In Memoriam:
Honorary Member Masayoshi Kanisawa, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Masayoshi Kanisawa, Honorary Member of the Japan Society of Toxicologic Pathology, Professor Emeritus,
Yokohama City University School of Medicine, passed away on March 18, 2014 at the age of 83. With a tribute tothe memory of his great accomplishments in toxicologic pathology, I would like to express my sincere condolence.
Born in Ina City, Nagano, Dr. Kanisawa was a brilliant student at aprestigious high-school. He graduated from Chiba University MedicalCollege in 1956, and majored in pathology at the Graduate Schoolof Chiba University. He assumed the position of Junior Assistant at
the First Pathology Department of Chiba University Medical Schoolin April 1961, became Assistant Professor at the Institute of FoodMicrobiology Chiba Medical School in 1962, and Associate Professor
at the institute in May 1966. From July 1966 to September 1968, Dr.
Kanisawa studied experimental pathology and toxicologic pathology at
Dartmouth Medical School and Albany Medical College in the UnitedStates. After he returned from the United State, he became Laboratory
Chief at the Department of Basic Pathology, Tokyo Metropolitan
Institute of Gerontology, where he engaged in research under the neworganization of the Director, Dr. Kunio Ohta, on the lung carcinogenicity
of nitrofurantoin (NFN), an antimicrobial nitro-furan compound, andthe liver and kidney carcinogenicity of ochratoxin A, a mycotoxin. Also,
he studied the metabolism of 4-nitroquinolin-1-oxide (4-NQO), NFN andurethane in the Clara cell. His research work was highly recognized as breakthrough achievements to elucidate thelung pathology both from the aspects of morphology and function. In September 1981, he was appointed Professor,
the First Pathology Department, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, and started his extensive research intolung pathology, with particular focus on chemical carcinogenesis. A comprehensive overview of his accomplishments,
as well as his vision, can be found in “History of the Researches at the First Pathology Department”, an article
included in the publication series of the First Pathology Department, Yokohama City University School of Medicine.
If it can be summed up, his work was a challenge to consolidate the studies of morphology and function.
In addition to his research in experimental pathology, at the request of Yokohama City, Dr. Kanisawa conducted acollaborative research with the Public Health Department of his university to investigate the air pollution in the cityfrom the aspects of analytical chemistry and experimental pathology. With the accomplishments in this area, whichwere directly related to the improvement of the environmental health, Yokohama City selected him as a person of
merit in September 1996.
Dr. Kanisawa was a great educator in pathology as well as a prominent researcher. His department at Yokohama
City University had over ten graduate students who were engaged in research into the areas including respiratory
diseases, chemical carcinogenesis and mycotoxin. Among them were the internationally renowned researchers suchas Dr. Hitoshi Kitamura, Former Professor of Yokohama City University School of Medicine (lung pathology); Dr.
Takaaki Ito, Professor, Department of Pathology and Experimental Medicine, Kumamoto University Graduate
School of Medical Sciences (lung genesis and endocrine cells); Dr. Takehiko Ogawa, Professors of Laboratory ofProteomics, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Life Science, Yokohama City University Association of Medical
Science (reproductive and regenerative medicine, and regulation of gamete formation); and Dr. Yoko Hirabayashi,Toxicology Division, National Institute of Health Sciences (hematopoietic stem cell and hematopoietic toxicity). Afterhe retired from Yokohama City University, Dr. Kanisawa was engaged in the education of pathologists at Hatano
Research Institute, Food Drug Safety Center, an external organization affiliated to the Ministry of Health, Labor andWelfare.
Dr. Kanisawa made significant contributions to the research and education of toxicologic pathology, which,I believe, will be continued by the researchers of the Pathology Department, Yokohama City University, Hatano
Research Institute, Food Drug Safety Center, and others. I myself would like to express my sincere gratitude to him
for the various advice and guidance he had given me, and offer my deepest condolence over the death of Dr. Kanisawa.
Yuzo Hayashi, M.D., Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor, Central Institute for Experimental Animals