Shinobu Ishihara (石原忍, ''Ishihara Shinobu'',

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, September 25, 1879 –

Izu Peninsula The is a large mountainous peninsula with a deeply indented coastline to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific coast of the island of Honshu, Japan. Formerly known as Izu Province, Izu peninsula is now a part of Shizuoka Prefecture. The peninsul ...

, January 3, 1963) was a Japanese

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

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 colo ...

to detect colour blindness. He was an army surgeon.

Early life and career

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

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

as a

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

, serving mainly as a

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. He later changed specialties to

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

. In 1908 he returned to the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

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

Army Medical College Army Medical College ( ur, , also known as ''AM College'') is a military institute which was established in 1977 as a residential institution for imparting undergraduate medical education to selected cadets. The college also allows the civili ...

. 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 syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contrast ...

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 (''color blindness''), though several of the standards are designed to categorize normal color vision ...

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 or color vision deficiency (CVD) is the decreased ability to color vision, see color or differences in color. It can impair tasks such as selecting ripe fruit, choosing clothing, and reading traffic lights. Color blindness may ...

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

visual acuity Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

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 ...

, 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 of ...

and

myopia Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include ...

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

Imperial University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

, 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 Carl von Hess (7 March 1863, in Mainz – 28 June 1923, in Possenhofen) was a German ophthalmologist known for his work in ocular physiology. He studied medicine at the universities of Heidelberg, Bonn and Strasbourg, then traveled to Prague, w ...

. 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

. 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