant Chief of Nagasaki Secretariat
Date & time: 15: 00-16: 10, Thursday, December 17, 2015
Place: Teleconference between the conference room #4 of the Nagasaki Laboratory and theAuditorium of the Hiroshima Laboratory(Honorifics omitted)
Kaneoka: Today’s speaker is Mr. Yasutaka Ohgushi, retired Assistant Chief of Secretariat ofthe Nagasaki Laboratory, who joined the Department of Medicine of the ABCC Nagasaki
Laboratory as a technician in July 1959 and worked on the project of anemia amongJapanese people. Subsequently, he was engaged in hematological laboratory work at theDivision of Clinical Laboratories for 33 years. In 1993, he was transferred from theClinical Laboratories Division, where he was chief of technicians, to the ClinicalContacting Section as section chief, at the age of 54. In 1998, he assumed the position ofAssistant Chief of the Nagasaki Secretariat after serving as the Clinical Administration
Section Chief and then as Administrative Assistant Chief of the Department of ClinicalStudies. He retired at the end of December 1999. Please explain why you joined ABCC.
Ohgushi: Dr. Blaisdell, a U.S. hematologist, came to the Nagasaki Laboratory to study anemia
among Japanese people and recruited college graduates for the posts ofsecretary/technician. At that time, I could not join the ABCC because I was a high school
graduate and already worked for another company. Four months later, however, Dr.
Blaisdell recruited university/high school graduates for additional posts. After
undergoing oral exams by Dr. Blaisdell, I was employed as a member at the Departmentof Medicine to work on the Japanese anemia research project. In those days, a majorityof the anemia cases in Japan were the iron-deficiency type.
Kaneoka: Did you know much about ABCC at that time?
Ohgushi: In those days, the ABCC facilities were located in Sakurababa, which was a four-or
five-minute walk from my house. In my childhood, ABCC’s parking lot used to be myplayground.
Kaneoka: Did you have any hesitation about being employed by US-sponsored ABCC?
Ohgushi: Yes. My uncle’s acquaintance recommended that I not join ABCC because of theuncertain sustainability of ABCC.
Kaneoka: Why did you decide to resign from your company and join ABCC? For example,
were salary or work conditions better?
Ohgushi: The amount of salary was nearly equivalent to that at the other company, but we had
two days off per week (Saturday and Sunday).
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Kaneoka: Even when I joined RERF, the five-day workweek system was not popular in Japan,
and the every-other-Saturday-off system had just been introduced. In your day, ABCC
was unique in this regard, wasn’t it?
Ohgushi: Yes, the six-day workweek system was very popular.
Kaneoka: I heard that ABCC had employed the U.S. holiday system, including U.S.
Independence Day. Is that correct?
Ohgushi:My memory is hazy, but yes, at least for the first several years.

Kaneoka: Did Dr. Blaisdell conduct your oral exam in English?
Ohgushi: He had just arrived in Japan, so he was not fluent in Japanese. A translator helped
me with my oral exam, and I was asked questions in Japanese.
Kaneoka: Do you still remember contents of these questions?
Ohgushi:These questions were related to acid and base, but I’ve forgotten the specifics.

