THE NIPPON DENTAL UNIVERSITY

The origins of the Nippon Dental University are to be found in the establishment of the private Kyoritsu Dental School by Ichigoro Nakahara in 1907 in accordance with the Japanese Dental Law of 1906. This school evolved into the Nippon Institute of Dentistry and then the Nippon Dental College, with a second school of dentistry subsequently established in Niigata.

The Nippon Dental University is the most representative of all Japanese public and private dental universities. It has established affiliated specialized schools for the training of dental technicians and hygienists, including a junior college in Niigata for training hygienists and a junior college in Tokyo for training technicians and hygienists, to mention a few of its accomplishments. As Japan's largest comprehensive dental institution with highly developed capabilities in education, research, and treatment, the Nippon Dental University is the alma mater of a great many dentists now at work in Japanese society.

Ichigoro Nakahara was born on May 15, 1866, and received his license to practice dentistry in 1889. In 1890, he opened his own hospital, called the Nakahara Dental Hospital, and as a member of the local assembly he strove to improve the standards of preventive dentistry among children. In June 1907, he established Kyoritsu Dental School. In 1909, this became the Nippon Institute of Dentistry, and he was appointed principal in 1911. In September 1915, he was awarded a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Maryland. In 1920, he was made chairman of the Regent Board, and he was named honorary president in 1936. From his youth, Ichigoro Nakahara's industrious study and research resulted in many inventions and innovations in dental medicine. In addition, he enjoyed calligraphy, as well as the traditional Japanese poetic forms called haiku and tanka. He died on March 22, 1941, at the age of 75.

Minoru Nakahara graduated from the Nippon Institute of Dentistry in 1915. After receiving a dentistry degree from Harvard University in 1918, he undertook several years of research in Europe. In 1923, he returned to Japan as a professor of the Nippon Institute of Dentistry, and was appointed chairman of the Regent Board in 1941. He became president of the Nippon Dental College in 1948, and in 1962 he became president of the Japan Dental Association. In 1973, he was made chairman of the Nippon Private University Association. Minoru Nakahara's life was dedicated not only to education and medicine but also to the arts, for he was a talented painter and many books of his works were published. Between 1959 and 1988, he was first a director and then an honorary director of the Nika-kai artists' association. He died on October 15, 1990, at the age of 99.