Kenji Fujiwara, M.D., Ph.D., former president of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology (JSGE) and the honorary director of Yokohama Rosai Hospital, passed away at the age of 74 on Nov. 4, 2012. He graduated from the faculty of medicine, University of Tokyo, in 1964 and received a doctoral degree in 1970. As assistant professor in internal medicine at the University of Tokyo (1986-1994) and professor and chair of internal medicine at Saitama (Japan) Medical School (1994-2005), he published more than 250 original articles in English, including seminal studies on viral and nonviral fulminant hepatitis.
During his tenure as president of JSGE (2001-2004), he contributed significantly to the society’s management and foreign relations. In particular, his leadership solidified the AGA-JSGE relationship, which resulted in annual joint symposia. Dr. Fujiwara was appointed by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (JMHLW) to chair the Council of Inspection for Cadaveric Organ Transplantation and Committee for Evaluation of Recipient of Cadaveric Liver Transplantation. In these roles, he made historic contributions to the establishment of national consensus and guidelines for cadaveric liver transplantation, which led to the dawn of a new era for orthotopic liver transplantation in Japan.
In recent years, Dr. Fujiwara worked tirelessly to establish a revised international classification of diseases system for the World Health Organization and for JMHLW. He is survived by his wife Mariko, three sons, a daughter, and 10 grandchildren.