Kaneoka: Weren’t you averse to U.S. citizens?
Ohgushi: Dr. Blaisdell seemed to be of Asian descent, not Caucasian.
Kaneoka: Please explain the staff of the Department of Medicine Laboratory of Hematology,
to which you were first assigned.
Ohgushi: I remember only the Japanese staff members.
Kaneoka: How many technicians and nurses belonged to the Laboratory of Hematology?
Ohgushi: There were four technicians, including two employed after me. Public health nurses
were transferred from the Clinical Contacting Section.
Kaneoka: I’ve heard that, in your time, technicians learned techniques after they joined
ABCC.
Ohgushi: The staff learned U.S.-style laboratory procedures using one textbook prepared by
Dr. Blaisdell.
Kaneoka: Please explain the work at the Laboratory of Hematology.
Ohgushi: There hasn’t been much change in laboratory procedures and items.
Kaneoka: Do you still remember the laboratory procedures of the time?
Ohgushi: The hematocrit test, which examines the proportion of erythrocytes per unit amountof blood, progressed by three steps while I belonged to the laboratory: Initially, a blood
sedimentation tube was required for the test; and finally, the test could be performed with
only a very small quantity of blood.
Kaneoka: I assume that hemoglobin measurements were conducted for the anemia study.
Please explain the laboratory procedures.
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Ohgushi: In those days, ABCC was the only organization in Japan that employed the Coleman
flame photometer as well as the cyanmethemoglobin method, in which hemoglobin isdetermined in reagent-treated erythrocytes from the percent of transmittance orabsorbance, through the use of a standard curve. In Japan, the Sahli method, which
visually measures color density, was popular. Therefore, other hospitals in Nagasaki
wanted ABCC’s devices and reagents.
Kaneoka: Were there any occasions for information exchange between ABCC and otherhospitals?
Ohgushi: Study sessions were held. Laboratory technicians from other hospitals visited ABCC
and discussed various issues, including correlated changes between thecyanmethemoglobin method and the Sahli method.
Kaneoka: Please explain methods for blood collection at the time, which was required for theanemia study.
Ohgushi: According to a schedule prepared by public health nurses,
teams of public health nurses and laboratory technicians
visited subjects’ houses one by one, by a jeep driven by
ABCC’s driver. Laboratory technicians conducted blooddrawing.
(* Photo: Jeeps)
Kaneoka: It is surprising that technicians were in charge of blood collection. Did you work on
blood collection?
Ohgushi: Yes.
Kaneoka: Did you practice blood drawing?
Ohgushi: Yes, technicians practiced by collecting blood from one another.
Kaneoka: How did you bring blood samples back to ABCC?
Ohgushi: Heparinized glass tubes were used to collect 2 to 3 cc’s of blood from subjects.
Kaneoka: Were the collected blood samples chilled?
Ohgushi: No, those samples were left out at room temperature. Each team visited four to fivesubjects’ houses in the morning and directly returned to ABCC to perform prompt
processing.
Kaneoka: I assume that, in those days, road conditions were not satisfactory. Did you everwalk a long distance to visit subjects’ houses?
Ohgushi: Yes. For example, after getting off a jeep at the main entrance of the Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries, Ltd., which was located in Akunoura, we walked around the facilities.
On another occasion, we went over a mountain to visit subjects’ houses in Kihachi orKosedo.
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Kaneoka: How did you prepare a syringe in those days?
Ohgushi: We sterilized syringes using a large-size autoclave, a pieceof equipment that uses steam at high pressure to sterilize objects.
In a preparatory room, we sharpened the syringe needles on awhetstone and prepared all the instruments required for bloodcollection.
(*Photo: Mr. Ohgushi in a lab)
Kaneoka: After you joined ABCC, the Act on Clinical Laboratory Technicians, etc. wasestablished, creating a national licensing system for clinical laboratory technicians.
When did you take the national license examinations?
Ohgushi: The first examination was conducted immediately after I joined ABCC. A few
ABCC staff members passed the exam, and other technicians were encouraged to take asecond exam held in the following year.
Kaneoka: How did you prepare for the exam? Please explain the subjects in the exam.
Ohgushi: There has been little change in subjects: hematology, biochemistry, and pathology.
The exam consisted of general questions, but I was not fully prepared. Furthermore, eventhough a minimum of two year’s working experience was a prerequisite for the exam, I
failed to meet this prerequisite. Because the number of technicians was limited in thosedays, however, I was allowed to take the exam. I wonder if special consideration might
have been given.
Kaneoka: You have expertise in hematology, but how did you prepare for exams inbiochemistry and bacteriology.
Ohgushi: Scientific journals in hematology and biochemistry were already published, butthere was no journal in bacteriology. I asked my acquaintance, who worked at theHiroshima Prefecture Institute of Health, for help. These subjects were not very
complicated, so I could master them..
Kaneoka: I heard that a majority of the ABCC technicians got qualified at the first and secondexams.
Ohgushi: Yes.
Kaneoka: After you were certified as a clinical laboratory technician, did ABCC change thejob title?
Ohgushi: No. However, physicians at other hospitals called us “Labortechniker” (laboratory
assistant in German), which sounded discriminatory to me. (At ABCC, we were called“technician.”)Kaneoka: How long did Dr. Blaisdell stay at ABCC?
Ohgushi: His term of appointment at ABCC was two years. When he returned to the U.S., I
was transferred to the Division of Clinical Laboratories.
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Kaneoka: What projects did you work on at the division?
Ohgushi: Because the area of my expertise was hematology, I worked on a leukemia study.
Kaneoka: How was the leukemia study conducted?
Ohgushi: When local hospitals found leukemia cases among hospitalized patients, they gave
notice to ABCC.
Kaneoka: Were these hospitals obligated to notify ABCC?
Ohgushi: In addition to ABCC physicians, a large number of physicians were dispatched to
ABCC from hospitals in Nagasaki, so I assumed that ABCC had a connection with these
local hospitals through communication between ABCC physicians and those at hospitals.
When we were notified of a new leukemia case by a hospital, a physician and technicians
