Uchimura Yushi

He was born in Tokyo Prefecture to Uchimura Kanzo, a Christian theologian, and Uchimura Shizuko [ja], Uchimura's fourth wife.^[5][6][2]

He was the grandson of samurai and Confucian scholar Uchimura Yoshiyuki [ja].^[7]

Uchimura attended Tokyo Imperial University from 1918 to 1923, studying medicine and playing for the university's baseball team.^[8][9] After graduating Uchimura studied psychiatry in Germany,^[10] followed by research at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute from 1925 to 1927 under Walther Spielmeyer.^[11][12][2] His research focused on Ammon's horn sclerosis,^[13] and led to an important paper published in 1928 authored by Uchimura detailing the vasculature of the hippocampus.^[8][12]

In 1928, he became a professor at Hokkaido Imperial University and established the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology.^[5][12][6] Inspired by the racial hygiene policies of Germany, Uchimura conducted field research among the indigenous Ainu people of Hokkaido, providing the basis for Japan's eugenics laws.^[10][14][15] After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Uchimura was one of the psychiatrists leading work into how radiation exposure affected the neuropathology of the brain.^[16]

He was a founder of the journal Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences in 1933, and acted as one of its chief editors.^[17]

In 1936, he became a professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of Tokyo, serving as dean of the faculty and the graduate school of medicine from 1953 to 1957.^[18] After retiring he held the position of professor emeritus and was elected as a member of the Japan Academy in 1965.^[19]

In May 1962, Uchimura became the third commissioner of Nippon Professional Baseball.^[9][20][8] Uchimura was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.^[21][22][8]