was a Japanese

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

who created the

Ishihara color test The Ishihara test is a color vision test for detection of red–green color deficiencies. It was named after its designer, Shinobu Ishihara, a professor at the University of Tokyo, who first published his tests in 1917.S. Ishihara, Tests for c ...

to detect

colour blindness Color blindness, color vision deficiency (CVD) or color deficiency is the decreased ability to see color or differences in color. The severity of color blindness ranges from mostly unnoticeable to full absence of color perception. Color bl ...

. He was an

army surgeon ''Army Surgeon'' is a 1942 American film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Jane Wyatt and Kent Taylor. The plot is about a female surgeon who pretends to be a nurse so she can serve on the front line during World War I.

Early life and career

Ishihara graduated from medicine in 1905 on a military scholarship and immediately joined the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

as a

doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

, serving mainly as a

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

. He later changed specialties to

ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

. In 1908 he returned to the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

where he dedicated himself to ophthalmic research. In 1910 he became an instructor at the

Army Medical College The Army Medical College (AMC) is a military medical college located in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. The medical college provides medical and dental education to its cadets before their commissioning in the Pakistan Army Medical Corps. His ...

. There, in addition to seeing patients, he conducted research on "battlefield ophthalmology" and how to select superior soldiers. While working at the Military Medical School he was asked to devise a test to screen military recruits for abnormalities of color vision. His assistant was a color blind physician who helped him test the plates. The first charts were hand painted by Ishihara in watercolor and depicted

hiragana is a Japanese language, Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' means "common" or "plain" kana (originally also "easy", ...

characters.

Ishihara color vision test

The name Ishihara is known worldwide because of the

color vision test A color vision test is used for measuring color vision against a standard. These tests are most often used to diagnose color vision deficiencies ("CVD"; color blindness''), though several of the standards are designed to categorize normal color vis ...

he published in 1917,S. Ishihara, Tests for color-blindness (Handaya, Tokyo, Hongo Harukicho, 1917). where a subject is shown a coloured pattern and asked what numerals they see there. Subjects with different forms of

color blindness Color blindness, color vision deficiency (CVD) or color deficiency is the decreased ability to color vision, see color or differences in color. The severity of color blindness ranges from mostly unnoticeable to full absence of color percept ...

give different answers to those without. Ishihara also developed a Japanese

visual acuity Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of visual perception, vision, but technically rates an animal's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity depends on optical and neural factors. Optical factors of the eye ...

chart and an apparatus for determining the

near point In visual perception, the near point is the closest point at which an object can be placed and still form a focused image on the retina, within the eye's accommodation range. The other limit to the eye's accommodation range is the far point. A n ...

, both currently in wide use in Japan. He also made significant contributions to the study of

trachoma Trachoma is an infectious disease caused by bacterium '' Chlamydia trachomatis''. The infection causes a roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. This roughening can lead to pain in the eyes, breakdown of the outer surface or cornea ...

and

myopia Myopia, also known as near-sightedness and short-sightedness, is an eye condition where light from distant objects focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry, while close objects appear normal. ...

. In 1908, Ishihara entered the postgraduate course in ophthalmology at the

Imperial University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

, studying under Jujiro Komoto. Subsequently, he studied in Germany under Professors Wolfgang Stock,

Theodor Axenfeld Karl Theodor Paul Polykarpus Axenfeld (24 June 1867 – 29 July 1930) was a German ophthalmologist born in Smyrna (İzmir) in the Ottoman Empire to a German minister, who was a Jewish convert to Christianity and served as missionary in Asia Minor. ...

and Carl von Hess. Ishihara was appointed the professor and chairman, to succeed Komoto, at the Ophthalmology Department of the Imperial University of Tokyo in 1922 and served until March 1940.

Personal life

Ishihara led a very modest life, with no interest in material possessions. He was greatly revered by his students who, after his retirement, built a cottage for him near a hot spring on the

Izu Peninsula The is a mountainous peninsula with a deeply indented coastline to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the island of Honshu, Japan, the largest of the four main islands of Japan. Formerly known as Izu Province, Izu peninsu ...

. There he served as a country doctor, conducting clinics for his neighbors, asking no payment. As was the custom in those days, patients left tokens of their gratitude in home-grown produce and small sums of money. After covering his expenses, Ishihara returned all remaining money to the villagers. These funds were used to build a library and a study room for the village children.''Japanese Journal of Ophthalmology'', volume 38, issue 1. 1994

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ishihara, Shinobu 1879 births 1963 deaths Color scientists Japanese generals Japanese ophthalmologists Physicians from Tokyo Scientists from Tokyo Academic staff of the University of Tokyo University of Tokyo alumni Japanese military doctors