went to the relevant hospital to perform bone-marrow puncture. The physician performedbone-marrow puncture, and technicians prepared glass slides, spreading blood on theseslides.
Kaneoka: Based on my work experience at a hospital, it seems difficult to spread a drop ofblood on the glass slide due to a mass of cells.
Ohgushi: It was sometimes difficult to spread a drop of greasy bone marrow on oleophobic
glass slides, but there was no problem in most cases. However, it was harder to wash agreasy glass slide. Alcohol and chromium sulphates were employed.
Kaneoka: Was there job rotation at the Division of Clinical Laboratories?
Ohgushi: As time went by, knowledge in bacteriology and biochemistry became indispensable,
so technicians voluntarily asked for job rotation. I changed my specialty on an annual
basis, from hematology to bacteriology, and from bacteriology to biochemistry. When I
was in charge of biochemistry, Newlin-san came from the U.S. to the division in
Nagasaki and instructed us in measuring serum iron levels. Since serum ironmeasurements had not been conducted in Nagasaki, we needed to start from scratch: Sheprovided a 4- or 5-page manual for serum iron measurements, but I could not understandEnglish. I asked my acquaintance, an English teacher at the Mitsubishi ElectricCorporation, to jointly translate the relevant manual into Japanese. Eventually, thetranslation was completed in three months, and this was the hardest part of my work atABCC.
Kaneoka: Did the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Laboratories exchange research-related
information?
Ohgushi: I heard that these laboratories had kept in constant touch by phone. Hiroshima staff
members sometimes visited the Nagasaki Laboratory, and I sometimes visited Hiroshima.
Before Dr. Blaisdell went back to the U.S., he dispatched two technicians to theHiroshima Laboratory for one week each for training purposes. However, I wondered if
he had wanted to give us a chance to enjoy taking a tour of the laboratories in Hiroshima.
In Hiroshima, I learned how to use a microscope for the first few days and then took atour of the Hiroshima facilities. This one-week visit holds a lot of memories for me.
Kaneoka: You were transferred from the technical position to an administrative position as the5chief of the Clinical Contacting Section at the age of 54, and you were eventuallypromoted to Assistant Chief of Secretariat. Did you have a feeling of hesitation about thechange in work category?
Ohgushi: Yes, that was a real bolt out of the blue. I assume that the staff at the ClinicalContacting Section was surprised with this personnel transfer, because I was a novice inadministrative work. However, I received a great deal of cooperation from them.
Kaneoka: Did you find any differences in the approach to work between technical positions
and administrative positions?
Ohgushi: Technical work has to be conducted in conformity with established methods anddocuments, which did not cause me any concerns. In the case of administrative work,
however, it was necessary to read a situation correctly. For example, I found difficulty inreception work because flexible responses were required depending on individual study
subjects.
Kaneoka: Do you mean that such arrangements were left to individual discretion?
Ohgushi: Yes.
Kaneoka: Transfer to the Clinical Contacting Section was conducted within the Department ofClinical Studies, but I think that transfer to the Secretariat was more difficult for you.
Ohgushi: Honestly, I felt embarrassed with that transfer because the Secretariat was not shorton staff. Anyway, I started with assistant work and, thanks to cooperation from theNagasaki and Hiroshima staff, improved my ability to plan/hold a variety of eventssmoothly.
Kaneoka: I heard from your colleagues that, in ABCC days, Christmas parties and ballroom
dancing were held. Do you have any special memories?
Ohgushi: I attended the year-end party twice and also an afternoon party held at a reservednightclub.
Kaneoka: In what areas of Nagasaki did the U.S. staff reside? Did you visit their houses?
Ohgushi: The housing for U.S. staff members, called theResidence of the Matsuda, was located in the middle of amountain, and it was about a 100-meter walk on a slope
from the Nakashima River, which was famous for stonebridges and flowed behind ABCC. However, I have neverentered that residence.
(* Photo: Residence of the Matsuda, taken in January
1988)
Kaneoka: (To the audience) Are there any questions you want to ask Mr. Ohgushi?
Hiroshima: I heard that Mr. Ohgushi had resided in a house four- or five-minutes’ walk from
Sakurababa. Did your house receive damage from the atomic bombing?
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Ohgushi: My house was located 3.6 km far from the hypocenter but did not fall into ruin.
However, the blast from the bomb blew away paper screens and distorted the framework,resulting in a number of gaps in the house. These distortions and gaps were not fixed forseveral years after the bombing.
Nagasaki: Around the time when you joined ABCC, many organizations used to prepare
reagents on their own. Did ABCC import a majority of the reagents from the U.S.?
Ohgushi: We could get made-in-Germany dyeing reagents via the U.S., but other reagentswere made in Japan. Due to the shortage in devices, we washed and reused them..
However, the shortage in test devices and reagents was more serious at university
laboratories. When I visited one such lab, a technician worked on operations in a darkroom all alone. I felt that ABCC could procure plenty of test devices and reagents.
Kaneoka: I heard that the adult T-cell leukemia study employed an advanced technique for
ATLA (adult T-cell leukemia-associated antigen)-related tests. Was it conducted incollaboration with universities?
Ohgushi: ATLA-related tests revealed differences between Hiroshima and Nagasaki: wefound more positive cases in Nagasaki than in Hiroshima. These tests were conductedusing antigen-antibody methods: we fixed positive cells, added serum collected fromsubjects, observed chromogenic reaction, and evaluated the intensity from (-) to (+4).
Kaneoka: Did ABCC produce such antigens by culturing positive cells?
Ohgushi: Such cells used to be provided by the Nagasaki University on an as-needed basis.
After repeated provision, however, a person in charge at the university acted cranky.
Therefore, we made sincere efforts to make such samples available to ABCC researchscientists, resulting in continued supply.
Kaneoka: Thank you for your precious talk. Your continued guidance is expected.
Ohgushi: Thank you.

Mr. Ohgushi

Mr. Ohgushi, left and Mr. Kaneoka

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